New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): India is the mother of democracy, and for Indians, democracy is not just a constitutional structure, but a spirit, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi after launching Sansad TV on the occasion of International Day of Democracy on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister lauded the transformation of the channel associated with the Parliament in accordance with rapidly changing times, especially when the 21st century is bringing revolution through dialogue and communication.

The Prime Minister termed the launch of Sansad TV a new chapter in the story of Indian democracy as, in the form of Sansad TV, the country is getting a medium of communication and dialogue which will become a new voice of the nation's democracy and people's representative. He also greeted Doordarshan for completing 62 years of its existence.

Noting that today is also International Day of Democracy, the Prime Minister said, "When it comes to Democracy, India's responsibility is more as India is the mother of democracy. Democracy for India is not just a system, it is an idea. Democracy in India is not just a constitutional structure, but it is a spirit. Democracy in India is not just a collection of streams of constitutions, it is our life stream."Highlighting the role of the media in the context of 75 years of independence, the Prime Minister said when the media takes up issues like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, that reaches the people with great speed.

"The media can play a role in disseminating the efforts of the people during Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav by planning 75 episodes on the freedom struggle or bringing out special supplements to mark the occasion," he suggested.

Talking about the centrality of content, the Prime Minister said while it is said that 'content is king, in his experience "Content is Connect.""When one has better content, people automatically engage with it. As much as this applies to the media, it is equally applicable to our parliamentary system as there is not only politics in Parliament, there is also policy," he said and emphasized that common people should feel the connection with the proceedings of the Parliament, and asked the new channel to work in that direction.

The Prime Minister said when the Parliament is in session, debates are held on diverse subjects, so there is so much for the youth to learn.

"Members of Parliament also get inspiration for better conduct, better debate inside the Parliament when the country watches them," he said.

He also stressed the need to focus on the duties of the citizens and said that the media is an effective medium for this awareness, and noted that "from these programmes, our youth will get to learn a lot about our democratic institutions, their functioning as well as civic duties. Similarly, there will be a lot of information about working committees, the importance of legislative work, and the working of legislatures which will help in understanding the democracy of India in depth. He wished that programs will also be made on Panchayats working as grassroots democracy in Parliament TV. These programs will give new energy, a new consciousness to the democracy of India."PM Modi also greeted all the engineers on the occasion of Engineer's day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on Wednesday launched the Sansad TV.

The launch date coincides with the International Day of Democracy, informed the official communique by the Prime Minister's Office.

Sansad TV has been launched after merging the Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV channels.

The 24-hour channel, through its content, will showcase the democratic ethos and the functioning of democratic institutions of the country with an aim to target national and international audiences.

In February 2021, the decision to merge Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV was taken and Ravi Capoor- a retired IAS officer, was appointed as its CEO in March, while Manoj K Arora, an IRS officer, has been appointed as the interim editor-in-chief.

Sansad TV programming will primarily be in four categories - functioning of Parliament and democratic institutions, governance and implementation of schemes/policies, history and culture of India and issues/interests/concerns of contemporary nature. (ANI)