Title: Need to increase the coverage area of programmes relayed from Doordarshan Kendra, Port Blair.
SHRI MANORANJAN BHAKTA (ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS):At Port Blair, there is only one Doordharshan Kendra, and the entire programmes are available for a limited area of about 25 kms radius in and around Port Blair. As such the reach of the local programmes being telecast from Doordharshan Kendra, Port Blair is not available to the majority of the population living in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Presently, Doordharshan Kendra is having 3 LPTs for the entire Andaman and Nicobar Islands (2 LPTs are located in Port Blair and 1 in Car Nicobar). There has been ever growing demand from the local people, tribal council of different Islands located at far flung areas, asking for local progammes in their respective areas. As such there is an urgent need to increase the coverage area of programmes relayed from Doordharshan Kendra, Port Blair. In order to increase the coverage area of local programmes the Automatic Switch Over System needs to be introduced in all the LPT sand VLPTs as has been done in other States like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal etc. For this purpose the Earth Station Facilities located at Doordharshan Kendra, Port Blair can also be utilized. In view of the foregoing, I urge upon the Union government to consider the long standing aspirations of the local people living in far flung Islands.