Doordarshan's farmer-centric channel, DD Kisan is all set to be launched on Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government has made it a "must carry" channel making it mandatory for cable and Direct to Home (DTH) operators to provide it to their subscribers. "Since there are farmers in every state, so under the Cable Act, the Kisan channel has been made a must-carry channel. Must carry means that it is compulsory for every cable network or DTH network to carry it," Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said.
Officials said that earlier there were 24 TV channels which were must carry channels and after the notification issued with regard to DD Kisan, there are 25 such channels now. Several Doordarshan channels are included in the category of 'must carry' channels, they said.
Jaitley also said the channel would become available 24x7 after it is launched and its programmes would be primarily for agriculture sector and rural India. Information related to weather can be very useful, he said.
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