The Mahatma didn’t like the movies and why it matters: Indian broadcasting policy, 1920s–1990s

This chapter examines the ideological and structural foundations of Indian

broadcasting policy as it developed from the 1930s to the 1990s. The chap-

ter argues that the failure of Indian governments to make the most of radio

and television for economic and social development stemmed from three

sources: (i) the restrictive policies inherited from a colonial state, (ii) the

puritanism of the Gandhian national movement, and (iii) the fear, made

vivid by the 1947 partition, of inflaming social conflict. The policies and

institutions established in the 1940s and 1950s shaped Indian broadcasting for the next 40 years and have been significantly subverted only since 1992

as a result of the transformation effected by satellite television.