Ankit Kumar Singh awarded doctorate at BHU

I am delighted to inform you that  Mr Ankit Kumar Singh, a senior sports journalist now faculty at Pune-based Vishwakarma University, was last week awarded a doctorate at the Banaras Hindu Univerity.

He studied under Professor Sisir Basu at the BHU's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, 

Title of his study is A Study on the Symbolic Economy: Communication's Role, Challenges and Prospects in India. 

Currently Assistant Professor at Vishwakarma University's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dr Ankit Kumar Singh  was a sub-editor and reporter with Hindustan Times (from April 2011 to July 2014 at Hindustan Times, Lucknow and from December 2017 to June 2019 at Hindustan Times, Mumbai). He has covered international cricket matches, IPL games, Women's ODIs, Ranji Trophy matches, Khelo India games and MRF Car Rally.

Synopsis of Dr Singh's thesis

INTRODUCTION

The Symbolic Economy, as a term, became popular following its use in Sharon Zukin’s path-breaking book, ‘The Cultures of Cities’, which was first published in 1995. Zukin, who happens to be a professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate School, City University of New York, states that the Symbolic Economy refers to economic activities that concentrate on cultural production and consumption, such as those associated with Tourism, Media and Entertainment (TME). The concept of the Symbolic Economy marks a shift from the notions of the agrarian economy and the industrial economy which were in vogue earlier. Though agriculture and industry have remained at the heart of social structure, symbolic commodities have become the driving force of the economy around the world in the wake of an unprecedented growth in the field of information technology and media industry. 

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to:

• examine the growth and total outlay of tourism from 1991 to 2015,
• analyse the growth and total outlay of media and entertainment from 1991 to 2015, 
• ascertain the role of communication in promoting these components of the Symbolic Economy; and
• study the challenges and prospects that these components (and also other components) of the Symbolic Economy offer in India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Historical research method served as the research design for the study since the purpose of the dissertation was to examine the growth of a phenomenon over a period in a country.

Selection of Time Frame and Components

Since tourism, media and entertainment are considered chief factors fuelling the Symbolic Economy (Zukin, 95), the study focused on examining various facets of their growth in India between the period of 1991 and 2015. The period of 1991 was taken as a starting point for it was the year in which Indian economy was opened in the wake of the policy of economic liberalisation introduced by the then Congress government.

Issued to be studies by categories

Tourism	Media and Entertainment
·         Sector-wise growth and total outlay over the years ·         Contribution to GDP and employment ·         Communication strategies and policies used to fuel the growth of the industry ·         Challenges and prospects	·         Sector wise growth and total outlay over the years ·         Contribution to GDP and employment ·         Communication strategies and policies used to fuel the growth of the industry ·         Challenges and prospects

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Growth and a total outlay of Tourism in India

Ø  The number of domestic tourist visits increased from 126.74 million in 1991 to 1431.97 million in 2015 and the number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals reached 80.27 lakh in 2015 from 16.77 lakh in 1991. The industry underwent significant growth during these years with its total market size reaching INR 8309.4 billion in 2015 which accounted for 7 per cent of the country’s total GDP.

Ø  By 2015, the industry gave jobs to 4.3 crore people, which was 8.7 per cent of total employment generated in the country.

Growth and total outlay of Media and Entertainment Industry (M&E) in India

Ø  The nine sectors (TV, Radio, Print, Films, Music, OOH, Digital Advertising, Animation & VFX, Online Gaming) that comprise M&E Industry in India witnessed significant growth during the period of the study. The total market size of the industry grew from INR 385 billion in 2005 to reach INR 1157 billion in 2015, registering a growth of 12.27 per cent on average over the years.

Ø  The M&E sector per se didn’t contribute much to the country’s GDP during the period of the study but its impact extended beyond direct revenues. There were multi-faceted economic implications of the industry on the overall economy. The core sectors generated jobs, wages, and output for the supplies, professionals, and contractors they relied on during the course of business.

Ø  As far as the employment generation was concerned, the industry accounted for 4.5 million jobs in 2015, besides playing a stellar role in creating additional jobs like the ones featuring electricians, spot boys, camera crew, media lawyers, etc. A point to remember here is that one job in the media industry is creating several other jobs in the country ranging from communication, electronics and service industry.

Role of communication in promotion of the components of the Symbolic Economy

Ø  The government of India launched several schemes like Hunar Se Rozgar, Visa on Arrival and various publicity strategies to give the tourism industry an impetus. These strategies underlined the effective use of communication strategies to promote the industry. A highlight of this analysis was bumping into nine niche tourism products that the Ministry of Tourism has identified and started promoting to turn India into a hub of niche tourism. These niche products are – cruise tourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism, wellness tourism, golf tourism, polo tourism, eco-tourism, film tourism, and tiger tourism.

Ø  The role of communication in the promotion of the M&E industry was examined through the prism of three parameters — production of symbols as basic commodities (example; reality shows  capitalising on people’s particular desire), the introduction of new design and style (example; the popularity of web streaming apps), and need creation and reinforcement (example; the growing popularity of skin care products).

Challenges and Prospects

Ø  The Indian tourism industry has grown by leaps and bounds but at world level, it’s still behind smaller countries like Italy and Malaysia; the study reveals. Some of the reasons hampering the industry’s growth have been—lack of proper infrastructure and skilled human resources; insufficient promotion and marketing; stringent tax policy; and security issues. However, in the near future, the industry is only going to get bigger.

Ø  The M&E industry has also witnessed tremendous growth over the years but is far from realising its full potential. While at the world level, the M&E sector contributes on average 2.6 per cent of a country’s GDP, in India the figure is quite low. One of the issues hampering the industry’s growth is the chasm that exists between rural and urban households in terms of daily internet consumption. However, things are only going to get brighter going ahead as the efforts to tap the rural un-connected consumers have already been started.  

Symbolic Economy of Religious Festivals

Ø  Apart from tourism, media and entertainment, which are well-established components of the Symbolic Economy, India has several cultural products that can be tapped to reap economic benefits in an organised way. Prominent among them is the case of religious festivals and folk cultural events like Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi and Kumbha Mela.

Ø  According to a report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Durga Puja had a Rs 1,00,000 crore business in India in 2018 and is growing with almost 35 per cent CAGR. Similarly, the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi generated Rs 20,000 crore in 2018 with 20 per cent of CAGR in the states of Maharashtra and Telangana; and this year’s Kumbha Mela accounted for 1.2 lakh crore.

Ø  According to a report by Rajya Sabha, India celebrates 51 festivals in a year, with 17 of them being nationally recognised ones. If marketed well and organised with economic finesse, religious festivals can provide a boost to the country’s economy.

 

CONCLUSION

As evidenced by the findings of this study, post 1991 India have made stupendous strides in the field of tourism, media and entertainment which are considered three major components of the Symbolic Economy. Apart from them, there are also other cultural activities that have the potential of developing into a Symbolic Economy-driven brand in the same way Disney created its Symbolic Economy in the United States of America. The rise of the Symbolic Economy, though, is not minus a flip side. A society operating under the umbrella of the Symbolic Economy would always remain prone to isolation and chaos. Real emotions may take the backseat with plastic emotions taking the front seat to shape one’s behaviours and social conducts. All said and done, everything comes with a price and the Symbolic Economy is no different either.

13.12.2020