Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has asked Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tiwari to provide additional five thousand Direct to Home (DTH) sets to be installed in far flung tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh. He said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had already announced twenty thousand DTH for tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh during his visit to the State on 28th May, 2005.
Virbhadra Singh said that, the then Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ambika Soni, in the year 2009 had informed that the Prasar Bharti had included Himachal Pradesh for distribution of 5000 additional DTH sets in the DTH schemes of Doordarshan during 11th Five Year Plan period. State Government has not received these DTH sets till now. He said that the people of the tribal areas who remained deprived off watching Doordarshan programmes till now should get this facility at earliest.
Chief Minister informed the Union Minister that above 20000 DTH sets were received by the State in the year 2008 and which had been installed in Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Bharmour and Pangi, all tribal areas of the State. He said that keeping in view adverse topography of the State and tough climatic conditions, the Government India should provide 5000 additional DTH sets for tribal areas and all fringe areas of the State on the analogy of such scheme of the Prasar Bharti for the North Eastern States.
