Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered ‘Mann ki Baat’, his monthly address on radio on Sunday morning. But, residents of Bidar were not able to listen to the hugely-popular discourse on various national issues.
Bidar is one of the few deaf spots or ‘near zero reception regions’ where people cannot listen to the radio due to technical various reasons. In this case, it is the altitude of the district. Bidar is at 700 metres above sea level, higher than Kalaburagi that houses the AIR station. Radio reception is fairly good in Humnabad and Basava Kalyan taluks that have lesser altitudes and share borders with Kalaburagi district.
AIR has an Amplitude Modulation Re-relay centre in Bidar too. But officials say that is not powerful enough to receive air waves and beam back after strengthening them. A proposal was sent to the Union government to strengthen the Bidar centre in 2005. But it has not been cleared yet, a senior officer said. The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry approved a set of Frequency Modulation radio stations in 2013. However, private operators are yet to bid for them. “The possibilities are less as the expected advertisement revenue is not very promising,” says a media entrepreneur, who runs a cable channel and a publishing house.
Two academic institutions — the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, and the College of Horticulture based in Bidar — expressed their desire to set up community radio stations to train farmers in advanced farming technologies and redress grievances. However, the stations are yet to start.
Bhagwant Khuba, MP, says he has taken up the matter with the Union government. “I have urged senior officials to send an expert team to the district and assess the problem on the ground. Let them submit a proposal to resolve the issue. I will request the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to release necessary funds and take up the project on priority,” he said.
‘Mann Ki Baat’ can be heard on the http://pmonradio.nic.in/
