Today, we have the luxury of choosing from a vast variety of television channels and shows available for our entertainment. But back in 1959, when India launched its first television channel- Doordarshan– it was as a half hour experimental telecast. Given that India was then primarily an agriculture-driven economy, the first ever programme to be aired on the channel was Krishi Darshan in 1967 before it became a full-fledged channel in 1976. 

Taking a cue from the 50-year-old show on the national broadcaster, the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government decided to launch an all new channel completely dedicated to farmers. On the first anniversary of the BJP-led government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated DD Kisan to bring more engaging content for farmers — according to the channel’s website, it purports to “show the real picture of rural India”. 

Occupying a unique niche, comparing the viewership of DD Kisan to any other programme serves a moot point, but as the data from BARC would indicate, the channel is exponentially more popular in rural areas as compared to urban which is hardly surprising, after all, it is geared to specifically suit the needs of that population. 

According to the data shared by Broadcast Audience Research Council between May 20 and June 16, the channel recorded over five million impressions in the Hindi Speaking Market in the rural belt alone. In the urban Hindi speaking belt, the reach of the channel is nearly two million.

We at Newslaundry were a little trepidatious, after all, a channel dedicated to programming of farmer suicides, protests and illegal land acquisitions would be a bit much. However, when we actually tuned into the channel, everything seemed hunky-dory in the hinterland. We would this perplexing, especially this year, when 596 farmers have committed suicide in just Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka alone according to this compilation by The Wire. 

But perhaps a true picture of rural India would clash with the “practical, informative, interactive, entertaining and fun-to-watch” agenda that an unnamed official from the channel was recorded as telling Business Standard. 

The channel airs regular programmes such as Kisan Samachar, Hello Kisan, Khet Khalihan, Mausam Khabar, Mandi Khabar,  as well as fictional shows such as Gaon ki Beti, Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Guldasta. 

Kisan Samachar is a news bulletin ostensibly featuring news tailored for and around the agrarian economy. For instance, on International Yoga Day, the channel aired news of ministers doing Yoga besides telecasting stories on how well Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan is doing.

Hello Kisan, a leaf from Krishi Darshan’s concept, airs five days a week in the evening from 5 pm to 6 pm. The show is a platform for farmers to engage with agricultural experts to address their issues. Khet Khalihan is an educational programme where different kinds of seeds and techniques are discussed with the focus on increasing yield. Mausam Khabar, as its name suggests, provides weather updates and region specific sowing advice.

While it is commendable that the channel is trying to reach out to the agricultural community, and each of its shows has been tailored to suit the needs of the farming community, it seems odd that it eschews any mention, especially the news segments, on the current agrarian crisis in the country.

Initially touted as the “game changer in attracting rural audience”, the channel that we observed seems to exist in a bubble where there are no floods, droughts, or untenable farm loans, raising the question ‘Is this channel purporting to show the ground reality of the shrinking agrarian economy, or a rosy picture of what it could have been?

After much resistance from the state administration, the farmers of Maharashtra found some relief after the loan waiver was announced. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, declared what is being touted as the “biggest ever” loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore on June 24. Besides Maharashtra, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab announced loan waivers to its distressed farmers. 

There have been widespread protests by debt-ridden farmers around the country who have been demanding a price increase of their produce besides seeking write-off of loans. One of the most visible protests was that of Tamil Nadu farmers, who used macabre ways to grab the attention of the central government. 

Strangely enough, Newslaundry did a detailed search but could find nothing that on DD Kisan related to the farmers protest. There has been much talk of the mainstream media, especially the English language or Lutyens media rarely focusing on the plight of those residing outside of cities, but then expects more from a channel dedicated solely to this demograph alone.

Interestingly, none of the agricultural scientists and experts that Newslaundry spoke to had watched DD Kisan at length. However, they opined that the reason why they never watched it was because they were certain that the channel lacks objectivity. “I don’t expect a government channel to criticise the policies of the government, though that is not how it is supposed to be,” economist and former professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Arun Kumar said. 

He added that the agrarian crisis is not something new but things spiralled down for the farmers after PM Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in November last year. “The cost of cultivation rose in Rabi crops in November and December because people didn’t have cash so they had to borrow and spend. Simultaneously, the vegetable prices crashed because there was a bumper crop [very productive harvest]. A lot of people in the unorganised sector lost purchasing power,” he said. In simple words, the cost of cultivation rose, however, there was a greater output while the demand for the produce was falling. 

But how much of it has been covered by DD Kisan or the mainstream media? At a talk organised by Communication for Development and Learning on June 22, journalist and author, P Sainath, said that while nearly 69 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture, the media coverage it gets is only over one per cent. 

“When TV was started in India in 1959, it started with Krishi Darshan. The idea was to give information and feedback to the farmers through the medium of television. But that promise has never been kept,” Kumar told Newslaundry. 

Agricultural scientist Devinder Sharma opined that all channels which have shows related to agriculture would just tell farmers which fertiliser or pesticide to use and how to augment the yield. “Why can’t there be debates on why the farmers are protesting?”

In April, however, Prasar Bharati appointed a five-member committee to revamp DD Kisan and the content aired on it. The committee would comprise additional director general of DD Kisan, Alok Agarwal, additional director general of finance, Deepak Ashish Kaul and three other employees of DD. 

Newslaundry tried getting in touch with the Additional Director General of DD Kisan, Alok Agarwal, for comments but all calls and messages to him did not elicit any response. This piece will be updated if and when he chooses to respond. 

According to an article on Mint, the decision of the makeover was taken at a board meeting on April 6 to improve its viewership and compete with private TV channels. 

“Till now, there was nobody to look into the programming of DD Kisan. Prasar Bharati had also invited programmes from private production houses but there was no committee to select the content,” an official from the channel is quoted as saying. 

Does the makeover mean that the channel will now focus on the agrarian crisis in the rural economy, or will succumb to the epidemic that the mainstream media is suffering from– “urban bias”, as Kumar told us — in a race to compete with the private channels?

The author can be contacted on Twitter @shrutimenon10.