MUMBAI: National Hindi news channel Aaj Tak is looking at tapping into rural audiences with its new show titled - Aaj Tak Ka Gaon Connection.

The special series is tailor-made for the rural audience connecting India and Bharat like never before.

Rural India is a large, underserved market amounting to around 70 per cent of India’s total population (Census 2011) and contributing to about half of the India’s GDP. The villages in India play a crucial role in not just making or breaking governments but also play a defining role in the economy and growth of the nation as a whole. The rural audience is going through a metamorphosis and is changing at a sociological and cultural level. Understanding the need to give apt coverage to this very important and wide section of India, the channel launched the new show. 

With Aaj Tak Ka Gaon Connection, the channel plans to provide a full spectrum of rural news - from hard subjects to inspirational stories, problems, issues and a perspective that is fresh and uniquely rural.

The show will be hosted by senior journalist, lyricist and scriptwriter Neelesh Misra, who is also the founder and editorial director of India’s first ever rural newspaper Gaon Connection.

India Today group CEO Ashish Bagga said, "The launch of Aaj Tak Ka Gaon Connection is just another step that underlines our channel’s thought leadership and the consistent effort to break new ground. The series will fill a long standing void that this vast audience base has been feeling.”

The series will not  only keep rural India updated on issues that matter but will also give a glimpse of their world to the viewers across towns and cities.