ONL Bureau : As per the policy, Community Radio Stations can be established by not-for-profit organizations with a proven record of three years of service to the local community. The policy mandates that the programmes aired by the Community Radio Stations should be relevant to the educational, developmental, social and cultural requirements of the community.

Government supports Community Radio Stations through financial assistance to establish, repair, and maintain community radio stations. Support is also provided during emergencies like floods, cyclones, or lightning damage.

Government is implementing a scheme called ‘Supporting Community Radio Movement in India’ with an outlay of Rs. 50 Cr. It is designed to strengthen existing and new Community Radio Stations.

The main features of the scheme are as follows:

    Financial assistance to newly established CRSs after they have been operational for three months.
    Stations operating for over five years receive support for renewing or replacing old equipment.
    Training and awareness through workshops, webinars, and sammelans.
    Stakeholder engagement through regional and national events to enable peer learning among CR stakeholders.

The Government has sanctioned 540 Community Radio Stations throughout the country. Out of these, 48 are in Tamil Nadu, spread over 24 districts. These stations have been undertaking significant work in the areas of disaster management, sea conservation, health and hygiene, among others.

During the last three financial years, a total sum of Rs. 40,03,098/- has been released to the Community Radio Stations located in Tamil Nadu.

This information was submitted by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. L. Murugan, in the Lok Sabha.

About Community Radio

Community Radio represents an important third tier in radio broadcasting, distinct from Public Service Broadcasting and Commercial Radio. These are low power FM stations having maximum Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of 100 Watts, expected to focus on local issues and are owned and managed by a community for the benefit of the community. The outreach of the station is approx. 10-15 Kms radius.

 A community radio station is a locally operated radio station that is set up, managed, and operated by members of a specific community to serve the interests, culture, and needs of that community. There are 540 Commissioned Community Radio Stations in India as on date.

Programmes over Community Radio, besides being in the local dialect, can be made to suit the needs of the listeners. Indeed, it is an empowering experience for many of the marginalized sections in society to just be able to hear their own voices over the medium of the Community Radio. Remote communities, be they farmers, fisher folk, students or daily-wage workers, contribute regularly to this radio medium as their own. This is unimaginable on any other mainstream media. Naturally so, the programmes of preference cover topics such as health and hygiene, feedback pertaining to agriculture and fisher folk issues, road safety, water conservation, rain water harvesting, folk culture and life, as well as entertainment by local residents and students.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also streamlined process for setting up of Community Radio Stations and various approvals that the stations need to take. Applicants can now apply online on the Broadcast Seva Portal and track status of their pending application through the portal.

And to strengthen the Community Radio Sector, the Government of India approved a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) namely "Supporting Community Radio Movement in India". The various activities have been proposed under the scheme to achieve the following: -

i) To create awareness about the scheme by holding workshops to encourage more and more organizations to apply for setting up of CRS and greater reach of Community Radio Stations in media dark areas.

 ii) To create capacity building of the prospective applicants.

 iii) To strengthen both new and existing CRS with resources, capacity and technology, thereby increasing number and effectiveness of operational CRS.

 iv) Handholding of CRS.

Under this scheme, the Ministry provides financial assistance between Rs. 15.60 Lakhs to Rs. 21.00 Lakhs in other than North East region and between Rs. 18.20 lakhs to Rs. 24 lakhs in North East region for setting-up of New CRSs with special focus on the use of green energy (solar) and women participation. Financial assistance upto Rs. 10.50 Lakhs and upto Rs. 11.10 Lakhs is also provided to existing CRSs in other than North East region and North East region respectively, for renewal or replacement of equipment. An emergency grant upto Rs. 11.50 Lakhs is also provided in extreme emergency situations like natural calamities, lightning, cyclone, etc. to cover damages caused to Community Radio Stations.    

For the past many years, the Ministry has also been organizing Awareness Workshops in different parts of the country. These workshops have been successful in addressing issues concerning guidelines, application procedure, content and sustainability issues for CRS. These workshops have also proved to be useful not only to spread awareness but also build capacities of the NGOs and other organizations to operate Community Radio Stations in an effective way.

Community Radio Stations, by their very definition, confirm to this motto of leaving no one behind as these are people’s institutions at the grassroots that strive to give messages to the last person, while also giving this last individual the opportunity to voice his or her opinion, confirming to the right to free expression.

(Syndicated News Feed)