Inauguration of ‘unfinished’ AIR centre in Meerut draws flak
MEERUT : The seemingly hurried inauguration of the All India Radio centre here, recently has invited criticism from the opposition , which alleges the unfinished project was inaugurated with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections round the corner.
To note, Union minister Rajyawardhan Rathore had laid the foundation stone of the entre on January 20, 2016. BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal inaugurated it on March 6 in the presence of the party`s former state president Dr Laxmikant Bajpai and other leaders, though it was running with only 1/5 of its sanctioned capacity and with floating staff from Delhi headquarters. Agarwal claimed that it would help in encouraging folk art and provide employment to local residents.
However, an employee at the centre said on condition of anonymity that the main objective of the AIR centre was to re-transmit the FM signals received from Delhi to make its coverage area larger. No studio was in existence in the centre where local programmes could be recorded and aired, he said , candidly admitting that the centre was being run by floating staff sent from Delhi headquarters, which was dubbed as ‘ tour staff’.
Senior assistant engineer Ramji Dubey, also a tour staff, admitted that presently the transmission was being done with 2 KW capacity against the sanctioned 10 KW capacity. Currently, a temporary tower of 45 metres has been established for transmission against the sanctioned tower of 100 metres. “The present tower can cover an area of 15 to 20 kms and after completion of 100 mr tower the range of transmitter will extend 60 to 70 m,” he said. Lokendra Tyagi, assistant director of the centre, said that the work for raising 100 m high tower was under way which was expected to be completed by the end of April. Thereafter, the antenna for transmission would be shifted to enlarge the coverage area of signals,” he said.
Criticising the inauguration, Rajpal Singh, district president of Samajwadi Party said, “This is a political gimmick of BJP leaders to take advantage in the coming elections.” He questioned why the project was inaugurated while the tower was incomplete and permanent staff was not there. Responding to the criticism, MP Rajendra Agarwal said, “Opposition parties have nothing to say, that is why they are raising baseless issues.”.