Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has moved the Union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar over Prasar Bharati’s directives for reassigning All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) in Dibrugarh as relay centres only.

The move will curtail their capacity to produce their own programmes and would only broadcast or telecast AIR and DDK, Guwahati’s programmes, his letter to Javadekar said.

Sonowal urged him to retain the present status of both AIR and DD Dibrugarh centres as these places have been instrumental in reflecting the cultural mosaic and indigenous traditions of communities in Upper Assam and even the eastern districts of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.

Both the Dibrugarh centres of DDK, functioning as a full-fledged station since 1993, and AIR, which completed 50 years in 2019, should not be relegated to the status of relay centres as Guwahati centres of AIR and DDK would be overburdened to appropriately mirror the rich cultural facets of this part of country, he wrote.

The letter also touched upon the concerns caused by transfer of artistes and staff from DD Dibrugarh outside the Northeast without replacements while underlining the resentment caused among the leading citizens of the state about the possible loss of employment opportunities for local artistes in both the centres.

“For preserving and sustaining the language, culture and heritage of the State, the present status of AIR and DDK, Dibrugarh, should be retained and they should be allowed to transmit own locally produced programmes,” Sonowal letter said.