SONG AND DRAMA DIVISION
INTRODUCTION
Song and Drama Division was set
up in 1954 as a unit of All India Radio and was given the status of an
independent media unit in 1960 as a Subordinate office of the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting.
The Division has 12 Regional
Centres at Bhopal, Chandigarh, Delhi, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chennai, Pune,
Calcutta, Bangalore, Ranchi, Dehradun and Raipur. It has nine Sub-Centres
located at Bhubneshwar, Hyderabad, Patna, Imphal, Jodhpur, Darbhanga, Nainital,
Shimla and Srinagar (Jammu).
Border Publicity Scheme was
introducted in Song and Drama Division in 1966 with the objective to boost up
morale of the people along the sensitive international boundaries and keep them
bound to the country’s unity and integrity. The Border Publicity Centres are
situated at Jodhpur, Jammu, Shimla, Nainital, Darbhanga, Imphal and Guwahati.
In 1967 Armed Forces Entertainment Wing was set up with a view to entertain the
Jawans posted in forward areas. Of the nine troupes one is located in Chennai
and the rest at Delhi. A new medium, an amalgam of Sound, Light and Live action
was adopted by Song and Drama Division in 1967 after seven years of successful
trial. There are three Sound and Light units one each at Delhi, Banglore and
Allahabad. In 1981, the Division set up a tribal centre at Ranchi for
pacticipation of tribals in the programme activities for the welfare of the
tribal people. The scheme covers Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh.
The Song and Drama Division puts
up field programmes in coordination with the sister media units of the Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting, Central/State Government Departments and
voluntary organisations. The Division works in close coordination with the
Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Defence, Rural Areas and Employment,
Welfare, Human Resource Development etc.
