Essay on the National Utility of Doordarshan. One of the advances due to scientific inventions has been the transmission of programmes live to the sitting rooms of millions the world over, through the ‘Idiot Box’ as termed by the intellectuals and the Television, as it is generally known.
The world has shrunk to a Global Village and one of the factors which resulted in this advancement, is definitely the Television. It has become more powerful than the print media with the transmission, live of any incident anywhere of almost everywhere instantly, all over the world. Most of us will accept that we are more updated in matter of importance, concerning our world today that we were about two or three decades ago. The dangers to nearly extinct species of flora and fauna, of which we were not aware earlier, is brought to us through channels like Discovery and National Geographic. They are making us and our future generation more aware of our irresponsible activities and the perils our natural habitat is subjected to.
The children of today are definitely more knowledgeable and intelligent that their predecessors. One of the reasons being the amount of visual information their minds retain through intelligent programmes. The Olympics, the Grand Slam Tennis matches, World Cup Football, International Cricket, Chess and other such sports are there for asking. The fitness of the athletes, their intelligence and speed in responding to sudden changes in strategy, are motivators and help sportsmen be updated.
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The power of national transmission named Doordarshan is obvious to everyone. The foremost being that we are closely tied to each other from one end of the country to the other. We now have leaders on national transmission whose speeches are shown live to all parts of the country. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings are telecast live.
The value of Doordarshan in keeping the citizens informed and updating them on new definitions of secularism, or that suits the political bigwigs in garnering en bloc minority votes even as the national integration policy goes haywire.
Doordarshan is definitely a boon for the purpose of teaching the masses of illiterate voters about the efficacy of our democratic setup.
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But there is the other side of Television too. The advent of the dish antennae have made possible the transmissions of various foreign channels to homes in India. We have seen several fashion and western music channels beamed and this is literally a foreign cultural incision. Scantily dressed feminine figures and the western culture of permissiveness is becoming all pervading. Our young ones are trying to behave like copycats. This is a very serious problem and need a lot of afterthought.
Another problem is that we have started behaving like a nation of couch potatoes, instead of children including in reading good magazines and classic which will benefit them in knowledge and literature, they spend hours together watching third rate movies full of indecency, brutality and permissive scenes. These young gullible minds readily take to these and try to behave in such unnatural manner. The rise in crime by juveniles and young men are, to some extent, blamed on these affectations. Thus Television is a Bane too from these angles.
Luckily Doordarshan being a national channel is controlled, and is more selective in its programmes, their educational and cultural themes benefit the cause of our culture and values but to retain their drawing power and TRP ratings, they are also transmitting senseless programmes of film songs and Hindi movies. The quality of programmes has definitely taken a nosedive what with the changing tastes of the viewers.
The negative value of Television and foreign channels beamed have proved a bane for our culture and even Doordarshan has not remained unaffected Unless steps are taken to improve it qualitatively Television will also become a Bane for our young generation.
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Doordarshan has the largest number of viewers in the country. It is beamed directly to the remotest corners and can be viewed on any TV with just and ordinary antennae. There is hardly any village where there is no TC sets and the medium can be utilized for all purposes, be it education, be it news broadcast or be it entertainment.
Education here is the prime factors for motivation. As literacy is very low, Doordarshan can provide the necessary impetus through pictures. The best feature of television is that messages can be easily conveyed and retained. It is easier to remember through pictorials that through the written word and definitely more convenient for the illiterate.
The message of chastity and the fearsome repercussions of uninhibited sexual relations, in the form of HIV/AIDS can be easily explained. The use of condoms and other modes of family planning, can be conveniently repeated every day, without incurring extra cost. This will serve the dual purpose of checking this dangerous disease as well as the very important aspect of population control. The use of humorous kits to put forward these messages can be boon and the facility of our Doordarshan in this regard cannot be undermined.
The national Utility of Doordarshan to give the right information and spread the message of harmony, peace and brotherhood, is very important. Regular coverage of inter-religious seminars where the educated and erudite of both communities come on a single platform to eradicate differences and misconceptions can do wonders.
A nation progresses when it competes with other nations and emerges triumphant. It motivates the nations and our winning World Cup Cricket resulted in euphoria. The Utility of Doordarshan in creating a sense of competence by projecting games, is indeed commendable. The live transmission of games which would otherwise suffer for lack of funds. This is one of the biggest Utilities of Doordarshan that they are creating a sense of healthy competition as well as perpetual efforts. If this could become a habit it would enter all activities of our life and create a hard working and disciplined generation.
The widespread views of Western culture is due to the other foreign channels in the transmission field. Doordarshan would be our shield by projecting the real value of our own culture and the appreciation being received from these very advanced Western Cultures.