All India Radio turns 90: How 'Akashvani' became the official name
As Akashvani, the official radio broadcasting wing of Prasar Bharati under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, celebrates 90 years, it is important to note that the institution was originally known as All India Radio (AIR). The name 'Akashvani', meaning 'voice from the sky', was borrowed from Rabindranath Tagore's poem and officially adopted in 1956, coexisting with the original name until 2023.
In 2023, an internal order enforced a section of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, which defined Akashvani as the offices and stations of the Director General, All India Radio. This made it mandatory to refer to the institution only as Akashvani, implementing an existing statutory provision that had not been enforced for over two decades.
The change has sparked debate. While some view it as a move towards a Hindi-first approach, others see it as a natural alignment with the statutory name. Tamil Nadu MP T R Balu objected, stating that Tamil Nadu uses the term 'Vaanoli' instead of Akashvani, and called the change unwarranted.
Historically, All India Radio was born in 1935 when Lionel Fielden, the first Controller of Broadcasting in undivided India, convinced Viceroy Lord Linlithgow to rename the Indian State Broadcasting Service to a simpler title - All India Radio. This name became a cultural anchor for generations.
The distinction between the two names is not merely linguistic. The 2023 enforcement codified a name that had been in colloquial use for decades, but it also raised questions about linguistic identity in a multilingual nation.
