Drop ‘unwarranted’ move to exclusively refer to AIR as Akashvani, DMK MP Baalu writes to Union minister Anurag Thakur

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP T R Baalu on Sunday wrote to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur seeking to withdraw the move to exclusively refer to Prasar Bharati’s radio service All India Radio as Akashvani.

The veteran DMK leader told Union minister Thakur that the public broadcaster’s sudden decision was “unwarranted” as “for decades together English broadcasts and regional broadcasting stations have been using the name All India Radio”.

The MP wrote, “Radio stations from Tamil Nadu have been using the name ‘Vaanoli’, the Tamil equivalent of Akashwani.