Key Facts

Significance of Public Service Broadcasting Day 2026 observed on 12 November:

• Historical Milestone: Commemorates 12 November 1947, when Mahatma Gandhi made his maiden and only broadcast from AIR studios in New Delhi.
• Target Audience: The address was broadcast live to 2.5 lakh partition survivors and refugees lodged at Kurukshetra camp in Haryana.
• Declaration Year: The day was officially declared as Public Service Broadcasting Day (Jan Prasaran Divas) in 2001.
• Prasar Bharati Mandate: Prasar Bharati, functioning through Akashvani (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), reaffirms its duty to provide unbiased public-interest programming across 23 languages and over 180 dialects.

GK Context

• Broadcasting in India began in the 1920s through private radio clubs.
• In 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service was renamed All India Radio (AIR), which came to be known as 'Akashvani' in 1956 following the suggestion of poet Narendra Sharma.
• The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990 established Prasar Bharati as an autonomous statutory public service broadcaster, which formally came into existence on 23 November 1997.

Static GK

Freedom of speech and expression under Article 19:

• (a) has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in the landmark Secretary, Ministry of I&B v. Cricket Association of Bengal (1995) case to hold that 'airwaves are public property' and cannot be monopolized by private business or the state apparatus, mandating an autonomous public broadcasting framework.

UPSC Mains Framework

GS Paper II (Statutory Bodies & Democratic Values): 'In an ecosystem polarized by algorithmic echo chambers and commercial news channels, the relevance of public service broadcasters like Prasar Bharati is higher than ever.' Discuss.