Slackness prevails despite MHA’s repeated thrust on expediting process
Nodal Officers unaware of exercise conducted at district level
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Feb 12: The State Administration is showing no urgency in completion of formalities for distribution of 30,000 Set Top Boxes of Doordarshan under its Free Dish Scheme among the people living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir despite being well aware of the fact that this decision has been taken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to effectively counter Pakistan’s malicious propaganda.
The most astonishing aspect is that neither State level nor Divisional level Nodal Officers are aware of the exercise being conducted at the district level to pave the way for formal distribution of Set Top Boxes.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that in the middle of last year Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in consultation with Union Ministry of Home Affairs decided to distribute 30,000 Set Top Boxes of Doordarshan under its Free Dish Scheme among the people living in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
The objective behind this decision was to counter TV signal and malicious propaganda of the hostile neighbour and in the light of the fact that many border areas are still not covered by terrestrial transmission.
Vide communication dated August 14, 2018, the Department of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs informed Principal Secretary Home Department of the State about this decision and even asked for formulation of criteria/methodology for identification of the people living in the border areas to whom these Set Top Boxes would be distributed.
However, there was no response from the State Government following which the Department of J&K Affairs in MHA vide communication dated September 19, 2018 again requested the Principal Secretary Home Department to take appropriate action in the matter before September 26, 2018.
Vide communications dated October 8, 2018 and October 16, 2018, the State Home Department asked the Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of the border districts to formulate distribution mechanism as expeditiously as possible.
On December 6, 2018, the Home Department vide Order No.1651 appointed Additional Commissioner Kashmir in the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir as State level Nodal Officer and Assistant Commissioner (Central) with Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Revenue Attorney with the Divisional Commissioner Jammu as Divisional level Nodal Officers.
Moreover, District Level Committees headed by Additional District Development Commissioners were constituted with the direction to the concerned Deputy Commissioners to constitute similar committees at Sub-Division and Tehsil level for identification and distribution of these Set Top Boxes—-15,000 each in Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
Even the criteria/methodology for identification of eligible households (true beneficiaries), categorization of villages and prioritization of beneficiaries followed by distribution of Set Top Boxes to the eligible households/beneficiaries and prioritization of beneficiaries in the villages was shared with the State level and Divisional level Nodal Officers besides concerned Deputy Commissioners for prompt action.
“However, administration is showing no urgency in completion of formalities for distribution of free Set Top Boxes despite being well aware of the fact that this step will help in effectively countering Pakistan propaganda”, sources said while disclosing that in majority of the border districts the basic formalities have not been completed till date.
“It is a matter of serious concern that slackness is prevailing despite Ministry of Home Affair’s repeated thrust on expediting process”, they added.
When contacted, State level Nodal Officer as well as Divisional level Nodal Officers expressed ignorance about the exercise being conducted at the district level. Two of them said, “we will have to check the file to ascertain whether any correspondence has been received from the concerned Deputy Commissioners or District Level Committees”.
As per the criteria laid down by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the house-hold should be within 0-5 kilometres from International Border and Line of Control; the house-hold should have TV/LCD, formal electricity connection and priority should be given to house-holds having no access to Television Cable Network.
It is pertinent to mention here that for further strengthening of Doordarshan terrestrial TV coverage, projects to set up more High Power TV transmitters in J&K have been approved by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
As far as All India Radio is concerned, a number of high power transmitters have already been set up at various locations which are capable of broadcasting programmes across borders aimed at countering Pakistan propaganda.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
