Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated 91 FM transmitters spread across 18 states and two union territories, in a move that will boost FM radio connectivity in the border regions and aspirational districts.
With these new transmitters set up in 84 districts, the coverage will further increase by about 35,000 sq km area, benefitting an additional two crore people who did not have access to the medium so far.
In Odisha, the transmitters have been set up at Gop in Puri district, Mohana in Gajapati, Phulbani in Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Bargarh, Koraput and Malkangiri.
Besides Odisha, the states and Union Territories which have come under FM expansion include Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Ladakh.
With this expansion of AIR’s FM broadcast, 2 more crore people, who did not have access to the service, will now get the facility.
“These FM transmitters will play a key role in a range of services be it timely dissemination of information, weather forecast for agriculture or connecting the women self-help groups with new markets,” Modi said.
It may be noted that the FM expansion comes two days before the transmission of 100th episode of the Prime Minister’s popular programme “Mann Ki Baat” on Sunday.
