In the history of electronic media in Sri Lanka, radio is the oldest form. Radio Broadcasting in Sri Lanka was established by Chief Engineer Edward Harper, on 16th of December 1925. Although radio broadcasting institutions both Britain and Sri Lanka are almost of the same age, broadcasting in Britain, over the years reached the stature of a global trend setter in giant leaps and bounds to be the global broadcaster. However the position we gained as Sri Lankan radio Broadcasters compare with others should be discussed at length.

For decades, the BBC has been looked upon by global communities as the establishment in sound broadcasting. The policies, practices, ethical concepts creative innovations and the exemplary professionalism of BBC provided guidelines to broadcasting institutions in an extensive range of lands right round the world.

Some Sri Lankans found employment opportunities in the BBC and returned home enriched with broadcasting experiences that they were able to acquire at the host institution. In spite of that impressive background and history, there has never been an attempt to recognize our radio achievements though State awards until 2017.

Cinema, Television, Drama, Literature, Dance and other forms of Arts and crafts had their system of state awards. But for some reason sound broadcasting suffered neglect. However a number of TV channels developed during the past have been attempting to satisfy the society with the programmes of low taste and with inferior language merely to please the listeners. The responsibility of the state is to pave the way for the better creations to be broadcast for the entertainment of the masses. Furthermore it is the responsibility of the state to institute standards to the relevant services and programmes including the human resources and give due accolade to such programs broadcast over the radio. This will provide a strong impetus for the armature artistes to produce creations of excellence.

Under the above circumstances the plans were afoot by the Ministry in charge of the subject of culture together with the Department of Cultural Affairs to hold an annual event of State Radio Awards Ceremony in the year 2017.

Objective

Direct the producers and channels to broadcast qualitative entertaining program of great diversity which reflect the full range of audience’s interests and broaden the intellect of people.

Other objectives

• Felicitate creations of higher caliber and their producers.
• Present awards to the doyens of the radio broadcasting field of Sri Lanka who have rendered an invaluable service to the field.
• Presentation of “Diri Abhimani” awards for the advancement of the radio broadcasting field.
• Encouragement for the advancement of radio broadcasting field of Sri Lanka.
• Encouragement for the standardization of radio channels.