[cr-india] Re: two roads

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

Sajan, Are you suggesting that the policy be discussed on the basis of 
what the commercial FM is willing to permit? Or that we use the official 
(and by now, confirmed to be wholly unworkable) policy as the lone 
benchmarks?

What we need to be pointing out is that there are community radio policies 
which have worked so well in so many other countries of the globe 
(including some with a far-more-difficult situation than India, for 
example Nepal and Sri Lanka). 

Hence there is no reason why things can't be made to work in India too.

The hands and feet of any possible CR station is being bound effectively, 
and now we're being told that commercial FM would object. I think we 
should not allow ourselves to get caught up in these traps.

Is the onus of giving a workable solution on this side of the fence? (That 
would have been possible, if we didn't have to cope with all the 
irrational official fears.)

Aren't there options other than 'on air commercials'?  What about 
sponsorships? Indian, foreign or from UN agencies? What would be the 
official thinking on that? Some leeway needs to be given. I think the 
commercial lobbies have done their job in getting what they wanted. FN

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004, sajan venniyoor wrote:


> Dear all,

The CR recommendations put forward by VOICES and Bandanadi make it clear 
that, as far as CR licensing is concerned, there are two ways to go -- and 
many of you prefer to take the road less traveled by.

1.	There are the Guidelines for Community Radio – which does not 
charge license fees, but on the other hand, does not permit on-air 
commercials.

2.	There is the general licensing procedure (for commercial FM), 
which charges license fees and permits commercials.

We need to answer these questions:

a)	Can we amend the existing Community Radio guidelines and persuade 
the Govt. to permit commercials without charging any license fee?
b)	If not, can we persuade the Govt. to permit commercials, and 
charge a minimal license fee? (This seems to be the preferred path).
c)	If license fees are charged and commercials are permitted, won’t 
this automatically come under the purview of the general licensing 
scheme, currently being administered by TRAI? (This is the Nepal model.)
d)	In which case, why have a separate Community Radio Policy at all? 
Licensing of CR would be a sub-section of FM Licensing. (This may even be 
desirable, since commercial FM policy is a great deal more liberal than 
CR policy).
e)	Is it better to stay with the ‘no license fee, no commercials’ CR 
regime and find some other sources of funding, or enter the untested 
waters of private FM licensing? 

Remember, the reason why commercial operators won’t enter rural areas is 
because they don’t see any possibility of earning commercial revenue in 
villages. 

A friend of mine in commercial FM voiced their concerns thus: 
(1) We will object to commercials over community stations if they don’t 
pay license fees. 
(2) We have no problem with CR in rural areas, provided these areas are 
clearly demarcated and they don’t come into conflict with commercial 
stations. 

Are we clear about the road we prefer to take?

Sajan. 
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Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa, India
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