PESHAWAR, Nov 30: The government’s decision to shift airing of regional language programmes from the PTV Peshawar centre to PTV National Karachi has deprived viewers of their rights to watch Pushto programmes in the NWFP, tribal areas and parts of Afghanistan.

Sources said that millions of Pukhtuns could not watch programmes aired from the PTV Karachi because these were available on satellite channels and only 10 to 15 per cent people could watch them.

Previously, these programmes were aired from the Peshawar centre and seen by people on the PTV.

The government had four months ago stopped airing Pushto, Punjabi and Sindhi languages programmes from PTV’s regional centres.

The move has deprived the PTV Peshawar centre of airing 70-minutes fresh Pushto and Hindko programmes every day. These programmes are produced at the Peshawar centre and sent to Karachi for transmission from the PTV National.

The PTV had in 2004 planned to launch Abaseen — the first full-fledged Pushto channel — but it could not be materialised despite the establishment of a state-of-the-art studio and master control room in the Peshawar centre.

The centre had also put in place the up-linking facility to activate 13 boosters across the NWFP and Fata to ensure that transmission reached the entire area. New Pushto programmes to be run for initial four months on the channel had also been produced.

However, the government has shelved the plan and launched the PTV National from Karachi and started airing two and half hours programmes each in Punjabi, Sindhi and Pushto languages. It airs 70-minute fresh programmes which were previously telecast from the Peshawar centre.