Timeless and Significant – All India Radio (AIR)

The Akashvani Annual Award Ceremony held in New Delhi

The Akashvani Annual Award ceremony re-established the wistfulness and significance of All India Radio (AIR) to the citizens of the country as the most authentic source of news, till date.

The All India Radio (AIR) was founded in 1930 and was officially labelled as the Akashvani in 1956 noting it as the national public radio broadcaster of India.

M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, during the award ceremony held in New Delhi said that even in this era of cacophony when television channels, newspapers, social media platforms were vying for garnering the highest rating points by dishing out sensational and often unsubstantiated news, All India Radio continues to be the first choice of majority of the population for authentic news not only within the country but also for those Indians abroad who wanted to keep in touch with the happenings in their motherland. The Minister went on to state how the government was committed to the total freedom of press and expression, while at the same time misinformation was dangerous.

Highlighting the diversity of AIR, Naidu said that, in terms of the number of languages and dialects of broadcast, AIR is the world’s largest public service radio broadcaster.  Presently, All India Radio broadcasts in 23 languages and 179 dialects. All conceivable radio formats like music, plays, documentaries, features, interviews, talks, innovative programmes, news etc. were used by All India Radio across its entire network comprising of 421 broadcasting centres. AIR, through its external broadcast in 15 foreign and 12 Indian languages, served as India’s authentic voice to the outside world and projected India’s viewpoint on contemporary issues in the right perspective in the face of propaganda by forces inimical to country’s interest.

Challenges of radio

Referring to the challenges in the radio broadcast sector, Naidu said that the challenge for the content creator was manifold.  It was important to make the content entertaining as well as useful so as to maximize the listenership of the programme. The challenges before the technical think tank were also very daunting at a time when broadcast technology was changing every passing minute.  With multiple media platforms and options available and emerging, technology started becoming obsolete faster now than before.

Emphasising on the role of Government communication, Naidu said that the agenda of the Government was to create awareness about the development initiatives undertaken that had the ability to transform lives of people and fulfil the aspirations of the emerging young India.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu addressing the gathering

Awards for radio legends

‘Akashvani Annual Awards’ has been an annual feature since 1974 and it remains one of the most prestigious and old awards in the arena of Public Service Broadcasting in India.  All India Radio has instituted these awards in the memory of those amongst its staff who laid their lives while waging relentless counter-offensive through the medium of broadcasting against the forces inimical to the integrity and unity of India. While promoting healthy professional competition, these awards also promote creative excellence of the organization by bringing out the best from the professionals working in various aspects of the radio broadcast.

There were host of awards for different categories of programme namely plays, documentaries, musical production, children’s choral singing, Lassa Kaul Award for National Integration, Yuva Vani, Innovative Programme, Programmes on Farm & Home. There was also Dr. Rajendra Kumar Talib Award for best CBS centre to motivate them to excel, judging their performance on different parameters.