GUWAHATI, Aug 13 - The State Government has taken serious note of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting move to abolish posts of officials and reshuffles and the proposed discontinuation of regional language news bulletin in the All India Radio, Dibrugarh centre.
Replying to a call attention motion by BJP legislator Hiten Goswami, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the State Government would take up the matter with the Centre as a matter of priority.
Raising the issue, Goswami said that the Centre�s move in effecting the changes in its policy would seriously hurt the regional interests of Assam and that once implemented, there would be no Assamese news bulletin from the Dibrugarh radio station.
Goswami said that the Government of India had way back in 1971 stressed on strengthening the regional content of the Dibrugarh radio station in view of the district�s strategic location.
�Radio still constitutes a major means to communication in rural and interior areas and any attempt at diluting its regional and local character would severely impact the State�s interest. The Centre�s new policy must be reviewed,� he added.
Goswami further said that unlike in several northeastern States that had 24x7 dedicated Doordarshan channels in regional languages, Assam had a channel with a duration of only three-and-a-half hours.
�Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura have 24x7 dedicated channels in local languages, and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh are also working towards that end. Assam, on the other hand, has a channel that runs only for three-and-a-half hours,� he said.
