Inspired by the Doordarshan motto, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Doordarshan news has always been conscious of its role and responsibility of providing authentic and comprehensive information on news and current affairs, nationally as well as internationally.
Programmes with high moral values are still attractive for the TV viewers as was proved by famous mega teleserials like Ramayan and Mahabharat, which were not only entertaining but also educative, said Swami Viswatmananada Maharaj, secretary Ramakrishna Mission Hospital in Itanagar.
Speaking at a function to mark the golden jubilee celebration of Doordarshan, the monk said it is not a fact that programmes of high moral values have no viewers.
DD unlike the commercial private channels should promote such type of programmes in tune with its motto 'Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram' to reflect its social respoonsibility as a public broadcaster, he said.
Television with its huge reach has a big influence on the people, especically on tender minds, he said and advocated a strong control by government world wide on such programmes presented by private channels full of sex, violence and negativism.
Expressing concern at the present trends of TV, the monk said the TV programmes should aim at manifesting 'Satyam', the truth in human beings so that 'Shivam' (Goodness) and 'Sundaram' (Beauty) manifest automatically bringing postivities in life.
Ministry to keep in mind sensibilities of TV households: Soni
With Doordarshan celebrating 50 years of its existence on Tuesday, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni has said her Ministry would continue encouraging creative skills that cater to sensibilities of single television viewing families.
The Minister on the occasion of DD's anniversary called upon noted film makers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Shyam Benegal (both of whom are associated with an NGO called Public Service Broadcasting Trust-PSBT), to contribute meaningfully to DD again.
Benegal had made the highly acclaimed serial 'Bharat Ek Khoj' for DD in the late 1980s.
Speaking to a gathering of PSBT trustees in New Delhi, the Minister invited suggestions from them for making DD more vibrant and interesting while retaining its commitment to healthy entertainment suitable for family viewing.
Meanwhile, the ministry has renewed its commitment of financial support to PSBT, a Delhi-based NGO.
Under the Plan scheme component for production of documentaries through NGOs, the Films Division would grant funds to PSBT, which has been shortlisted for production of documentaries for the current financial year.
In the past also DD and PSBT have had public-private partnership and over the past nine years, a large number of PSBT documentaries have been funded by DD.
Among the national non-film awards for 2007, which were announced last week, at least four such joint productions of DD and PSBT have won accolades.
