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DTH to remove feeling of alienation from N-E region

Direct-to-home (DTH) television would remove the feeling of alienation from among the people of the north-east region, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday.

Talking to reporters in Guwahati, Swaraj said that DTH television would reach the people in remote and far flung areas of the region where there were no cable connections.

Discounting complaints that DTH was an expensive proposition, she said, a satellite dish could be set up at a central place and connections could be provided at a nominal rate to the people in the surrounding area.

Referring to the freshly launched 24-hour Doordarshan N-E satellite channel on Wednesday, the union minister said, it would not only boost economic activity in the area but also provide employment to both creative and unskilled people.

Stating the channel would promote national integration and globally showcase the nation and region's multi-lingual culture, Swaraj said, its reach would now cover 100 per cent of the N-E population.

The programmes would be telecast on the local channel and would be binding on the cable operators to air it, she said adding that its violation would invite punitive action.

The setting up of an office of the Film Censor Board for the convenience of local cinema producers would be discussed at a meeting of the I&B ministry in Delhi on January 2, the minister added.

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