Swayam Prabha is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, comprising 40 Direct to Home (DTH) educational television channels dedicated to providing high quality educational content across India. Through 24×7 satellite broadcasting, the initiative makes structured learning resources accessible to learners across diverse locations and learning contexts.

Each channel provides at least four hours of fresh, curriculum-based programmes every day, with scheduled repeat telecasts to support flexible learning. The educational content is developed by premier national institutions, including the IITs, DU, BHU, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, and other leading educational organisations. The channels are uplinked through BISAG-N, Gandhinagar.

IIT Kanpur's Contribution

IIT Kanpur manages five of the 40 Swayam Prabha higher education channels under the leadership of Prof. Satyaki Roy. The channels support undergraduate and postgraduate education by providing access to high quality, curriculum aligned educational resources developed by subject experts from premier institutions across India.

To promote inclusive and multilingual learning, content is delivered in English, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Odia, Tamil, Assamese, and Sanskrit, extending access to learners from diverse linguistic backgrounds. Through collaboration with faculty members, academic institutions, and national educational bodies, IIT Kanpur contributes to the development and delivery of accessible, multidisciplinary, and technology enabled learning resources for learners across the country.