Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday inaugurated a 10 KW FM transmitter of All India Radio (AIR) in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district.
With the commissioning of the relay FM transmitter at Patnitop, the people living on high reaches and remote areas would be able to listen to radio more clearly, Singh said.
"A long pending demand of the people has been fulfilled, who were earlier left with no option but to listen to the programmes broadcast from across the border," he said.
Singh said AIR can play a key role in countering the malicious and fake propaganda being unleashed from across the border.
"In the era of social media where misinformation spreads quickly, the credibility and trustworthiness of AIR serves as an alternative yet accurate source of information for the audience," he said.
The minister of state in PMO Singh said radio as a medium is prompt, credible and instantaneous and has continued to remain so despite the fast changing media landscape.
"Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it engages us even while not disengaging us from the work we are doing. The medium, its use and applications have changed over time, but it continues to remain relevant," he said.
Highlighting the role played by the public broadcaster towards the socio-economic development of the country, Singh said the FM transmitter would provide people access to information related to developmental initiatives of the government and will open a new chapter in the developmental journey of the region.
Earlier in his address, Director General All India Radio, Fayyaz Sheheryar said the installation of the 10 KW FM transmitter at Patnitop was a landmark achievement by the public broadcaster for reaching out to the people in remote areas of the state.
The 10 KW transmitter will help cover an aerial distance of 60 kilometre in nearby districts of Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur and parts of Jammu and even across the border, he said.
It will be available in the frequency of 101 MHz, he added.
"To begin with the programmes AIR Jammu and Vividh Bharti would be transmitted for 18 hours a day," Sheheryar said.
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