I&B Ministry lists Achievements

The new ministry, under Prakash Javadekar's leadership, has shared the initiatives it has taken in 100 days since it got into power.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has undertaken key initiatives in different sectors aimed at enhancing the outreach of policies and programmes across platforms.

For phase III and IV of digitisation, a task force has been constituted, which will pave the way for implementation of digitisation initiative in India. This will result in the digitisation of about 80 million cable TV homes in India.

As for the third phase of FM radio auction, on the request of this Ministry, TRAI has furnished its recommendations on migration of FM Radio Broadcasters from Phase-II to Phase-III. The issue is being examined.

The government has allocated Rs 100 crore to Kisan Channel, which will disseminate real time information to the farmers regarding new farming techniques, water conservation and organic farming.

In order to facilitate Ministries/Departments in registering their presence on social media, the MIB had organised a half-day training workshop on July 11, 2014 at the National Media Centre. The quest for a strong platform for expression of cultural identities and for creating greater awareness regarding North Eastern Region, led to the launch of Arun Prabha, a new 24x7 channel for the northeast. Besides, for the first time, a three-day northeast Film Festival was held in Delhi (Siri Fort Complex) on a grand scale. It will be an annual feature.

Goa has been declared the Permanent Destination for International Films Festival of India (IIFI). The idea is to develop "Brand IFFI" on the lines of other International Film Festivals. The government has also proposed a bill to back an act of Parliament to declare the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) and SRFTII (Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute) as Institutes of national importance. The proposed Bill would enable both Institutes to award its own degrees and diplomas and start new activities on the lines of IITs and IIMs.

The ministry took efforts to fulfill the pending demand of domestic manufacturers of Set Top Boxes to get tax concession (C Form benefit) in order to compete with imported STBs. As a part of e-initiatives, the office of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) has streamlined the single window public dealing mechanism at its office. RNI achieved a 100 per cent success rate in online e-filing of annual statements by publishers for 2013-14.

The government has allotted an amount of Rs 100 crore for "Supporting Community Radio Movement in India". This will enable the setting up of 600 community radio stations across the country. This initiative aims to strengthen the connect with the population in rural and marginalised areas.

The ministry of home affairs has agreed to the proposal of the I&B Ministry for not seeking security clearance for such channels whose security clearance have already been sought earlier. This decision has, according to the ministry, paved the way for speedy clearance of additional television channel permissions, which will benefit the broadcast industry in a big way. The ministry has already permitted Twenty three TV channels to start operations.

The Expenditure Finance Committee in the Ministry of Finance cleared the revised EFC proposal for a Rs 600-crore National Film Heritage Mission project to preserve India's film legacy on July 3.