Prasar Bharati: India’s Public Broadcaster

Parliament passed the law creating India’s public broadcaster in 1990. It took seven more years before Prasar Bharati actually came into existence.

MCQ Questions

India’s Public Broadcaster, in Numbers

Akashvani & Doordarshan · As of 2026

~98%

Population covered by Akashvani

~90%

Area covered by Akashvani

₹2,539.61 cr

BIND Scheme outlay

Editorial-autonomy grievances, past year

1990

1997

Act passed 1990 → corporation actually established 1997

The gap: Parliament passed the Prasar Bharati Act in 1990, but the broadcaster only began functioning seven years later, in 1997.

📑 Contents

Timeline

1990: The Prasar Bharati Act receives presidential assent, on 12 September.
1997: Prasar Bharati actually comes into existence, on 23 November, as a statutory autonomous body.
2021: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves the BIND Scheme, worth ₹2,539.61 crore.
2026: A written Lok Sabha reply, on 5 August, confirms BIND’s extension and reports zero editorial-autonomy grievances in the past year.

Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body, established under the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, and came into existence on 23 November 1997.
It oversees Akashvani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan, India’s public radio and television broadcasters.
A Prasar Bharati Board, with a Chairman and a CEO (Executive Member), governs the corporation under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Akashvani covers about 98% of India’s population and about 90% of its area.
DD Free Dish, Doordarshan’s free DTH platform, is receivable anywhere in the country with no subscription charge.
The Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND) Scheme, a Central Sector Scheme, funds the modernisation of Prasar Bharati’s broadcasting infrastructure.

BIND was approved in 2021 at ₹2,539.61 crore, originally running through 2025-26. It has since been extended to 31 March 2027.
BIND funds items like OB vans and HD-ready digital upgrades for Doordarshan and All India Radio studios.
Editorial matters are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and senior editorial teams, under Prasar Bharati’s own editorial policies and Programme Code.
Prasar Bharati uses viewership data, audience feedback, and social media analytics as part of its regular editorial review.
For related media-institution coverage, see Polity0159 — Journalism in India and Polity0162 — Press Information Bureau (PIB) and Journalist Welfare in India.

In a written Lok Sabha reply on 5 August 2026, the government said it received zero grievances in the past year from journalists, employees, or media bodies about editorial autonomy or appointments.
The same reply did report 7 complaints, but these came from job applicants over appointments, a separate category from editorial independence concerns.
The Act itself shows how slowly institutional autonomy can arrive. Parliament passed it in 1990, but Prasar Bharati only began functioning in 1997.
That seven-year gap is a familiar pattern on this site. Legal architecture often precedes real operational capacity, sometimes by years.
For Prasar Bharati, the wait was about giving broadcasting real independence from direct government control, not just creating a new department.