Free Set Top Boxes for Border Residents of J&K

By JV Team

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Soon residents of border areas of Jammu and Kashmir will get free Set Top Boxes from the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This step will go a long way in effectively countering Pakistan’s malicious propaganda by expanding the Doordarshan’s terrestrial TV coverage. dishtv border jammu kashmir

Here are few things you should know about Free Set Top Boxes for Border Residents of Jammu & Kashmir:

  1. The decision to distribute 30,000 Set Top Boxes of Doordarshan under its Free Dish Scheme among the inhabitants of border areas of Jammu and Kashmir was taken by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in consultation with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in the middle of last year.
  2. The broad objective behind this decision was to counter TV signal and malicious propaganda of the hostile neighbour and in the light of the fact that many border areas are still not covered by terrestrial transmission.
  3. Vide communication dated August 14, 2018, the Department of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs informed Principal Secretary Home Department of the State about this decision and even asked for formulation of criteria/methodology for identification of the people living in the border areas to whom these Set Top Boxes would be distributed.
  4. According to online reports, villages have been grouped in five categories on the basis of distance from the border with maximum distance of five kilometers. In the similar manner, the villages have been grouped in five sub-categories of one kilometer each up to five kilometers from the border. The first priority will be given to the beneficiaries living in the first prioritized village.
  5. The Home Department has asked the Additional Commissioners in the offices of the Divisional Commissioners to ensure participation of eligible beneficiaries—three from each border district namely Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Leh and Kargil in the function.
    The beneficiaries have been identified strictly keeping in view the criteria/methodology worked out by the Government and preference is being given to the households which are nearer to the International Border and Line of Control.

The Governor Satya Pal Malik will kick start distribution from the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on June 19, 2019.

With inputs from online reports