IndiaPost.com - VOA Hindi Service to be shut down

NEW YORK: It could well be curtains down for the Voice of America Hindi Service (Radio), after having been on air since 1955. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) recently announced to the employees of the Voice of America, Hindi Service (Radio) that their broadcasts will be abolished on September 30.

This decision was presented as being the "will of the Congress", despite the fact that in December the FY 2008 funding bill for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which was passed by both houses and signed by the President, directed that this proposed cut be reversed. On July 16, 2008, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs marked up the Broadcasting Board of Governors FY 2009 budget and again directed this proposed cut be reversed. For 'Language Service Reductions' the Committee recommended that sufficient funding in fiscal year 2009, including $8,000,000 provided in Public Law 110-252, the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008, to maintain broadcasting in languages which the BBG proposed to reduce or eliminate.

The Committee said it supports an ongoing effort to improve audience reach by utilizing the most effective means of transmission; however, the Committee does not support going silent in many critical regions. It appears that the Broadcasting Board of Governors is ignoring the will of the Congress, it said. Incidentally, the Urdu Service of VOA for Pakistan, Dari and Pashto Services for Afghanistan, have been extended by several hours a day while the Hindi Radio Broadcast to India is only an hour a day and that too is likely to be eliminated.