Channels may have to air content of national importance from January 1: Report
As per Clause 35 of MIB's 'Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in 2022', channels are now required to air content of national interest for 30 mins every day
Indian channels may have to air content of "national interest" daily as early as January 1, says media reports.
This month, Union Cabinet approved "Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in 2022", which made it mandatory for Indian TV channels to air content pertaining to public interest for 30 minutes every day, according to Clause 35 of the guidelines.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had emphasised that the channels will be given time to come up with such content. A news report says that after convening with TV channels and other stakeholders, the MIB has settled on January 1, 2023, as the day to start the telecast of the said content.
Two weeks ago, MIB said that the government merely implemented the TRAI recommendations that were issued in 2008. It emphasised that the mandate is not "onerous" and the government will not dictate what the broadcasters can do.
"We will speak to the stakeholders and come out with detailed guidelines on this issue in the next few weeks," an MIB official had told e4m previously.
The government gave eight themes to the broadcasters on which the content of national importance can be centred. These include: 1) education and the spread of literacy 2)agriculture and rural development 3) health and family welfare 4) science and technology 5) welfare of women 6) welfare of the weaker sections of the society 7) protection of environment and of cultural heritage 8) national integration.
