A 24-hour Doordarshan channel dedicated to Assam was launched by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday, who called it a "gift to the people of the state".
Doordarshan Assam is part of a never-before focus on North East under the current government, a statement from the ministry said.
Highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of turning North East into India’s growth engine, Javadekar said that the region has immense natural and human resource potential, and the connectivity has been improving steadily.
“The channel is a gift to the people of Assam and it will cater to all sections of the population of Assam and will be immensely popular," Javadekar said via a video conference.
Javadekar said that it is important that all states have their own Doordarshan channel. The channels of other states are available on DD Free Dish, he said.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who joined the video conference from Assam, called it a significant day for the people of the state.
Sonowal said the channel will "boost the growth of Assam in all spheres of human activities, while at the same time help percolate the initiatives and programmes of the government to grassroots.”
"PM Modi, from day one, has been sincerely trying to focus on the true potential and possibilities of north-east," he added.
Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharti, said that with the launch of DD Assam, all states in north-east now have state-specific channel and for the first time the rich diversity of North East has a satellite footprint which can be viewed anywhere in India through DD Free Dish platform.
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