Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh on Friday, 26 June 2026 shared a DD News broadcast in the Dogri language, spotlighting coverage from Kathua district in the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir.

Context

The post, shared on the minister's official X account, drew attention to a Dogri-language news bulletin aired by DD News, India's public broadcaster under Prasar Bharati. Kathua, a district in the southernmost part of the Jammu division bordering Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, has been a periodic site of regional Doordarshan bulletins. Dr. Jitendra Singh represents the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in the Jammu region, giving him a direct constituency interest in regional-language media coverage.

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language that holds classical language status and is listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It is one of the five official languages of Jammu and Kashmir and is primarily spoken across the Jammu division.

Policy Backdrop

Prasar Bharati began expanding Dogri news bulletins on DD Jammu and DD News from 2005 onward, following Dogri's recognition as a classical language. The public broadcaster is mandated to air content in scheduled and regional languages, making such bulletins a statutory obligation as much as a policy choice.

Since the 2019 reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory, central ministries and Prasar Bharati have intensified production of content in Dogri, Hindi, and Urdu to improve outreach in remote districts. Successive governments have treated regional-language broadcasting as integral to official language policy, and ministers from the Jammu region have routinely amplified such coverage to signal commitment to linguistic inclusion.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of Dogri-language broadcasts are the estimated millions of Dogri speakers concentrated in the Jammu division, including residents of Kathua, Udhampur, Samba, Jammu, and Reasi districts. For communities in remote or hilly areas with limited access to print media, public-broadcaster bulletins in the mother tongue remain a critical source of news and government information.

By sharing the clip, Dr. Jitendra Singh — who also holds charge of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and serves as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office — underscores the central government's stated focus on linguistic diversity and regional media presence in the newly reorganised Union Territory.

What's Next

Observers of Prasar Bharati's regional programming note that periodic ministerial attention to Dogri broadcasts often precedes or accompanies review meetings that assess the frequency and quality of regional-language content. There is a possibility of expanded Dogri segments — including science and technology programming — on DD News following such reviews. For now, the minister's post keeps the spotlight on the importance of mother-tongue broadcasting as a tool of democratic outreach in Jammu and Kashmir.