Weeks ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh polls, state-owned Doordarshan (DD) News has planned a two-day conclave in Lucknow—including one-on-one interactions with political leaders and panel discussions with domain experts—on the “developmental story of Uttar Pradesh” and topics that “frame the progress of the state”, News18.com has learnt.
The conclave will be held on January 7 and 8 and will be aired on DD News and the regional DD Uttar Pradesh. The repeat telecast will be on DD News, DD National, DD Kisan and DD UP, while the audio recordings will be broadcast on AIR UP network.
The entire DD Conclave will run into about 12 hours of discussions, interviews on the “developmental story” of the state and the way forward.
An internal rate circular of Prasar Bharati, accessed by News18.com, cited the reason for organising the conclave as “national importance” of the approaching UP polls. It said the elections are already making news across the media spectrum.
“As the public broadcaster of the nation, it is our solemn endeavour to bring voices from across the political spectrum to all citizens, so that they may exercise their franchise in an informed manner,” it stated.
A senior DD official told News18.com that as part of the ongoing focus on Uttar Pradesh, Doordarshan has recently rolled out several new programmes. “The conclave is an effort to build on that momentum,” the official said.
The topics likely to be covered during the conclave range from industrial development and farmers’ welfare to connectivity in the state and law and order issues, etc, that have “dominated the development discourse in Uttar Pradesh and may be of interest to the general public at large”.
Prasar Bharati is also planning to extensively publicise the event through newspapers and digital platforms and get sponsors, who will be showcased in the promotions of the conclave.
As per sources in the government, Prasar Bharati will approach corporates for sponsoring the event and is aiming to raise revenues of nearly Rs 4 crore.
The rates for the slots—which have been packaged under different categories—vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
Last month, DD News had extensively covered the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had deployed the latest drones, radiofrequency cameras and over 200 staff members—comprising correspondents, camerapersons, engineers, technicians and others from various cities.
With inputs from News18
Sena minister for Bihar-type power sharing with BJP 