Public service broadcasters have a responsibility to empower women on a day-to-day basis, the Director General of India’s Doordarshan, Mayank Kumar Agrawal, has said.

Addressing the Women With the Wave forum on 27 November, he said India’s public service broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio played a significant role in promoting women’s empowerment.

How women were depicted on television had a strong impact on society, he said.

“There is no task which a woman can’t do these days.”

The daylong forum looked at the media’s role in times of crisis through a gender equality, diversity and inclusion lens. It was led by Chrissie Tucker, Chair ABU Diversity and Inclusion Task Group.

The forum focused on a range of issues including global and inter-regional connections, ABU projects and outreach, disability themes and serving people through conflict and trauma.

One session looked at the media in the Pacific region and another on the media in South, Central and Western Asia, focusing on inclusion policies and content in action.

Another session shone a spotlight on practical measures for media organisations through pandemic situations – supporting employees and communities based on gender and diversity needs.

The forum’s title refers to the digital wave that is sweeping the globe and how women can catch and surf this wave.