Jan Prasaran Diwas: Recalling the day when nation heard voice of Mahatma first time on radio

News Bharati    12-Nov-2019
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New Delhi, November 12: Jan Prasaran Diwas, Public Service Broadcasting Day is being celebrated today. The day is celebrated to commemorate the first and the only visit of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi to the studio of All India Radio, Delhi in 1947.

On November 12, 1947, the Father of the Nation addressed the displaced people, who had temporarily settled at Kurukshetra in Haryana after partition. The day was declared as the Jan Prasaran Diwas (Public Service Broadcasting Day) in 2000, after it was conceptualised by Suhas Borker, Convenor, Jan Prasar.
Mahatma Gandhi visited the AIR office for his first live broadcast. Gandhiji had decided to convey his message through radio, as he couldn’t visit the refugees of Partition stationed at Kurukshetra in Haryana.
 
"I see 'shakti', the miraculous power of God," Gandhiji had reportedly said about the medium of radio as he entered the studio. 
Gandhiji began his speech at around 3:30 pm by saying, “My brothers and sisters who are suffering, I do not know if only you or some other people are also listening to it....” The words, which were spoken by Gandhiji on that day, became a treasure and a snippet of the speech is played on November 12 every year.
Mahatma Gandhi was neither the Prime Minister nor the President, he didn’t hold any post. Like a common citizen he spoke from the AIR studio. 

 
Gandhiji used to run several newspapers and understood the power of media and hence, was completely against commercial ads and believed that only those non-commercial ads should be accepted that serve some public purpose. For him, the aim of media was service.