‘Rs 148.039 million earmarked for media uplift projects in NWFP’
ISLAMABAD (July 13 2007): The government firmly believes in bringing Pakistani media at par with the international standards and a total of 52 media development projects are being launched in the year 2007-08 with record allocation of six billion rupees, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani said on Thursday.
He was talking to NWFP Minister for Information and Public Relations Asif Iqbal Daudzai, who called on Senator Durrani at his office. “Rs 148.039 million have been earmarked for the media development projects in NWFP, which demonstrates the government’s firm resolve to take all the federating units along in the development process,” Durrani told Daudzai.
Unveiling the media projects for NWFP province, the minister said that two Re-Broadcast Stations (RBS) of PTV have already been set up in Laram Top and Bajaur Agency which will be inaugurated in September this year.
The Laram Top RBS has been established at the cost of Rs 27.97 million and is designed to serve around 450,000 people, while the RBS at Bajaur Agency, established with the total cost of 34.733 million, is expected to cover 75,000 households, he said.
The projects will not only carry the benefits of the modern age to distant regions of the country but will also bring affordable entertainment at the doorsteps for the common public, Durrani said.
Minister Durrani said that the Islamabad Media University would be set up in the federal capital within the next two months at a cost of Rs 500 million, followed by setting up of its provincial campuses, including the Peshawar campus, in the second phase.
He said that the Media University will not only offer specialised courses in media and journalism but will also initiate various research projects on media related issues. Durrani told the NWFP information minister that Rs 35.355 million will be spent to ensure full FM Radio coverage on Motorways sections M-1 which links Peshawar with Islamabad and M-2, connecting Islamabad to Lahore.
He said that this FM facility on the motorways will not only make the 500KM long journey from Peshawar to Lahore informative and entertaining but will also provide better opportunities to the media sector to expand itself in those gaps which are desperately needed to be filled in.
Up-linking stations will also be established in Islamabad as well as in all the provincial capital, including Peshawar, which will cost around 49.981 million rupees. These up-linking facilities would provide efficient and high quality information flow between the network and the subscriber, he added.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:7/13/2007
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