DUSHANBE, January 8, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- To provide people’s access to the socially significant information it is necessary to use all available technologies, depending on specifics and other parameters of the region, city or district, Mahmoudjon Sarayev, a chef specialist with the information analysis department at President’s Executive Office, remarked at a roundtable meeting in Dushanbe on January 7.

The meeting brought together representatives of press services of state institutions, media, NGOs and international organizations to discuss issued related to improving access of population to the socially significant information.

According to Sarayev, 0.6 percent of the country’s population (450 settlements) still cannot pick up programs of the Tajik national television, Shabaki Yakum (Channel One), because of energy shortage problems.

Another important source of population’s access to the information of social significance is newspapers.  However, compared to 1980 circulation of them has reduced by 36 percent, the chief specialist noted.  “Only 12 percent of newspapers in the country now have subscribers among physical entities, while major part of the population cannot afford to buy print media,” Sarayev said.

“There are other media that could provide the population with access to the socially significant information: radio, TV, Internet,” said he, “However, the majority of them are private and pursue commercial object.  Improvement of population’s access to the social information requires financial aid from local budgets of the cities and districts and other state institutions.”

Meanwhile, some 60 percent of districts are subsidized from the republican budget.  “The government has developed a number of concepts to solve these problems and intends to solve them gradually,” Sarayev said.