The Hindu : National : Science channel proposal goes into a spin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 28, 2005

National

National

Science channel proposal goes into a spin

By R. Ramachandran

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The ambitious proposal of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to launch a dedicated science television channel, `Jigyasa', using the capacity on ISRO's satellite, EduSat, seems to have gone into a spin. EduSat, a geostationary satellite for educational purposes, was launched aboard the indigenous Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle on September 20 last.

The proposal was to be piloted in early January 2005 through some flagship programmes on DD-1 before it became a full-fledged channel. The channel was to be managed and run as a joint venture of the Development and Education Communication Unit (DECU) of ISRO, Ahmedabad, and Vigyan Prasar, the science communication wing of the DST in New Delhi. This idea has now been put on indefinite hold.

"The Science and Technology Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, has raised certain issues with regard to the channel's management structure, content and even its name," said Mr. B.S. Bhatia, Director, DECU. "These are under discussion and we should be able to sort it out soon," he added.

To change hands?

However, according to reliable ISRO sources, the very concept of a science channel is now under reconsideration. The prime reason appears to be the Mr. Sibal's proposal to hand over the channel's operations to a private party. The Minister apparently did not have enough confidence in the DECU-Vigyan Prasar combine to deliver the goods. Indeed, a private agency promoted by a former bureaucrat of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has reportedly been approached.

This move has, however, not gone down too well with DECU and Vigyan Prasar, which have done considerable groundwork, including software development and content generation, for the channel. They point out that the private party has no track record to show it can manage such a channel.

According to Dr. V.S. Ramamurthy, Secretary, DST, following a meeting among all prospective stakeholders here on October 12, 2004, the party had submitted a proposal and a business plan to the Ministry. It was on this basis that it was being considered, he said.

"Participation of other agencies is required only for quality content generation — nearly 2,200 hrs (18 hrs a day with three repeats) of science programmes per year — and not in managing and running the channel," Dr. Ramamurthy emphasised.

The DECU-Vigyan Prasar combine would be able to handle the channel's operation as software had already been developed.

The programmes already produced would now be sought to be aired on DD and other channels. Proposals that DECU-Vigyan Prasar had received from independent film-makers for flagship programmes would perhaps now have to wait till the matter is resolved.

If things had gone as per plans, the channel's launch in January would have made an appropriate forum to communicate science, especially in this International Year of Physics, and could have been a worthwhile initiative to showcase during the National Science Day, which falls tomorrow (February 28).

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