Centre inks partnership with Amazon in field of media, entertainment, public awareness
New Delhi, April 5: Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur on Wednesday announced a partnership between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Amazon India in the field of media, entertainment and public awareness.
Anurag Thakur, speaking during the partnership's launch, stated that "India being an ancient civilization offers millions of stories which are yet to be told. The gamut of stories transcends time and covers a vast domain from spirituality to software, traditions to trends, folklore to festivals and from rural India to rising India."
He went on to say that recently, Indian content has had international success, and Indian actors are quite popular among global audiences.
The Minister discussed the initiatives taken by the Ministry to create a positive environment for India's entertainment industry and stated that the government recognises the Indian entertainment industry's strengths as well as its opportunities, particularly emerging platforms such as OTTs.
The Ministry has recognized audiovisual services as a Champion Services Sector and has just released the self-regulatory framework for OTT content regulation.
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Commenting on the partnership with Amazon, Thakur noted that the partnership with Amazon India is unique in a number of ways, and the Letter of Engagement spans different elements of the creative industry.
With scholarships, internships, masterclasses, and other opportunities for students at Film and Television Institute of India and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India, the partnership would help strengthen industry-academia ties. He stated that the initiative would help to shorten the period of struggle for outstanding artists emerging from India's prestigious film institutes.
The Minister also expressed concern about the quality of content on OTT platforms, stating that OTT platforms must ensure that their platforms do not propagate vulgarity and abuse camouflaged as creative expressions. He went on to say that OTT must reflect the country's collective conscience.
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- With inputs from agencies
