Mann Ki Baat’s 100th Episode: Here’s How Many People Have Listened To It So Far

New Delhi: A survey by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Rohtak on Monday said that more than 100 crore people — 96% of the population have listened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio show Mann ki Baat at least once. The show reaches its 100th episode next Sunday.

The findings of the study were brought out in a press conference by Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, Prasar Bharati and Dheeraj P Sharma, Director, IIM Rohtak. The study has tried to gauge the impact Mann Ki Baat has had on the population over the 99 editions so far.

While presenting the findings, Sharma said, “Data collection was done in multiple languages – Hindi as well as other regional languages. Nearly 96% of people are aware of Mann Ki Baat. We have included respondents who are about 15 years of age. At least 100 crore people have listened to it at least once, while 23 crore people listen/view the programme regularly.”

According to the survey, Mann Ki Baat positively influences citizenship, behaviour, optimism and happiness.

At least 60% have shown interest in working for nation-building, while 55% of listeners say they have become responsible citizens of the nation. While 63% feel that their approach towards the government has become positive, 59% feel that their trust in the government has increased. At least 58% expressed that their living conditions have improved, while 73% feel optimistic about the government’s working and the country’s progress.

While 23 crore people tune in to the programme regularly, another 41 crore constitute an occasional audience that has the scope of being converted into a regular audience.

Dwivedi informed the audience that apart from 22 Indian languages and 29 dialects, Mann Ki Baat is broadcast in 11 foreign languages, excluding English, namely, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Tibetan, Burmese, Baluchi, Arabic, Pashtu, Persian, Dari and Swahili. He said Mann ki Baat is being broadcast by more than 500 broadcast centres of All India Radio.

Going into the thought process behind the commissioning of the study, Dwivedi stated that from time to time there was a thought that there was a need for a well-rounded feedback. He further informed that while digital sentiment on Mann Ki Baat is readily available, the same is not the case with traditional media due to certain limitations. With this perspective, the task of the survey was awarded to IIM-Rohtak on April 18, 2022.