NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi today told the Lok Sabha that there was no proposal to set up any separate regulatory authority for FM stations other than the Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India conceived in the proposed Broadcast Regulatory Services Bill. Meanwhile, Parliament was informed that a total of 22 FM stations of All India Radio and 26 private FM stations have been operationalised in the calendar years 2004, 2005 and 2006. While the private channels are all broadcasting general entertainment, those run by AIR are also permitted to broadcast news.

All the 26 private stations were operationalised in the same year ?“ 2006. In contrast, AIR saw ten FM stations operationalised in 2004 and an equal number in 2005, with just two in 2006.

Meanwhile, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), which had earlier entered into an agreement with the Government to set up 40 FM stations specifically for educational broadcasts, has dropped the plan for the stations at Jamnagar, Luchiana and Bhubaneswar.

Of the remaining 37 centres, 26 are operational and the remaining will be on air by June next year.

In addition, the Government has agreed to set up 15 FM stations from where they will broadcast educational programmes produced by IGNOU.

The largest number of IGNOU stations are in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (five each), followed by Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh (three each).

The FM stations set up by IGNOU, called Gyan Vani, are Radio Cooperatives devoted exclusively to education and community development.

Dasmunsi told the Lok Sabha that these inter-active participatory educational stations are targeted at people in remote areas and broadcast information relevant to students of pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher secondary, as well as enrichment programmes to build environmental awareness, womens empowerment, legal literacy, professional education and science education.