New Delhi: The much-delayed dedicated channel for the Northeast, Arun Prabha, is set to be unveiled by the Narendra Modi government soon.
The BJP — which is facing an uphill task of making gains in the region facing protests over the Citizenship Bill — is hoping to showcase the new channel as one of its achievements as the nation heads for Lok Sabha polls.
“The launch of the channel is likely to be announced during Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to the region next week,” sources said. Mr Modi is scheduled to be in the region on February 8-9 to unveil several development projects and also to make a pitch for the party for the forthcoming polls, sources added. BJP chief Amit Shah has reportedly set a target of 21 seats out ot the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the North East.
The party had secured eight seats from the region during last Lok Sabha polls.
Though the proposal to launch DD Arun Prabha was announced in Modi government’s first budget the ambitious plan of channel will soon be launched. The launch has been pushed through as the BJP sees the channel as its gateway to the region’s aspirations. Sources stated that though the channel was planned to be launched in January 2016 it was delayed after several issues, including lack of funds and content generation plagued the launch of the channel. The channel has already missed several deadlines for launch and was touted as one that aimed at promotion of integration of the North East with it expected to show richness, variety and diversity of local culture.
The Doordarshan has already received over 1100 proposal from production houses across the country for content creation, sources added. The channel will focus on youth, contemporary entertainment and informative shows. Producers based in the North East and programmes on themes related to the region will be given preference by the national broadcaster.
The proposed channel is the second for the region. Since the eight states in the Northeast region follow multiple languages and dialects and have distinct cultural identities it is believed that two channels would be able to serve the regional aspirations better.
Sources stated that the existing DD North-East is also likely to be strengthened by introduction of new and better content. DD North-East, telecasts entertainment and information-based programmes in Assamese, Bengali, English and other languages of the north-east region.
