Community radio in india

Its about community radio process in India......

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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………

4. 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)

5. 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.

6. 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

7. …..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

8. 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

9. Successes Community Involvement promotes citizen based governance. I nterest 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

10. Community Radio in India… February 1995; Supreme Court of India ruled in its judgment that "airwaves are public property". This came as an inspiration to groups across the country, but to begin with, only educational (campus) radio stations were allowed. 2000; FM broadcasting was opened up to the private sector for the first time, by charging prohibitively expensive broadcasting fees. 3 July 2001; India's very first privately owned broadcasting station Radio City went on air in Bangalore. December’02; Government of India announced a policy for the grant of Community Radio Licenses to educational institutions and organizations

11. 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.

12. namaskar!