Starting October 1, candidates who are preparing for Group-II exams of the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC), will have access to coaching through television classes, thanks to a memorandum of understanding the Telangana government has signed with the Indian Space Research Organisation here on Wednesday.
The MoU exchanged between representatives of ISRO’s Development and Education Communication Unit (DECU) and Telangana’s IT Department, in the presence of Minister for Information Technology K.T. Rama Rao, was towards allocation of 17 megahertz bandwidth for Softnet (Mana TV) on its GSAT-8 satellite, which facilitates telecast of four channels through MPEG-2 technology. Upgrading the technology to MPEG-4 will facilitate telecast of eight channels.
The earlier MoU for sharing the bandwidth by the then Andhra Pradesh government ended in 2009.
Using the new satellite technology, Mana TV will telecast live or recorded coaching classes for Group-II candidates for four hours every day, which will also be kept available on YouTube, the Minister informed at a press conference where the MoU copies were exchanged between IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan and DECU’s director Veerender Kumar.
The classes will be telecast in two slots — from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. — and will be repeated on holidays.
The aim will be to beam Mana TV through cable television network, Mr. Rao announced. He asked Mr. Ranjan to organise a meeting with cable TV operators and MSOs for allocation of a slot for Mana TV coaching sessions for the benefit of rural unemployed youth. He also asked Shailesh Reddy, CEO of Mana TV, to slot EAMCET coaching classes too.
The satellite technology will also be used to launch digital classes in 6,000 government schools in the State from October 14, Mr. Rao announced.
Another separate agreement will soon be signed with ISRO by the Ministry for Municipal Administration and Urban Development for recording the topography and contours of the city so as to take pre-emptive measures in the event of floods.
The IT Minister heaped praises on TSPSC chairperson Ghanta Chakrapani, saying that the commission has earned a name for its transparent selection process. Mr. Chakrapani, in turn, complimented the government for the effective functioning of the institute, and said a high-end computer centre is being launched for TSPSC at a cost of Rs. 4.5 crore.
An unprecedented 8.18 lakh candidates applied for Group-II posts, most of them from rural areas. The TSPSC urged Mr. Rao to find a way to record the classroom sessions at SC, ST BC, and minority study circles, and telecast them through TV and YouTube for the benefit of rural candidates.
