Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao said Telangana Government wishes to have its own satellite to telecast multiple channels aiming at reaching various segments like education, agriculture, health, skill development and employment.
The Minister, who launched the T-SAT network of two channels formerly known as Mana TV1 and Mana TV2 now renamed as the T-SAT Vidya and Nipuna, said he wished to see the State Government launching its own satellite to air multiple channels that will integrate technology with social skills and develop the content for the benefit of large section of the people.
He said that the idea was floated and appreciated in his recent meeting with ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar. The ISRO recently launched 104 satellites at a time, he said and felt that if not today the day Telangana having its own satellite was not far.
Mr. Rama Rao said that the Mana TV channels made a huge impact on the training of youngsters for various education and competitive tests. Till last year, the YouTube segment of the channel was accessed by just 10,223 people but the same increased to 1.27 crore within an year.
Similarly the viewership minutes were just 25,443 but increased to 7.74 crore minutes.
This shows the difference the channels made after they were aired by the Cable TV to 70 lakh households on the prime band. Earlier, only those with Receive only Terminals (RoTs) had the access.
Agriculture Minister, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that the channels should have separate programmes on agriculture and the officials would be happy to provide the content and the expertise to reach out to the farmers.
Health Minister C. Lakshma Reddy expressed similar views and wanted to use the platform to create awareness among people on health issues and government programmes.
Information Technology Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society Secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar, Director of School Education G. Kishan, BRAOU Vice-Chancellor K. Sita Rama Rao, Director (Digital Media) Telangana Dileep Konatham and SoftNet CEO R. Shailesh Reddy were among those present.