Mann Ki Baat programme hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Mann Ki Baat is an Indian programme hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he addresses the people of the nation on All India Radio, DD National and DD News.

Background
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is usually expected to address the nation every month on All India Radio. Having officially started on and from 3 October 2014, the programme aims to deliver the Prime Minister's voice to the general masses of India. Since television connection is still not available everywhere in India, especially in the isolated, rural and less developed regions, radio was chosen to be the medium for the programme, owing to its wider reach. An estimated 90% of the total Indian population is reachable over the medium  Doordarshan's Direct to Home (DTH) service Freedish relays feeds of the 20-minute-long episodes, to television and radio channels.

The first Mann Ki Baat programme was broadcast on the occasion of Vijayadashami on 3 October 2014 followed by the second broadcast on 2 November 2014.


The US President, Barack Obama and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi recording the special episode of “Mann ki Baat”, in New Delhi on January 27, 2015.
The former President of the United States, Barack Obama, was a part of the January edition of 'Mann Ki Baat', which was aired on 27 January 2015. Obama had arrived in India to be a part of the Republic Day Parade.

In the first fifteen addresses of Mann ki Baat broadcast, more than 61,000 ideas were received on the website and 1.43 lakh audio recordings by listeners have been received. Each month, some selected calls become a part of the broadcast. 2 June 2017, PM Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' will soon be available in regional dialects, starting with Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Jharkhand.The aim is to expand reach of the program as far as possible.

The 50th episode of the program was broadcast on All India Radio on 25 November 2018.

Reception
The programme has been well received by the target audience, especially the urban masses residing in metropolitan cities across the country. A survey conducted in the lines of estimating the show's success, in 6 Indian cities including Mumbai and Chennai, has indicated that some 66.7% of the population had tuned in to listen to the Prime Minister's address and had found it useful.

Mann Ki Baat became a major source of revenue for the All India Radio.