Roadblocks hit community radio campaigners
Feb 5, 2007 - 8:41:38 AM
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Others in the network suggest that what has been given is a significant change over the earlier government approach, and should be accepted till the authorities are more comfortable with the idea.
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By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Feb 5 - Months after India opened up low-powered FM radio broadcasting to community groups, those eligible to apply for licences are finding many roadblocks and a shortage of skills in a field dominated by the government for generations.
In November 2006, the government gave the green signal to ommunity radio stations, opening what some noted was a potent power in local broadcasting.
Some two and a half months later, officialdom is currently finalising application forms for applying to set up FM community radio stations, under a policy which will open up broadcasting to educational institutions, agricultural centres, and non-profits or NGOs though under some stringent conditions.
Training for those intending to run the tiny, mostly low-cost stations, and the best mix of technology available were high on the list of challenges facing such attempts, during a two-day national consultation held on the subject by campaign groups and individuals here.
Prior to this, educational institutions were allowed to run campus-radio like initiatives. But these too have not been problem-free.
'Our electronics department built its own - transmitter for Rs.600, that can reach up to a distance of five km. But we were told to buy one through the licensed dealer. After paying Rs.100,000, the dealer is asking for the licence before delivery, while the officials say we need to get the equipment first to get the licence,' said Principal Newman Fernandes of Goa's St. Xavier's College.
Many other issues hit grassroot media campaigners in their face. With its 'no-news' policy and other restrictions, community radio remains one of the Indian media's tightly controlled segments, as against a very large measure of freedom for the print media.
Spreading the message is also another important concern. Since radio has been largely government-run in India, and opened to commercial FM since the 1990s, most cannot even imagine of the possibilities of community-run radio stations.
'People simply don't understand what community radio is. The closest they get to it is confusing it with HAM radio,' said Kanchan Kumar, lecturer at the Hyderabad-based Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts and Communication.
Getting access to a licence and understanding the procedures to do so remains another maze for most, according to those who launched a network called the 'CR Forum' to promote community radio here. Community radio has grown rapidly even in Nepal, Latin America and Africa.
But challenges come from inside the campaign too.
There has been some talk of adopting voluntary codes of conduct, so that self-regulation improves the functioning of the sector once it is up and running. Others stressed that community radio should not be limited to just NGO radio, and that actual communities should be empowered by it.
There are two perspectives on the conditions in the license conditions. Some argue that there are too many stumbling blocks that would make the fledging community radio stations unviable and difficult to sustain.
Others in the network suggest that what has been given is a significant change over the earlier government approach, and should be accepted till the authorities are more comfortable with the idea.
Said IITian Arun Mehta: 'We should outright reject conditions which say that equipment should be bought only from 'authorised dealers'. Surely, a college with talented students could build their own equipment -.'
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