ROLE OF MEDIA IN THE CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT IN COUNTRIES LIKE INDIA

Communication is the process of manifestation of emotions, sentiments, thoughts, ideas and information between and among individuals. In the process, not just sharing of knowledge and information, but also awareness, good-will, services and relationships do evolve and develop as spin-off effects. Obviously, communication is a precursor to any event, small and big alike.
Especially in development in the context of countries like India, communication has an immense power to inform, educate, motivate, encourage and mobilize the citizens about various issues pertaining to socio-economic and political policies and decisions of the government. Mass and social mobilization, attitudinal change, and collective- and communal-consciousness are intricately inter-twined with the nature, methods, types and ways of communication.
Essentially, a development is any new positive change in the society which brings about welfare and prosperity of the people as a whole. Countries like India, which are predominantly poor; illiterate; substantial chunk of the population still laced with orthodoxy- deeply rooted to customs & traditions; rural-agricultural based society with scanty or relatively lesser industrialization; congested, scattered and haphazard urbanization; lop-sided economic growth both in terms of various sectors of the economy as well as different regions of the country; burgeoning population with increasing gulf between rich and poor; and so on so forth, communication plays a great role in eradicating social evils, in consolidating political awakening and in spreading economic well-being through the profile of the society.
Evidently, effective communication serves as an engine of any nation’s socio-economic and political stability. Consequently, it ensures national unity and territorial integrity. Thus, communication is an input in development in the context of counties like India.