Troops Programme (Sainik Karyakram) has been an inseparable part of broadcast of most of the AIR stations of the country. The objective of this broadcast has been to entertain the soldiers who are on duty at remote locations, away from their families. Due to the inclusion of film music, the Troops programmes throughout the country had gained high popularity among both the military and civil listeners for decades. Also, radio happened to be the sole medium of listening to film songs until the late eighties, thus leading to the immense popularity of this programme. Be it Vividh Bharati's Jaimala or AIR Ahmedabad's Jai Bharati, North Eastern Service's Jai Jawaan, Radio Kashmir's Fauji Bhaiyon Ke Liye ,AIR Shimla's Sainikon Ke Liye or AIR Delhi's Sainik Karyakram, all these once happened to be unique and immensely popular. However, the programme that was (and is still) above all, both in terms of variety and duration, was AIR Guwahati's Sainik Bhaiyon Ka Karyakram.
Except for Vividh Bharati's Vishesh Jaimala, which was/is presented by Bollywood celebrities, all other Troops' programmes across the country were based either on mixed film songs or on songs requested by the Troops' listeners. Also, the duration of these programmes used to be something between 30 minutes to maximum 60 minutes a day. But AIR Guwahati's Troops programme stood away from this crowd. It used to be not only of a much longer duration (2 hours 20 minutes a day) but also included a large variety of programmes instead of playing just mixed songs. It was more of a complete package of entertainment. This program, started in 1965 after the Sino-Indian war, gained huge popularity and had high participation from the Troops personnel from all across the North-East.
From the middle part of the first decade of the 21st century, the trend of radio listening started changing. It had visible impacts on the Troops programme throughout the country. Troops' participation in these programmes dwindled. Letters stopped coming and in the absence of requests, the request-based songs programmes completely collapsed. These programmes could not switch over to the other modes of inviting requests like SMS, WhatsApp, E-Mail, unlike the request-based programmes for normal listeners, as the authenticity of a listener being a Troops' personnel could not be guaranteed over these media. This led to the fall of Troops' programmes all over the country, and today, in 2020, almost all the Troops programmes, including Jaimala, have reduced to a mere formality, which simply plays mixed film songs.
Even though the Troops programmes across the country are now simple film song-based programmes, AIR Guwahati's Sainik Bhaiyon Ka Karyakram continues to preserve its heritage by airing a wide variety of daily, weekly and monthly programmes to entertain the Troops and the civilians equally. The absence of letters from the Troops' listeners didn't deter the present-day announcers to present quality entertainment. In the absence of regular announcers for over a decade now, the casual presenters have well handled the broadcast and have ensured that the motto "The Show must go on!" holds true in every respect. Thy have ensure that not a single programme under the Troops' broadcast gets suspended.Despite a very little motivation for casual announcers, they have taken up the show with high sincerity so that the heritage of a 55-year-old programme, that too with a historical significance, doesn't get lost just like that. With a total duration of 2 hours and 20 minutes a day, and seven days a week, AIR Guwahati's Troops broadcast continues to be the leader of all Troops' programmes across the country since the last 55 years. The broadcast was available on MW and SW since its inception until the 1990s, after which it was available solely on the MW for the next 25 years. However, with the latest advancements in broadcast technologies, this programme is currently available on MW, FM, DRM and Mobile App. In other words, the broadcast that could earlier be heard only in the North-East, can now be heard from any remote corner of the world.
The various programmes broadcast under the Troops Programme of AIR Guwahati are listed below, which gives a clear picture of its diversity and variety:
Programmes based on Genre-based songs:
1. Sangeet Madhuri – Film songs based on classical music
2. Geet Apna Dhun Paraai – Film songs based on western music
3. Filmi Naghmen/ Nazrana – Film songs rich in Urdu poetry
4. Saaz Aur Awaaz – Film songs and their Instrumentals
5. Hai Zindagi Pukaarti – Philosophical film songs
6. Tarannum – Non-film Ghazals
7. Tarana – Non-film songs from Pop Albums
8. Bandegi Ke Geet aur Bhajan – Devotional film songs
9. Swar Sangam – Film songs with Chorus
10. Geet Manoranjan – Film songs with a flavour of comedy
11. Mazlis-e-Qawwali – Qawwalis from films
12. Geet Rangeele – Film songs of attraction/ sensual
13. Preet Ladi – Duet songs from films
14. Watan Ke Taraane – Patriotic film songs
15. Sheershak Sangeet – Title songs from films
16. Panghat – Folk-based film songs
17. Swar Chhaya – Films songs on a theme
18. Praadeshik Sangeet – Regional songs (Film/ Non-film)
Programmes based on "One" artiste/film:
19. Ek Hi Kalaakaar Ke Geet – Films songs sung by one singer (solos)
20. Ek Aur Anek – Film songs sung by one singer with different singers (duets)
21. Raag Rang – Film songs of one Lyricist/Music Director
22. Tarang – Film songs picturized on one actor
23. Chayanika/ Ek Hi Film Ke Geet – Songs of one film
Programmes based on Mixed songs:
24. Aaj Ka Geet – One song of Announcer's Choice
25. Film Sangeet/ Sabrang/ Gunjan – Mixed films songs
26. Geet Mala – Old film songs
27. Geetika – Evergreen film songs
28. Bhoole Bisre Geet – Lesser-heard old film songs
AIR Guwahati's Troops Programme can be heard on the below medium:
1. AM (MW) 289.9 metres (1035 kHz)
2. DRM 1044 kHz
3. FM 103.3 MHz
4. newsonair – AIR GUWAHATI PRAGJYOTISHPUR
Contributed by:-Sujoy Chatterjee ,soojoi_india@yahoo.co.in