[Thanks to Anujaa Shukla for the link and Karan Minz for translating the story from Hindi]
Ignoring the voices of marginalized<http://www.amarujala.com/Vichaar/Aalekh/community-radio-supreme-court-india-4-10-2953.html> Mukul Srivastava | Amar Ujala | 04 July 2012 In February 1995, the Supreme Court of India gave a landmark judgment related to radio, that airwaves are public property. The decision paved the way for the multi-sectoral growth of radio, but in that transformation, the social arena in which the real India dwells was left behind. No one was particularly keen to hear the voices of rural India that dreams of hearing its own voice. But eventually, in that process of change, Community Radio – which caters to local needs and the common interests of its listeners – was born. It broadcasts programmes which are popular in the local area and talks about issues that are mostly neglected by the mainstream media. The operation of community radio is done at the community level and it is not for profit making. It helps to tell the tales and share the experiences of individuals, groups and communities. Earlier, we had two kinds of radio broadcasting: one was commercial and the other public service. Community Radio provides an option to those listeners who, through lack of numbers, don’t benefit from mainstream public radio, or, through lack of money, are of little interest to commercial broadcasters. Community radio stations use 50 watt transmitters which broadcast on the FM band, with a coverage area of 5 to 15 kilometres radius. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting does not allow the commercial exploitation of community radio. The main purpose of community radio is just to entertain but to generate awareness on health, education, environment etc and to preserve local cultures. They can broadcast a limited amount of advertising. In India, the total number of operational community radio stations is only 126. Given the population as well as linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, this number is not sufficient. Even our neighbours like Nepal and Sri Lanka are ahead of us when it comes to the reach of community radio. The government has given scant attention to the potential and scope of community radio. Till now, it was assumed that the community would take ownership and sustain their CR stations. The government was at best offering some concession on spectrum fees. Very recently, the licence fee was increased three times, from Rs 19000/- to Rs 91000/-, clearly demonstrating that the government only pays lip-service to development but won’t do a thing about it. In our Information Society, community radio can be a powerful tool to bridge the digital divide. But there is no help whatsoever from the government to support or promote the growth of this medium of the marginalized. This is why it becomes difficult to establish a radio station at the community level. The government spends crores of rupees in the name of increasing literacy, but it is reluctant to spend anything to encourage the growth of a medium that’s recognized as the best way to spread information and knowledge among communities. This fee hike will hamper the ongoing CR movement in country even more and will also discourage new applicants from applying for community radio licenses. Even All India Radio is now obsessed with their advertisement revenues. In this scenario, how to increase the number of community radio stations is still the big question. In a market-driven age, when companies do social service only to improve their brand image, it is futile to assume that the corporate sector will actually come forward and spend their money on real social causes. The fact remains that, barring a handful of community radio stations, most of them are unable to recover their day-to-day running costs. They want the government to exempt them at least from these annual spectrum fees. Is government willing to listen to their voice? http://www.amarujala.com/Vichaar/Aalekh/community-radio-supreme-court-india-4-10-2953.html
Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to www.crforum.in
