ABSTRACT
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.