Respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and respected Minister of I&B Shri Anurag Thakur ji,

We - the artists of Carnatic, Hindustani, Light, Folk and all other genres of Indian music, dance and other art forms, art educators, art scholars & students, art promoters and passionate art lovers & well wishers of the culture and values of India - are appealing to you to take immediate action to revive, protect, project and preserve our culture which institutions like the All India Radio and DD have played a huge role in, since inception. They have been the biggest promoters and preservers of India’s artistic, musical and cultural heritage but certain policy decisions like stopping recruitment of artists by All India Radio poses a grave challenge to our culture as well as the livelihoods of thousands of artists across the country.

We strongly agree with the statement of the H’ble Prime Minister on World Radio Day last year that "The radio can be a great medium to share positivity as well as recognise those who are at the forefront of bring a qualitative change in everyone's lives".  It is against this backdrop that we unitedly urge you to revitalize All India Radio, DD and other vital institutions of our nation. 

1. Cultural Crossroads: As you will appreciate, the cultural identity of millions of Indians - including the majority of our young citizens - is at crossroads at this point in time and a strong cultural macro vision is the need of the hour. You’ll also agree that our unanimous solutions are not only doable but need to be done at the earliest to arrest this trend, reclaim many 'lost' Indians, prevent more from getting lost and unite our country. 
2. The Background: Classical Music was given priority by AIR for a long time but it was also balanced well with sufficient encouragement to popular, light, folk and film music.  There were several concerts every day, major public festivals like Akashvani Sangeet Sammelans. Events were conducted regularly and thousands of performances by great artists were archived which has been invaluable to our culture for both Indians and non Indians. Additionally, competent Carnatic and Hindustani vocalists and instrumentalists were recruited from across India as Permanent Staff Artists (PSA) and treated on par with equivalent Central Govt employees.  Every AIR station had minimum of 15-20 Staff Artists based on its size and requirements. Those like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc had even more. There were also classical and light Music Conductors in many AIRs.
3. Indian National Orchestra: AIR Delhi and Chennai had a far greater number of artists as they were both centres of Indian National Orchestra (Vadya Vrinda) which was the pride of our nation.  These orchestras combined Indian and Western instruments and produced highly original orchestral music and were as colourful as Symphony Orchestras in Western and other cultures. They were quite popular among the public and respected by musicians and scholars alike. 
4. International Recognition: This macro vision of AIR nurtured talent and also ensured the livelihoods of a number of artists. It shaped the very cultural and classical development of our country, built a deep appreciation among our populace, contributing to the very character of our society. It needs no reiteration that culture and sports are the strongest glues that bind our diverse country together and also win respect outside India. Several AIR artists have been recognized globally as cultural ambassadors and have brought National and International accolades to our country, just like our cricketers and other sportspersons. 
5. Unfortunate Developments: The Permanent Staff Artist recruitments were stopped around 1996, Vadya Vrinda got gradually disbanded soon thereafter and the frequency of performance of AIR graded artists has been at rock bottom over the last several years. Budgetary constraints, listenership and commercial viability have been cited as the reasons at all times. 
6. Results & Impact: This has denied employment to thousands of artists across India. Even more unfortunately, it has let confused versions of Indian culture take roots among our citizens as well as those of other countries. Today most children and even older citizens of India are completely uninformed about some of the greatest composers, musicians, dancers and other artists who have been the greatest architects of our culture. 
7. Reality and Responsibility: Several countries in the world have macro schemes in place that ensure that both classical and popular music and culture flourish. We need to ensure that classical is never sacrificed National Broadcasters citing commercial (non) viability as a reason. 

8. Call for Action: We request you to:

(a) Reinitiate the recruitment of Permanent Staff Artistes in all the AIRs across the nation

(b) Revive Vadya Vrindas in both Delhi and Chennai and create Vadya Vrinda Centers in other major cities

(c) Increase the frequency of performances of AIR graded artists of all genres to its previous levels and 

(d) Create entertainingly educative programs in AIR & DD to improve art appreciation especially in schools, which will supplement the H’ble PM’s New Education Policy (NEP).

9. Funding: We propose that funding can be generated from multiple sources including Central and State Government allocations, Licensing Fees, Corporate CSR funds, Advertisers as well as private donors as National broadcasters in several countries do.  

10. Advantages:

(a) This will boost our economy by generating employment opportunities to thousands of talented artists and music directors today and in the future.

(b) It will encourage people from diverse communities to take up to music and arts in our country.

(c) It will sow the seeds of a cultural renaissance that our country needs at this time, given the false narratives about our culture and values taking roots in diverse ways at different levels in recent years.

(d) Culture and Arts being the soft power of any Nation, it will result in numerous other benefits to the country by way of bilateral harmony, tourism and allied industries.

Summation:  At the macro level, given the danger to our millennia old rich tradition from various negative forces which are intent on destabilising or even destroying our music, dance, arts and culture in diverse ways and disrupting the unity and harmony of our nation, AIR and DD have enormous added responsibilities today. Therefore, these institutions need to be not only revived immediately but strengthened by more recruitment of artists which will ensure that they will be the strongest voices of our culture in and outside India.  We unitedly urge you to kindly take these steps at the earliest and thank you very much in advance for your speedy action.

Jai Hind.