All India Radio Archives Prasar Bharati Central Archives Akashvani

History and Founding

The All India Radio Archives is the radio archiving wing of the Prasar Bharati Central Archives, India's oldest and largest audio-visual archive, located at Akashvani Bhawan on Sansad Marg (Parliament Street) in New Delhi. Organised archiving of radio content in India began with the establishment of the Transcription Service on 3 April 1954, initially focused on preserving speeches by the President and Prime Ministers of India. This date marks the formal beginning of systematic audio archiving for All India Radio (Akashvani), which had itself been broadcasting since 1927.

Doordarshan Archives, covering television content, was established separately in 2004. In 2018, the two archival arms were merged under a unified entity, Prasar Bharati Archives, operating as a single vertical within the state broadcaster Prasar Bharati. The Central Archives at Akashvani Bhawan caters to the archiving needs of the north and central zone of the Prasar Bharati network.

Collections and Holdings

The AIR Archives constitute a rich repository of priceless audio recordings spanning decades of Indian broadcasting. Key holdings include:

• Speeches and audio autobiographies of eminent personalities, freedom fighters, and national leaders — including recordings of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, and Prime Ministers' addresses to the nation
• Rare music recordings featuring maestros such as Ustad Bismillah Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi, and Begum Akhtar
• Radio dramas, features, documentaries, and community songs circulated among AIR stations via the Programme Exchange Library
• Historical broadcasts including Nehru's Tryst with Destiny address, oath-taking ceremonies, Republic Day parades, and other key national events
• A Video Library serving as a central repository of tapes from Doordarshan Kendras across the Prasar Bharati network

Analogue materials have been progressively digitised and preserved in a Media Assets Management (MAM) system. Archival content has been catalogued in an online library information system. Prasar Bharati Archives contributed approximately 206 hours of audio and 53 hours of video to the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya (Prime Ministers' Museum), inaugurated in 2022.

Journalism and Media Materials

As the archival arm of India's public broadcaster, the AIR Archives holds extensive documentation of the history of Indian broadcasting, including programme logs, policy records, and broadcast materials. The archives are of primary importance for research into the history of radio journalism, government communication, and public broadcasting in India.

Access and Usage

Audio recordings and ACD/DVD titles are available for purchase through the Prasar Bharati Archives online store. Archival content is also released via the institution's YouTube, social media channels, and OTT platforms. Researchers and institutions may request audio and audio-visual assets on a commercial or non-commercial basis.