AIR's advisory committee meets after 34 years

An advisory committee of the All India Radio (AIR) met after nearly 34 years today to discuss the revival plans of its external broadcast division, official sources said.
The last meeting of the 'Standing Advisory Committee on External Broadcast' was held in 1983, they said, adding the committee was "revived and reconstituted" as part of the revamping process of the External Service Division of the public broadcaster.
The meeting was chaired by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Additional Secretary Jayashree Mukherjee.
The committee represents various stakeholders of public diplomacy like ministries of external affairs and home affairs as well as the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

One of the issues discussed in the meeting was how to counter the increasing penetration of foreign radio broadcast in the country, particularly in the north eastern states, sources said.
A strategy for broadcasting outside India like in Myanmar and Tibetan Autonomous Region was also discussed during the meeting, they said.
The funding of All India Radio's External Service Division was also discussed, wherein the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was proposed to bear the expenses for the same.
The role of Indian missions abroad to enrich the programme with country-specific inputs was also discussed in the meeting, the sources added.