Indian President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday launched the Akashvani Maitree, a Bangla radio service, in Kolkata, saying that it would be an important ‘channel of communication’ between India and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury welcomed the launching of the new radio channel Akashvani Maitree, an Indian High Commission statement said in Dhaka.
The Bangladesh leaders, in separate messages, hoped that the new channel would act as a ‘bridge of amity’ between the two countries.
The proposal to establish the radio channel with content sharing from Bangladesh and India was discussed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in June, 2015.
“The new radio channel will cater to Bengali speaking people of India and Bangladesh,” the statement said.
It said a state-of-the-art transmitter has been installed in Chinsurah in Bengal to enable the service to be broadcast throughout Bangladesh.
“The service will be broadcast in India and Bangladesh on 594kHz,” the statement added.
Akashvani Maitree is a new radio channel for the All India Radio (AIR) in Kolkata.
The channel is a first-of-its-kind cross-border radio service by AIR dedicated to Bengali listeners across the border in Bangladesh.
With an aim to strengthen India’s bilateral ties with Bangladesh, the new channel will air content for 16 hours daily for Bengali listeners across India and Bangladesh.
It will be a unique platform for participatory content creation.
Thus, content will be shared between Akashvani Maitree and Radio Bangladesh.
Inaugurating the new facility, President Mukherjee highlighted the common culture and tradition that binds people on both sides of the border.
“India always attaches highest importance to bilateral relations with Bangladesh because of our shared history, heritage, culture,
language, physical proximity,” he said.
The new channel will be broadcast from a state-of-the-art brand new high power 1000Kw DRM transmitter installed at Chinsurah in West Bengal’s Hooghly district and will cover the whole of Bangladesh through medium wave.
West Bengal Governor Kesari Nath Tripathi and Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar were also present at the event.
Listeners can tune in to Akashvani Maitree on 594kHz frequency,
and it will also be available globally through the website and a mobile application.
A Bangla radio service, launched in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and discontinued in 2010, in fact went on air with Akashvani Maitree.
The Special Bangla Service of All India Radio had been launched in the wake of the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and played a key role during the war, broadcasting Indian news bulletins in Bangladesh.
It continued till April 2010, but was discontinued thereafter due to decommissioning of the Super Power Transmitter at Chinsurah.
Explaining the rationale behind relaunching the service, an Indian official explained, “In view of the important place Bangladesh occupies in India’s foreign policy, it was felt imperative that this dedicated service is strengthened, contemporised and re-launched.
Earlier, the radio service ran for six hours and 30 minutes daily, but the new Akashvani Maitree will run 16 hours a day.”
The content will be curated to ensure that it benefits the audience in Bangladesh, said the official, adding that the service would cover issues ranging from healthcare to agriculture.
India, particularly West Bengal, and Bangladesh belong to similar agro-climatic zones.
Hence, knowledge of best practices in the field can be shared in programmes relating to agriculture.
Similarly, a large number of people from Bangladesh come for treatment to India.
“A programme series profiling different premier medical institutes, super speciality treatments available here, procedures to be followed for availing these services, tentative costs, visa facilitation etc, will also be broadcast on the service,” added the official.
Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said the service was meant specifically for the people of Bangladesh and will primarily be in Bangla language.
“This service is specially meant to cater to the people of Bangladesh and would mostly be in Bengali, highlighting the common cultural heritage that connects India and its neighbour. While earlier programmes of this service were produced solely by AIR, the new service will invite Bangladeshi artistes and personalities to participate. It is, perhaps, unique in world radio broadcast,” he said.