Mumbai: The government will distribute 1.5 lakh free dish in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the ministry of information and broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra said on Tuesday during a visit to Kangan Sub Division of J&K to assess the outreach of DD Free Dish in the area.

The free dish services are proposed in the areas where cable services are unavailable, the government said. The government said that the tendering is under process and will be completed soon.

The union secretary was accompanied by All India Radio principal director general (news) N. V. Reddy; Doordarshan director general Mayank Agarwal; Press Information Bureau Srinagar additional director general Rajinder Chaudhry, News DDK Srinagar deputy director Qazi Salman and the officers of the district administration.

Chandra highlighted the importance of providing free-of-cost services to the masses. He said that the service is being distributed in remote areas of Kashmir and its ambit will be increased in the times to come. 

Chandra also commended Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar for “aptly representing the local culture and traditions through its programmes reaching the people with authentic information.”

The I&B Secretary also interacted with locals using DD Free Dish at Margund Kangan who shared their feedback about the programmes available on various channels, especially DD Kashir.

“The scheme will help in keeping the people updated about different developmental initiatives and also inform them about the local as well as national events of importance,” stated a local Abdul Rashid Sheikh.

DD Free Dish is owned and operated by public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati. It was launched in December 2003 and reaches 43 million households across the country.