Download - Community radio in india
N.A.Shah Ansari(Community Media Practitioner)
Chairperson, Radio Namaskar
Vice President, Community Radio Association, India
Convener, National Alliance of Community Media
Community Radio in India
What is Community Radio?
Community Radio has a short range and caters
to the information needs of communities living
in the surrounding areas , owned, run and
maintained by a community.
"It is called popular or educational radio in Latin America, rural or local
radio in Africa, public radio in Australia and free or associative radio in
Europe. All these describe the same phenomenon - gaining voices and
democratizing communication on a community.
Why Community Radio?
Magazines - limited reach, expensive, literacy needed
Government run Radio – broad focus, limited time and centralized
Television – commercial approach, electricity, centralized
News Papers – literacy, different focus, restricted reach
But………
Community Radio….
• Is very inexpensive and it is owned by the community
(it may cost from 5 to 25 Lakh Rupees to set up a station)
•The signal is broadcast in FM mode and it generally reaches up
to 15-20 Km depending on the topography of the area.
•A user can reach the services with a very inexpensive
radio costing Rs. 50 to 100 Rs. any where in the coverage area.
•Any type of service can be broadcast like, weather, agriculture
information, visits of the higher officials, person of interest ,
workshops, Camps, Marriages, Call for the doctor ,Fire Station
and emergency services, Mandi prices and availability and
workload, local music, interviews with local officers/citizens. (even
missing cattle information)
Important difference…
Does not cost any thing to the Government
Can be run and managed by Agri Universities, NGOs,
Community Based Organizations, Edu Institutes.
Government can use it for disaster management,
statewide broadcast and several other applications.
Benefits of Community Radio
• Builds local identity, character and culture through a
diversity of programmes and content.
• Promotes community access to local community
content
• Focuses on specific community issues concerns and
events
• Highlights various interest groups and community
personalities
• Shares local information by giving voice to the
voiceless
• Includes minority and marginalized community
members
…..Benefits of Community Radio
• Facilitates mastery of radio equipment and basic
broadcasting techniques
• Promotes democratic process, social change,
development, civil society and good governance
• Acts as a form of public-service broadcasting
independent of government and party politics
• Relies on the community resources it serves rather than
the whole nation
Challenges
•Challenges of sustainability are common
•Developing content
•Difficulty developing local proposals at local level
•Frequent disruptions in electricity, email, fax and
telephone connections delay implementation
•Absence of technical expertise to service and maintain
equipment
Successes
•Community Involvement promotes citizen based
governance.
•Interest has been mounting from national governments,
regional and international stakeholders in the region
•Community residents take much pride in their work and
culture
•Stake holders are nurtured in their independent efforts at
improving themselves rather than relying solely on
development funding
•Collaboration among different stake holders develop
Community Radio in India…
February 1995; Supreme Court of India ruled in its judgmentthat "airwaves are public property". This came as an inspirationto groups across the country, but to begin with, onlyeducational (campus) radio stations were allowed.
2000; FM broadcasting was opened up to the private sector forthe first time, by charging prohibitively expensive broadcastingfees.
3 July 2001; India's very first privately owned broadcastingstation Radio City went on air in Bangalore.
December’02; Government of India announced a policy for thegrant of Community Radio Licenses to educational institutionsand organizations
Community Radio in India…..
1 February 2004 ; Anna FM is India's first campus 'community'
radio, launched on, which is run by Education and Multimedia
Research Centre (EM²RC),
16 November 2006 ; Government of India notified new
Community Radio Guidelines which permit NGOs and other civil
society organizations to own and operate community radio
stations.
30 November 2008; There were 38 operational community
radio stations in the country. Of these, two are run by NGOs and
the rest by educational institutions.
15 October 2008; 'Sangham Radio' in Pastapur village, Medak
district, Andhra Pradesh state, was switched on at 11.00am.
Sangham Radio, which broadcasts on 90.4 MHz, is licensed to
Deccan Development Society (DDS),
12 February 2010; Radio Namaskar, the only community radio
of Odisha state started its broadcasting from Konark, by Young
India which broadcasts on FM 90.4 MHz.