“This is All India Radio.”
This iconic announcement, once a staple before English broadcasts from India’s national radio service, has now been officially erased. As of May 3, a satellite message from the Director General’s office declared that the use of the term “All India Radio” would be discontinued. Instead, all employees must now refer to the national radio service as “Akashvani.”
‘Akashvani’ is not a new term. It has long been used in broadcasts in Indian languages like Bengali, Hindi, and Santali. Only the English broadcasts featured the phrase “All India Radio.” Moreover, the official name of the organization providing this service has always been “All India Radio.” But now, the Indian government has declared that, even legally, the service will be known as Akashvani.
Why this sudden change by the government?
For the past few years, the central government has taken several steps to remove remnants of British colonial influence. Experts believe this name change is part of that broader effort. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has not released any official statement directly linking the decision to this motive.
The move has not been well received by a section of radio employees. The name “All India Radio” has been synonymous with Indian broadcasting for nearly 90 years, while “Akashvani” is a relatively recent term.
India’s official radio broadcasting began in 1927 — first in Bombay, then in Kolkata — managed at the time by a private entity called the Broadcasting Company of India. In 1930, the Indian government took over the service and renamed it the Indian State Broadcasting Service. On the advice of Viceroy Lord Linlithgow, it was later renamed “All India Radio.”
The term “Akashvani” became popular in 1939, thanks to Rabindranath Tagore. When invited to inaugurate the All India Radio office at Dalhousie Square in Kolkata, Tagore couldn’t attend in person but sent a message — in which he used the word “Akashvani.” Later, he even used the word in one of his poems to denote radio. Interestingly, the term had been used earlier by Sukumar Ray, and in 1935, a radio station in Mysore (now Karnataka) was also named “Akashvani.”
Almost two decades later, in 1956, the name “Akashvani” was officially adopted for regional language broadcasts by then-Director B.V. Keskar. Legendary broadcaster Birendra Krishna Bhadra once stated that it was Tagore’s poem published in the Betar Jagat magazine that inspired the change. However, the organization’s original name “All India Radio” remained in use alongside.
This is the point where many radio professionals are now raising questions. Was it truly necessary to legally drop a near-century-old, iconic name like “All India Radio”? If removing colonial terms was the main goal, why wasn’t the name “Commercial Broadcasting Service” — which also came from the British administration — changed too? Many had previously voiced concerns over that as well.
All things considered, many within the radio community are not happy with the government’s controversial decision.
Content and images are sourced from Prohor.