Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: On May 3 the journey of India’s most heard radio station, All India Radio, ended. The government has ordered that the public broadcaster be exclusively referred to as Akashvani in all broadcasts, thereby shedding another colonial baggage.
“This was long pending and in line with the law which came into being in 1997. Our listeners have more of a connect with Akashvani and so we are ridding ourselves of colonial baggage that may have persisted,” Gaurav Dwivedi, chief executive office of Prasar Bharati, which is the parent organisation of Akashvani said.
According to a media report, the order was issued on May 3. According to the order all satellite messages will now be issued in compliance with the Prasar Bharti Act, 1990, which defined Akashvani as the offices, stations and other establishments that were part of or under All India Radio.
The official name of the All India Radio has always been Akashvani, a name proposed by Rabindranath Tagore, which means ‘voice from the sky.’ However since 1956 both names have been used in the broadcasts.
