All India Radio (Akashvani), India's public broadcaster, marks National Broadcasting Day on 23 July — the anniversary of the country's first radio transmission in 1927. From a single Bombay station nearly a century ago, Akashvani has grown into a civilisational institution that reaches over 92% of India's geographical area and continues to bind a nation of extraordinary diversity through a shared frequency.

Origins: From Indian Broadcasting Company to Akashvani

Radio broadcasting in India began on 23 July 1927, when the Indian Broadcasting Company inaugurated its Bombay station. Financial difficulties forced the government to step in by 1930, operating the service under the Indian State Broadcasting Service. On 8 June 1936, the network was rechristened All India Radio. Two decades later, in 1956, it formally adopted the evocative name Akashvani — meaning 'Voice from the Sky' — a phrase that captured both its reach and its aspiration.

The launch of Vividh Bharati in 1957 transformed popular entertainment broadcasting, and the establishment of Prasar Bharati in 1997 granted public broadcasting greater institutional autonomy. At Independence in 1947, India had just six radio stations. Today, Akashvani's signal blankets nearly the entire population.

The motto that became a mission

Akashvani has long been guided by the Buddhist ideal 'Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya' — for the welfare and happiness of the many. More than a motto, it defined a mandate: to inform, educate, inspire, and unite. Before highways, satellites, and the internet connected the subcontinent, radio carried the voices of every region into every home, introducing Indians to one another's languages, music, folklore, festivals, and aspirations.

It gave classical musicians and folk artists national recognition. It guided farmers, educated families, and informed citizens through wars, elections, and national emergencies. Notably, it did all of this while respecting every regional identity — nurturing an Indian consciousness without flattening local cultures.

Three generations, one institution

The depth of Akashvani's reach is perhaps best illustrated through personal histories. One account, shared by a former All India Radio staffer who later joined the Indian Foreign Service, traces three generations of a family whose lives were woven into the broadcaster's fabric.

His late father, N. D. Raina, joined the Hindi Division of the External Services in 1956 as a scriptwriter, authoring nearly 68 radio plays, including programmes such as Hawa Mahal and numerous children's stories. His father-in-law, H. K. Ramakrishna, was among the pioneers of the Kannada News Unit at All India Radio, New Delhi, and later served from 1985 as the Kannada news broadcaster with Radio Moscow until his retirement in 1991. Another family member, Dr. H. K. Ranganath, held several senior positions within the organisation and contributed significantly to public broadcasting.

The author himself joined All India Radio in 1982 following his father's untimely death, working in the Hindi Division of the External Services until he entered the Indian Foreign Service in 1986. During those four years, he worked alongside legendary broadcaster Devki Nandan Pandey, producer Dr S. S. S. Thakur, and colleagues including Nirmala Joshi, Y. K. Sharma, Savitri Thakur, and Prem Joshi, and participated in Dr Thakur's radio adaptation of the Mahabharata. He also interviewed the celebrated poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan at his residence.

Why radio still matters

Despite the proliferation of television, digital platforms, and social media, Akashvani retains a loyal audience. Its advocates argue that radio offers a depth, intimacy, and credibility that newer media rarely match. For rural India in particular, it remains an indispensable source of agricultural guidance, civic information, and cultural connection.

As India observes National Broadcasting Day 2025, the occasion is a reminder that the story of All India Radio is, in many ways, the story of how a newly independent nation learnt to hear itself — and, in doing so, began to understand what it meant to belong to one another. The institution's next chapter will be shaped by how it navigates the digital transition while preserving the public-service ethos that has defined it for nearly a century.