Assamese Channels Find Place In ‘Others’ Category On DTH Platform

A citizen of Assam has raised his concerns to DTH service provider Tata Sky for placing Assamese language based news and infotainment channels pulled together under 'Others' category instead of a separate language category.

Taking to his social media handle, Tridiv Hazarika questioned whereas other vernacular languages such as Bengali, Oriya and Punjabi are placed in separate categories, why is Assamese language channels are categorised under "Others"?

Mr. Tridiv Hazarika said such a layout of the menu by Tata Sky reflects that Assamese channels are "miscellaneous non entities" and is an "insult to the sentiments of the people of Assam and the Northeast at large".

"This is very sad and hurts the sentiments of the large population who watches these channels both within as well as outside India," Mr. Hazarika said in a letter to the DTH platform.

In the letter, Mr. Hazarkia has urged the platform for immediate inclusion of the category Assamese in the menu so that viewers can access conveniently.

Meanwhile, Broadcast Audience Regional Council (BARC) in 2020 cited that among regional languages Assamese language channels have witnessed a massive surge of nearly 125 per cent in viewership in the past four years.