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Background
AID
aims at creating an open and transparent governance information
system. It is working with the poor and the underprivileged in the
districts of Garhwa, Palamau and Latehar in the state of
Jharkhand. These districts are one of the most drought prone and
poor regions of the country. Villages in this region are situated
far from the block where nothing reaches on time. The only thing
people listen to is the radio. They are keen to listen to their
own programmes, their own issues, their voices articulated in
their language. Community radio has thus become a medium that is
their own.
Community Radio in this region is providing a single platform
where each and every member of village participates in some form
or the other. It has inspired and motivated people to come
together, despite varied backgrounds and interests.
The strategy of AID is to move the community voices from the
margins toward the centre. |
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Chala Ho
Gaon Mein- Community radio programme by AID
AID
has been running ‘Chala Ho Gaon Mein’, the Community Radio
programme since 2001 in Palamau District of Jharkhand State. The
programme is aired through the FM station of All India Radio
(AIR), Daltonganj. Initially the project covered AID operational
area of Palamau district. Getting good public response the
programme expanded to the adjoining district of Garhwa. |
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Community Radio Policy- Mixed signals of expectations
It was ten years ago in 1995 when
the Supreme Court handed down its historic judgement on the
airwaves. See
http://mib.nic.in/informationb/POLICY/frames.htm for
details. A year later, a group of policy planners, media
professionals and civil society organisations gathered in
Bangalore to study how community radio could be relevant in India.
A ‘Bangalore Declaration’ was signed,
which has formed the basis of advocacy for community radio since
then. Many meetings, workshops and conferences were to follow,
including one in Hyderabad and Pastapur (Andhra Pradesh) in July
2000, which urged the government to create a three-tier structure
of broadcasting in India- state owned public radio, private
commercial radio, and non-profit community radio.
The first phase of community radio, which was started in 2002, did
not take off commercially and remained confined to colleges and
deemed universities for a variety of reasons. In Phase II, the
plan is to allow both NGOs as well as civil society groups to get
licenses to start radio stations. The matter on which there is a
difference of opinion in the cabinet is on allowing such stations
to have a revenue stream and on the question of the range of
broadcast to be permitted. It would seem that the long wait for a
viable policy on community radio, just got longer. The policy is
yet to be finalized. |
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Government to ponder
There are
several reasons why the concerned department of the government
should pay attention to the cause of the people.
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Despite
advocacy initiatives in India that have articulated the
need for a 3-tiered media structure (public, private and
community) - community radio broadcasting has not been
endorsed by law till today. The Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting released its ‘Community Radio Guidelines’
(www. mib.nic.in) way back in 2002. To community radio
groups, who had been expecting a break-through, these
guidelines were a major disappointment. The guidelines
restricted community radio licenses to ‘well-established’
educational institutions. News and current affairs
programmes were banned and advertisements that would have
brought in some much needed revenue were also prohibited.
It is a clear picture of weak political will towards media
reform that would support the development of community
media.
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The
government is following pre independence law that is yet
to be scrapped. There is no ban on print, television or
internet. So why is restrictions put on this low cost,
accessible medium. One should think of what radio could
mean in a country like India with its varied culture and
languages. Millions in this country are still not literate
but needs information and entertainment in their own
languages and dialects. Technology has made radio
transmission very cheap and accessible. Yet an unthinking
bureaucracy has nightmares at the thought of a radio
revolution.
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Government should, on priority basis, issue community
broadcasting licenses to rural areas and communities that
are least developed in terms of various socio economic
indicators. AID working in such area shows that the least
developed regions and the communities are also least
served by media.
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Impacts of Community Radio: Case Studies
A
recent internal impact study across 374 villages reveals that 98
per cent of the village folk listen to the programme regularly, 81
per cent of the listeners feel the programme is very good and most
of the listeners appreciate the social dramas and folk songs
through which they would like to discuss their problems.
Some examples of real life events are given below to illustrate
the direct impact made by the community radio at the community
level. |
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Some Facts
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When
tsunami waves broke all communication lines across India's
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, ham radio came to the rescue.
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Frequencies
from 88 MHz to 108 MHz are available for broadcasting,
while frequencies in 88-100 MHz and 103.8 to 108 MHz are
specifically identified for private FM broadcast.
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Approximately 60%
of urban Indians and 25% of rural Indians read print media
on a regular basis, and 96% of the country is reached by
radio.
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India
has 18 officially-recognized languages and a total of 1652
mother tongues spread over an area of 3.2 million square
kilometers.
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One
low-cost station with a transmitting power of up to 50W
that reaches a target audience of 5-10 square kilometers
would cost between Rs.1 to 1.2 million (almost US$ .5
million). Basic equipment for recording, mixing, editing,
and a 20-feet high antenna would cost a little more.
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Recent
government studies suggest that radio in India could
potentially reach up to 98.5% of the population. There are
approximately 104 million homes that have radio-nearly
double the number of homes that have TV.
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Bangalore
Declaration: The main focus was to discuss the problems
and prospects of evolving a sectoral broadcasting. The
discussions focused on the means and modalities of
establishing, at the earliest, a democratic, dynamic and
people-oriented system of public service broadcasting in
the country.
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Links
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Sample Episode
