I&B Minister inaugurates BES Expo 2013

Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Manish Tewari has said with the exponential growth in the media space, a paradigm shift has taken place wherein regulations have to keep pace with changing technologies. An enabling statutory environment has to be in place to keep pace with changes taking place across platforms. The changing landscape of the Media and entertainment industry had enabled it to become one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy. This had been facilitated by policies that have encouraged investments, sustainability for business models and promoted entrepreneurship and innovation. It was imperative that the industry specially the Broadcasting sector had learnt to adopt, adapt and innovate with the changes taking place. Shri Tewari stated this while delivering his address at the BES Expo 2013 here today. 

The Minister further stated that the renewed thrust by the industry has reinforced the concept of inclusive growth. “Inclusive Growth” is an act of faith - It was a developmental model that addressed the concerns of each stakeholder and recipient by the effective placement of social development programmes and policies. On the issue of democratization of media, Shri Tewari stated that it was important to understand the implications of this process on the social ethos of the country and the people at large. 

Shri Manish Tewari further mentioned that due to the paradigm shift taking place, Broadcasting shall always remain a dynamic medium of communication. The guiding principles for this sector will always be innovation, ingenuity and the vision to converge technologies. Conferences such as BES Expo 2013 provided an opportunity to introspect and bring about changes at the policy level keeping in mind the roadmap and requirements of the future. 

Earlier addressing the delegates, Shri Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations said technology had brought about a major change in the lives of the people.The shift was also visible in the way the broadcasting sector was functioning. The challenge lay in imbibing the innovations in the critical sectors which would determine the course in the future. During the course of his address , Shri Pitroda gave an overview of the initiatives undertaken by the government to strengthen the national knowledge network and public infrastructure system. In the course of his address, Secretary I&B, Shri Uday Kumar Varma highlighted the changes that had taken place in the sector in view of the policy initiatives undertaken recently and the immediate concerns that had to be addressed by the industry at large.