Lok Sabha Question No. 1515 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-04
Subject: Educational Channels
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: RAJESH VERMA, SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, RODMAL NAGAR, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.1515

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.03.2016)

## EDUCATIONAL CHANNELS

1515.  SHRI RAJESH VERMA:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

## Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of educational channels like Gyan Darshan and Gyan Vani being run by Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) in the country;
- (b) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that Gyan Darshan and Gyan Vani, the educational TV and FM channels are off the air;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the names of private cable  operators  who  have  discontinued  the  telecast  of  programmes  of  the  above channels;
- (d) whether Government proposes to take any action against such operators and if so, the details thereof along with the corrective measures taken by the Government to start these channels; and
- (e)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  expand  Gyan  Vani  and  other  educational channels where coverage of these channels are not available, if so, the details thereof State/UT-wise including Jharkhand?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING {COL RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE (Retd.)}

(a)  to  (c)      Prasar  Bharati  has  informed  that  Doordarshan  (DD)  does  not  have  any educational  channel.  However,  DD  telecasts  educational  programmes  provided  by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), University Grants Commission (UGC) and Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) for 30 minutes on DD National.

Presently these programmes are off air as IGNOU does not have the Wireless Planning Coordination (WPC) clearance from Ministry of Communications & IT. Since these channels are at present not being uplinked, they cannot be carried by private cable operators.

All  India  Radio  was  operating  Gyan  Vani  Channel  of  IGNOU  through  FM transmitters at 37 places in India. Transmission of Gyan Vani was switched off on 30 th September, 2014 due to issues related to pending dues to Prasar Bharati/ AIR. The Ministry  of  I&B  has  now  granted  permission  to  IGNOU  to  operationalise  all  the  37 channels for a period of 15 years and the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) in this regard has been signed between the Ministry and the IGNOU.

Gyan Vani FM services of IGNOU are not required to be carried by private cable operators.

(d)    Does not arise.

(e)    Ministry of I&B has received a proposal from IGNOU for 13 additional Gyan Vani stations as detailed at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE  AS  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1515 FOR ANSWER ON 04.03.2016

## Annexure

Proposal received from IGNOU regarding establishment of 13 additional Gyan Vani stations.

|   S.No. | City       | State             |
|---------|------------|-------------------|
|       1 | Ranchi     | Jharkhand         |
|       2 | Jamshedpur | Jharkhand         |
|       3 | Sasaram    | Bihar             |
|       4 | Bilaspur   | Chhatisgarh       |
|       5 | Shimla     | Himachal Pradesh  |
|       6 | Gangtok    | Sikkim            |
|       7 | Itanagar   | Arunachal Pradesh |
|       8 | Agartala   | Tripura           |
|       9 | Port Blair | Andaman & Nitobar |
|      10 | Tirupati   | Andhra Pradesh    |
|      11 | Warangal   | Telengana         |
|      12 | Leh        | J&K               |
|      13 | Jammu      | J&K               |

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