Parliament Question: Regularization of Casual Announcers and Presenters in All India Radio

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4344 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026) Regularization of Casual Announcers and Presenters in All India Radio 4344. SHRI SURESH KUMAR KASHYAP: Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that a permanent policy has been formulated by Prasar Bharati for the regularisation of casual announcers and presenters working for years and various All India Radio (Akashvani) centers across the country as submitted before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 30th October, 2025; (b) if so, the details of number of persons regularised under the said policy so far along with the timeline within which the remaining personnel likely to be regularised; (c) whether it is also a fact that no significant increase has been made in the honorarium of these casual announcers and presenters for a long time; (d) if so, the reasons therefor and the time by which the hike in honorarium is likely to be implemented; (e) whether the budget for programme based on local languages and dialects has been reduced in various centers of Akashvani especially the Shimla center and if so, the reasons therefor; and (f) whether the Government is likely to provide additional budget for the preservation and promotion of such programme? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS [DR. L. MURUGAN] (a) to (f): There is no permanent policy in Prasar Bharati for regularization of casual announcers and presenters in Akashvani. Their fees is revised from time to time. It was revised in 2021 and subsequently again revised in 2022. Necessary funds for programmes at Akashvani Kendras are allocated in the annual programme budget of Akashvani to support programming across languages & dialects. Further, the annual programme budget of Akashvani Shimla has increased over the past 4 years. *****