DD, AIR employees in state protest shutting down of terrestrial services

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Employees of Doordarshan and All India Radio, under the banner of Association of Akashvani and Doordarshan Engineering Employees (AADEE), are conducting protests against the shutting down of terrestrial services.

"AIR and Doordarshan are national public service broadcasters and function under Section 12 of the Prasar Bharati Act. Both the organisations were never constituted as profit-making entities either by the honourable Parliament or by the successive governments," AADEE's Kerala State Organising Secretary, Anil Kumar Puthenpurayil, told IANS.

The AADEE alleged that Prasar Bharati is trying to shut down the terrestrial services of both Doordarshan and All India Radio citing that they are not making profits. It said that Prasar Bharati has issued orders on September 13 to shut down 412 Doordarshan transmitters in the country, including 11 in Kerala.

The union leaders said that if the order is executed, it would lead to only Thiruvananthapuram centre of Doordarshan functioning.

Puthenpurayil said that the union leaders led by him have already met Congress leader and Wayanad MP, Rahul Gandhi, state Congress President, K. Sudhakaran, BJP state chief, K. Surendran, and other senior leaders cutting across party lines.

The AIR and DD employees association said that it would stage protest marches across the country against the shutting down of Doordarshan and AIR terrestrial services.