Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Following a suggestion from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has advised airlines in India to play Indian music at all airports and on flights.
The minister took the step after he attended an ICCR event where the cultural body, in a memorandum, said this will strengthen and popularize Indian music, the media reported on Wednesday.
“Music played by most airlines across the globe is quintessential of the country to which the airline belongs. For example, Jazz in American airlines or Mozart in Austrian airlines, and Arab music in an airline from the Middle East. But India’s airlines seldom play Indian music in flight, whereas our music has a rich heritage and culture every Indian is truly proud of,” said the ministry’s advisory to Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Kumar and Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman Sanjeev Kumar.
“(Union) aviation ministry is in receipt of a request from the ICCR for playing Indian music in aircraft being operated in India and also at airports. It is, therefore, requested to kindly consider (doing so) following the regulatory requisites,” it said.
On December 23, the ICCR had urged Scindia to make it mandatory for every Indian carrier to play Indian music for its promotion.
Accepting the advice, the minister said: “I come from the music city of Gwalior, which has been the city of Tansen and has also been an old house of music. Ancient Indian music has a history of many years and people have a lot of curiosity in ancient music too.”