Can Doordarshan Regain Its Glory?

Think of it. 66 studio centers spread all over the country, out of these 23 centres are either already digitalised or being digitalized,  39 studio centers, 91 percent area covered all over India. Still Doordarshan is often called poordarshan because of its style of functionning. It seems it likes to work as just another government organ.

Ambika Soni, the minister for information and broadcasting informed the Lok Sabha yesterday through a written reply yesterday that massive plans are on for the modernisation of the national TV channel. "An amount of Rs. 1209 crore has been set aside for digitalization of Doordarshan out of an outlay of Rs. 1369 crore approved for the new schemes in the 11th Plan," she said.

All this information is only a technical one. There is nothing on the content side. The steady decline in the viewership gives a hint of the downward journey of Doordarshan. It is more pathetic considering that this is the golden jubilee year of the channel. Even though today it has 30 channels and a DTH service, Doordarshan does not figure anywhere in the TV map of India. What a pity?