BIND Scheme

• 05 Jan 2023

Why in News?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding the Central Sector Scheme “Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development” (BIND) Scheme with an outlay of Rs.2,539.61 crore up to 2025-26.

What is a BIND Scheme?

• About:
  • It is a scheme for providing financial support to Prasar Bharati for expenses related to expansion and upgradation of its broadcasting infrastructure, content development and civil work related to the organization.
    • Prasar Bharati, as the public broadcaster of the country, is the most important vehicle of information, education, entertainment and engagement for the people especially in the remote areas of the country through Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR).
    • Prasar Bharati played a stellar role in communicating public health messages and awareness to the public during the covid pandemic.
• Scope:
  • It will widen Prasar Bharati’s reach, including in the LWE (Left Wing Extremism), border and strategic areas and provide high quality content to the viewers.
  • It will increase coverage of AIR FM (frequency modulation) transmitters in the country to 66% by geographical area and 80% by population, up from 59% and 68% respectively. The Scheme also envisages free distribution of over 8 lakh DD Free Dish STBs (Set Top Box) to people living in remote, tribal, LWE and border areas.
• Significance:
  • In addition to enhancing the scope of public broadcasting, the Project has the potential to generate indirect employment by way of manufacturing and services related to supply and installation of broadcast equipment.
  • Content generation and content innovation for AIR & DD has the potential of indirect employment of persons with varied experience of different media fields in the content production sector including TV/Radio production, transmission and associated media related services.

Source: PIB