Webinar on Development Communication in India – Dr. Ankuran Dutta

Dr. Ankuran Dutta chaired the session and he showed gratitude towards Dr. Ujjwal K
Chowdhury, congratulated the team for organizing the event that brought together people
from different corners of the world. Development is a multi-faceted phenomenon and
believes that it benefits the larger whole of society. Development communication holds a
democratic architecture for the country. The process of communication and development is
an addition to social and economic growth.
Development discourse articulates knowledge and power, which are paradigms associated
with development communication. Dr. Ankuran Dutta emphasized on dominant paradigm
and the diffusion model of communication. People’s participation plays a crucial role in
development through communication. It acts as a kaleidoscope as it is very fragile and useful,
similar to the many paradigms in development which is very important. The development of
a country without gender equality is incomplete. Gender sensitivity is an important factor for
development as it is a bridge to reduce differences caused by sexism. 
Dr. Dutta highlighted the right-based approach to achieve a positive transformation in power
relation actors. Development and Media are parallel to each other. The mainstream media
acts as a bullet to create awareness and shape prevailing thoughts because of its richness. In
countries like India, the media is biased and not working for the overall development but
running for sensational news related to celebrities and public figures, to gain TRP. The media
here is suffering from celebrity syndrome.  It is ignoring minor communities and the social
issues which are of grave importance. Focusing on Northeast India, there are more than 300
social groups that have never gained attention from the mainstream media, thus are facing
discrimination and there is unrest in the country. Hence, alternative media is vital here for
underdeveloped and developing countries, challenging the mainstream media. 
Talking about the role of development organizations, he emphasized that development
organizations are the backbone for the flagship programs for the development of any country.
He further added that the social sector is important for India’s economy and includes various
heads such as health, education, employment, etc. Development goals introduced by the
government require social and behavioral changes especially for adapting positive behavior. Thus, social and behavioral changing communication programs should be introduced. 
According to Dr. Dutta, the development report should not be deadline-based i.e., it should be
emphatic not exploiting, factual data should be presented in a rhythm such that it is readable.
These data should help in analyzing and finding solutions for development. He concluded by
requesting the panelists to discuss development communication from a crucial view and
understanding…Read More