AUDIO-VISUAL AND TELECASTING SERVICES
In the light of advancements made in the field of electronic media and the need to make the citizens aware of the deliberations in Parliament, the Lok Sabha Secretariat had taken several steps to record and telecast/broadcast the proceedings of Lok Sabha with the help of Doordarshan / All India Radio. Televising of proceedings provides the people a direct access to the work of their elected representatives in the highest democratic institution.
A beginning was made in this direction when for the first time the President’s Address to members of both the Houses of Parliament was telecast live in 1989. Subsequently, an Audio-Visual Library was set up in 1992 for keeping the records of the proceedings in cassettes and CDs and providing facilities to members to view the same. In the beginning, selected proceedings of Lok Sabha were got recorded on U-matic tapes and VHS cassettes. Since 18 April 1994, complete recordings of the Lok Sabha proceedings and other parliamentary functions are being maintained on U-matic / Betacam / VHS cassettes/Video CDs in the Audio-Visual Library. These records have immense archival value for the parliamentarians, media persons, scholars, academicians and even common people.
The Service has two Units: (I) Audio-Visual Unit, and (II) Telecasting Unit.
I AUDIO – VISUAL UNIT
The Audio-Visual Unit which was set up in 1992 provides facilities for viewing / listening to the video records of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debates, proceedings of National and International Parliamentary Conferences / Seminars / Symposia / Workshops, Parliamentary Films and Linguaphone Courses to members of Parliament, media persons and other visiting dignitaries.
The Unit has VHS cameras, editing equipment and a Viewing Room in the Parliament Library Building. With the help of VHS cameras, the video crew of the Unit records all important parliamentary functions/events including National and International Parliamentary Conferences/Seminars/Symposia/Workshops, calls on Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Secretary General, by foreign delegations and dignitaries, meetings of MPs with Parliamentary Delegations, Press Conferences and other functions of Hon’ble speaker, Floral Tributes paid at the portraits in the Central Hall on the birth anniversaries of the National Leaders, Orientation Programmes organised by BPST, Parliamentary Exhibitions, etc. As part of the modernisation of A.V. facilities, a state-of-the-art studio and production control room (in digital format), equipped with post production editing facilities, are being set up in the Parliamentary Library Building. Video viewing arrangements would also be modernized by providing multi media facilities.
This Unit preserves the Video (U-matic, Betacam, VHS) cassettes, Video Compact Discs (VCDs) and audio cassettes of Lok Sabha Debates, proceedings of National and International Parliamentary Conferences / Seminars / Symposia / Workshops and other parliamentary functions. It is also looking after the work of selection and collection of audio - visual materials; accession, classification and preservation of cassettes of important parliamentary functions and events like Conferences, Seminars, Symposia and Workshops and telefilms on different aspects of parliamentary practices and procedures. Arrangements have also been made for dubbing of recordings of all events and functions into VHS cassettes for being supplied to members and others on demand on payment basis.
The Audio-Visual Unit has acquired audio and video cassettes for Linguaphone Courses in various Indian and foreign languages and has also added to its holdings audio-cassettes pertaining to classical and instrumental music and patriotic songs for the use of members of Parliament and for use at various parliamentary functions. The following Linguaphone Courses (audio and video cassettes) are available for listening/viewing in the Viewing Room:
Audio Cassettes
Linguaphone Courses in Hindi language through English.
Hindi language course through commentaries in Assamese, Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Tamil and Telugu.
Linguaphone Course in English language through Hindi.
Language Courses in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu through English.
Linguaphone Courses in 23 foreign languages, viz Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and Swedish through English.
Video Cassettes
Linguaphone courses in four foreign languages viz, French, German, Italian and Spanish through English.
In view of the demands from MPs and storing convenience of CDs, the Unit has started getting the recordings of Lok Sabha proceedings transferred in CD format. Rajya Sabha proceedings in CD format are also being acquired.
II. TELECASTING UNIT
Televising of select parliamentary proceedings in India commenced with the live telecast of President’s Address to the members of both the Houses of Parliament on 20 December 1989. As a prelude to complete live telecast of parliamentary proceedings throughout the nation, a Low Power Transmitter (LPT) was set up in Parliament House on 25 August 1994 to provide for live telecast of Lok Sabha proceedings, within a range of 10 to 15 kms. from Parliament House. With the installation of another Low Power Transmitter, the Rajya Sabha proceedings are also being telecast live since 7 December 1994. The proceedings of the Question Hour of both the Houses are also being telecast live on alternate weeks throughout the country on the Primary Channel of Doordarshan from 1100 hrs. to 1200 hrs. since 7 December 1994.
With the launch of DD-News Channel, Doordarshan has been telecasting live the Question Hour of both Lok Sabha And Rajya Sabha simultaneously on National Channel and DD-News Channel of Doordarshan on alternate weeks from the Winter Session of 2003. While telecasting the Question Hour of one House on National Channel, Doordarshan is telecasting live the Question Hour of the other House on DD-News Channel.
All India Radio, too, broadcasts the recording of Question Hour of both the Houses, on alternate weeks, on their National Channel same day from 2200 hrs. to 2300 hrs. It has been arranged in such a manner that during the week Doordarshan covers the one House on its National Channel, All India Radio covers the other House. Important events like President’s Address to members of both the Houses, presentation of General and Railway Budgets and debates on Motions of Confidence/No-
confidence in the Council of Ministers, Elections of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, oath taking by members have also been telecast/broadcast live on the Primary Channel of Doordarshan / All India Radio.
Dedicated Satellite Channels for live telecast
As a result of the consistent efforts of Lok Sabha and Prasar Bharati, a landmark in the history of telecasting of parliamentary proceedings was reached on 14 December 2004 when two separate dedicated satellite channels for telecasting live the entire proceedings of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were launched by Vice-President of India and Speaker, Lok Sabha respectively at a function held in the historic Central Hall of Parliament House. The entire proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament are since being telecast live through separate dedicated satellite channels by Doordarshan.
Installation of Robotic Camera System in Parliament House/Parliament Library Building.
In order to telefilm and telecast live the complete proceedings of Parliament in a better manner, a sophisticated modern robotic camera system and a production control room had been set up in Parliament House. The system had become operational with effect from the Winter Session of Parliament in 1997. Under the new robotic camera system, there are eight robotic cameras which are operated by remote control from the production control room in Parliament House. From the Budget Session of 2000, the televised proceedings of Parliament are properly captioned/titled through BIID system installed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
A robotically-controlled TV set up has been introduced for the purpose of coverage of the functions/events held in the G.M.C. Balayogi Auditorium and other Committee Rooms in the Parliament Library Building. Robotically-controlled Multi-Camera Systems and Production Control Rooms have been set up for Auditorium and BPST Main Committee Room. A Mobile Unit has also been developed for on-line production of the events/functions in other Committee Rooms of the Parliament Library Building. The latest digital broadcasting quality equipments have also been installed in the Production Control Rooms.
Other functions of Telecasting Unit
This Unit coordinates with Doordarshan/All India Radio and other official agencies for the telecast/broadcast of parliamentary proceedings, National and International Conferences/Seminars besides other important parliamentary functions held in Parliament precincts and elsewhere. For example, ceremonies connected with the Farewell to and Oath-taking by the President of India, unveiling of the statues and portraits of National Leaders in the Parliament House Complex, conferment of Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards, Celebrations of the Golden Jubilee of the First Sitting of the Constituent Assembly and India’s Independence, Addresses by foreign dignitaries and Inaugural and Closing Ceremonies of International Parliamentary Conference to mark the Golden Jubilee of Indian Parliament were telecast/broadcast on the national channel by Doordarshan and All India Radio.
The Unit makes all necessary arrangements for effective and uninterrupted
telecasting/broadcasting by providing infrastructural and other assistance to the concerned agencies. It also coordinates with official/private agencies for transferring the proceedings from U-matic tapes to VHS cassettes and U-matic/Betacam cassettes to Video CDs.
If any private television and radio/internet broadcasting agency wants to telecast/broadcast the proceedings live/recorded or to use the recorded excerpts/footage of parliamentary proceedings, it is allowed to use the feed or supplied with the footage on the terms and conditions laid down by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
In pursuance of a Resolution adopted at the Conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India held in New Delhi in October 1996, the Speaker, Lok Sabha had constituted a Committee of Presiding Officers on “Telecasting of the Proceedings of the Legislatures” for assessing the feasibility of telecasting the proceedings of Legislative Bodies in India, live or pre-recorded. This Committee is serviced by the Telecasting Unit.
Parliamentary Films
As an extension of telefilming and televising of parliamentary proceedings, video films are also prepared on different aspects of parliamentary practices and procedures and related parliamentary topics for new members of Parliament and State Legislatures. These films also facilitate in educating students, media persons and others about various facets of the functioning of Parliament. Six parliamentary films which have been produced so far are: (i) Private Members’ Bills; (ii) Parliamentary
Questions; (iii) Parliamentary Etiquette and Manners; (iv) Financial Committees; (v) Enriching the Debates in Legislatures; and (vi) How to be an Effective Parliamentarian? Two films, viz. ‘Parliamentary Etiquette and Manners’ and ‘How to be an Effective Parliamentarian?’ were also dubbed in Russian and shown at the State Duma, Moscow, during an Exhibition on “Parliamentary History and Activities” set up as part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India’s Independence in November 1998. The Unit is in the process of preparing some more informative and educative films on the functioning of Parliament.
*********************