MUMBAI: Discussing the role of community radio stations in our society today, a three-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the OneWorld Foundation India commenced in Vishakhapatnam on 2 March. The meeting highlighted the role that community radio can play at the ground level.
The workshops are a part of series to popularize community radio amongst institutions and NGOs to establish community radio stations (CRS) with a view to giving a voice to people.
The meeting in Vishakhapatnam was held in the Andhra Pradesh University, and the participants belonged to Andhra Pradesh and the southern parts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
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Andhra University rector AV Prasada Rao said, “Community radio is the medium of the future. It’s a potent weapon of positive change at the ground level in a globalizing world.”
In the course of three-days, the participants discussed community radio guidelines, eligibility criterion and also CR policy in detail. The event focused on the content and ways to create a regular supply of content for the stations. A host of workshops and interactions with experts were organized, where they explained the process of operating radio stations.
Major objectives of the event were propagating and demystifying community radio policy and its process, generating awareness amongst the potential applicants and stake holders, motivate potential civil society and other organizations to apply for license to operate CR stations, to explain and demonstrate the online application process, an overview on the process of capacity building, content generation, technology, management, ownership and sustainability of CR station and to have serious and eligible applicants from the region where the footprint of CR stations is less.
Centre for Innovation in Public Systems director D Chakrapani said, “Community radio is the equivalent of social media at the ground level. It has the power to hold the government institutions accountable at the local level and make them deliver for people’s good.”
With the I&B Ministry emphasizing on creating many more such stations across the country, a ministry representative CA Rao, told an agency that the ministry is in the process of creating a single window clearance system to simplify the process for setting up a CRS.
On the inaugural day, OneWorld Foundation India director Rajiv Tikoo lauded the role played by the ministry in strengthening the community radio movement in the country.
Currently, India has over 140 CR stations that are owned by NGOs, universities, educational institutions and even communities. This number is set to go up as the ministry is trying to increase the allocation for CRS in the 12th Five Year Plan.
