[cr-india] Is it really broadcasting by the community? Sajan Venniyoor on Hoot

Mon Nov 26 13:17:04 IST 2007

  Is it really broadcasting by the community?

 *After years of struggle, community radio is finally happening in South
Asia. But is everything that goes by the name really community radio? *
Sajan Venniyoor takes a closer look.

www.thehoot.org
 Posted Thursday, Nov 22 00:46:29, 2007

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Halfway through a panel discussion on community radio on Lok Sabha TV the
other day, the moderator asked me the inevitable question: why does
Indialag behind countries like
Nepal and Sri Lanka which have had community radio for many, many years? Not
wishing to be critical of our South Asian neighbours, I waffled a bit about
how India's new community radio policy would change all that.

What I didn't say was that everything that passes for community radio in South
Asia is not the real McCoy.

Early in July 2007, it was reported that "a community radio station in
Nepal… is bidding to go international in an attempt to cover issues
affecting the
whole of South Asia." The station is run by Kathmandu's College of
Journalism and Mass Communications (CMJC), and according to its founder and
director, Dr. Manju Mishra, the CMJC Community FM station's aim is to focus
on covering issues "such as education, health, the environment, women,
society and development"[i]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn1>

In what way, I wonder, is CMJC Community FM any different from, say, the
Guru Nanak Girl's College radio
station[ii]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn2>in
Ludhiana, India which was coincidentally launched within a day of CMJC
radio?

The Principal of the girl's college, Dr Charanjit Kaur – who is also the
Director of the radio station – says the programmes would include "health
and environment, rural life, trade and technology, and science for women".
Beyond the fact that the Kathmandu station's director does not – mercifully
– start her day's broadcasts with a "message from the college president and
FM director', there is little to choose between the two stations as far as
community ownership, management or programming is concerned.

The news story from Nepal says that about "60 community FM radio stations"
are currently operational in the country. To my mind, there is no doubt that
most of them are about as community-based as CMJC radio or the Guru Nanak
Girl's College radio.

This is not to say that Nepal does not have genuinely community-based radio
stations. Radio Sagarmatha is the oldest and best-known among them, but
better candidates for community ownership and participation would be
stations like Lumbini FM and Madanpokhara. The fact is that Nepal does not
have a separate policy for community radio, and all private FM channels –
both commercial and community – have come up under a general licensing
scheme. By any standards, it would be pretty far-fetched to suggest that 60
of them are community-owned or run.

Even India's radio policies – which make a clear distinction between public
service, commercial and community
radio[iii]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn3>–
throws up similar issues. Its critics point out that 'NGO radio' is
not
exactly a synonym for community radio, but NGO-run radio is as far as the
government is willing to go now. The other eligible applicants are
educational institutions and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, whose links to the
community are no stronger than those of CJMC Kathmandu.

Community Radio in Sri Lanka doesn't stand up to much scrutiny either.
Writes Nalaka Gunawardene, "A globally persistent myth holds that community
radio has been thriving in Sri Lanka for two decades. In reality, these
broadcasters are nothing more than rural transmissions of the fully
state-owned and state-controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).
Yes, these stations are located in remote areas, involve local people in
programme production and broadcast to a predominantly rural audience. But
the bureaucracy in Colombo tightly-controls content: nothing remotely
critical of the government in office is permitted. The rest of the world
does not recognize this as community
radio."[iv]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn4>

A few independent radio stations were permitted in Pakistan in 2005 in the
wake of the October 8 earthquake, but the future of non-State radio in the
country remains doubtful after the imposition of Emergency. In fact, for a
number of years, the only truly 'independent' radio in Pakistan have been
the ones run by mullahs and tribal warlords in the North West Frontier
Province, like the pro-Taliban FM station run by Maulana Fazlullah
a.k.a'Mullah Radio' in the Swat valley.
[v] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn5>

It is little wonder that Frederick Noronha calls South Asia 'a
dark-continent for citizen-run broadcasts', and points out with the
pessimism born of long familiarity that "this part of the planet has an
almost uniformly unenlightened policy when it comes to opening up its
airwaves."

However, 2006-07 seems to mark a turning point in the struggle for community
radio in South Asia. Exactly a year ago in India, the Union Cabinet approved
the Community Radio policy, opening up the airwaves to civil society and
voluntary organizations, enabling them to own and operate their own low
power FM radio stations.[vi]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn6>

In Bangladesh, it is reported that the caretaker government is about to
"give permission for launching of some community radio stations on pilot
project basis and will consider granting those full-fledged licences on the
basis of its findings." This comes on the heels of a sustained campaign by
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) and other
organizations of the Community Radio Advocacy
Group[vii]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn7>.

A nascent community radio movement is also gathering steam in Sri Lanka, led
by well known civil society organizations and individuals who are publicly
critical of the 'persistent myth' of community radio in the island. Media
reforms are taking place even in the not-so-media-friendly Maldives, though
by fits and starts.[viii]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn8>Private
FM channels have come up in Male, and the government is at least
willing to participate in discussions on community
radio[ix]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn9>
.

After an agonizingly slow gestation, India's new community radio policy
finally shows signs of delivering. Seven NGOs were issued Letters of Intent
– the green signal for CR applicants on the road to a radio license – just
before Diwali this year. They are The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),
Alternative for India Development (AID), Society for Development
Alternatives, Deccan Development Society (DDS) in Andhra Pradesh, Mann Vikas
Samajik Sanstha based in Satara, Maharashtra, Indian Society of
Agri-Business Professionals and the Mysore Resettlement and Development
Agency (MYRADA) in Bangalore.

Of the seven NGOs who have been cleared for CR licenses, well-established
community radio initiatives like the Deccan Development Society's 'Sangham
Radio' in the Medak district of Andhra Pradesh, and MYRADA's 'Namma Dhwani'
in Budikote, Karnataka are likely to be up and running by early 2008.

It is reported that 'other groups are likely to get clearance at the next
meeting [of the Inter-Ministerial Committee] at the end of this month.' An
official of the ministry is quoted as saying that they have received "a
heartening response on the community radio front, with some 140 applications
under the new broadened scheme."
[x]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn10>

However, quite a few of the applicants under the new, broadened scheme are
also educational institutions.

Due to infirmities in the community radio policy, established CR initiatives
like Henvalvani and Mandakini ki Awaz in Uttarakhand are not eligible to
apply for a license (they do not have the required three years'
registration), while many dark horses are in the running. At least a hundred
hopefuls – ranging from the India Habitat Centre, Delhi to assorted
panchayats (which are not eligible), hospitals and Krishi Vigyan Kendras
have thrown their hats into the
ring[xi]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn11>.
Some of the applicants have years of community work behind them; others are
known to front political and religious groups.

As Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan Malik note in their study of the 'Big Four'
community radio initiatives in
India,[xii]<http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_edn12>"Even
as the government was dithering over legislation to facilitate the
functioning of community radio in India, a few community-based organizations
had initiated radio projects to support their community development work.
Some made use of available spaces within the state sector of broadcasting
while others, fearing co-optation and appropriation, steadfastly resisted
the offer to use state radio."

Among those who use the state broadcaster – the many big and small stations
of All India Radio – are KMVS in Kutch ('*Ujjas Radio'*), AID in Palamau,
Jharkhand ('*Chala ho gaon mein'), *Urmul Trust-Panos South Asia in Bikaner
('*Kishor Vani') *and* *Samskar-Plan International in Nizamabad, Andhra
Pradesh ('*Allari Muchchatlu'). *Others use a variety of innovative ways to
narrowcast their programmes, ranging from cable audio to loudspeakers. Quite
a few are perfectly happy to continue buying airtime on All India Radio
rather than apply for community radio licenses, reasoning that it is not
only cheaper but that it gives them a greater reach and, in any case, they
need to broadcast only an hour or less of programmes every week.

Even as NGOs gear up to operate community radio stations, a debate is raging
as to whether NGO radio is any more 'community radio' than the existing 30
odd campus radio stations. Admittedly, most of the campus stations are not
doing too well, caught as they are between the formal structures of
educational institutions and the ideal of community ownership and
participation. Can NGOs do any better in promoting radio "by the community,
of the community, for the community?"

An official at TERI, which is setting up its radio station at its farm in
Supi, Mukteshwar (Uttarkhand), is quoted as saying, "We are planning to
involve farmers and the youth in the area in creating the right content for
the radio station. Dissemination of education and agriculture-based
information will be our focus area." The Indian Society of Agri-Business
Professionals (ISAP) – a Section 25 not-for-profit company – will presumably
do much the same thing from its base in Sironj in the Vidisha district of
Madhya Pradesh.

Would the involvement of the local community 'in creating the right content'
for the radio stations necessarily make them community radio stations?

"The issue of community ownership (and not just community produced content),
says K Stalin, the convener of the Community Radio Forum, India, "is indeed
the ideal that CRF urges all its members to strive for. While drafting the
bill that's currently in place, members of this Forum were very aware that
opening up the airwaves to 'registered non-profit organizations' is just one
step closer to this ideal and is NOT the end of this journey." As Vinod
Pavarala adds, for various historic reasons, since the 1980s,
non-governmental organizations and other social movements have emerged to
mobilize people at the grassroots in an attempt to seek developmental
alternatives to state-and market-centred models.  The question of when an
NGO 'withdraws' and lets people 'take over' is something that earnest NGOs
are always grappling with."

It is something that all the license-holders under the new community radio
policy – campus or NGO – need to grapple with, but sometimes don't. A few
days ago, when Amarjit Khera and her colleagues from 'Desi Radio' – the
well-known Punjabi community radio station in West London – tried to visit
the Guru Nanak Girl's College radio station in Ludhiana, they didn't get
past the gates of the college. Nobody was allowed to enter the radio station
without the Principal's permission, she was told. A frankly puzzled Amarjit
told me that "this is not the way to run a community radio station." At Desi
Radio, she assured me, anyone could walk into the station even at midnight
and if they had anything interesting to say to the community, they could
even go live on air.

"After all, the station belongs to the people," she said.

------------------------------

[i] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref1> "International
ambitions for Nepalese radio station" -
http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/content/view/208/1/

[ii] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref2> "First in
state, city college gets its own FM station" -
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=243401

[iii] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref3> 'Policy
guidelines for setting up community radio stations in India' -
http://mib.nic.in/CRS/CRBGUIDELINES041206.pdf

[iv] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref4> "Sri Lankan
government's broadcast stranglehold" -
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/columns.asp?parentid=57939

[v] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref5> "Pakistan
cleric's base under siege" -
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D329FF7B-75B1-4A8D-9218-A9970E175884.htm

[vi] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref6> "Cabinet
clears community radio" -
http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=2380&pg=1&mod=1&sectionId=3&valid=true

[vii] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref7> 'Pilot
Project: Community Radio Soon' -
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/11/08/news0383.htm

[viii] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref8>
www.article19.org/pdfs/analysis/maldives-press-law.pdf

[ix] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref9> 'A workshop
to develop community radio in Maldives' -
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24708&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

[x] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref10> '7 NGOs get
the nod to set up community radio stations' -
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/240800.html

[xi] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref11>  'List/Status
of applications received for grant of permission to setup community radio
station as on  31.07.07' - http://mib.nic.in/CRS/WBSTNS030807.htm

[xii] <http://www.thehoot.org/cms/storyfile/begin.php#_ednref12> 'Other
Voices: The Struggle for Community Radio in India' (Sage, 2007)

-- 
Dr. Vinod Pavarala
Professor of Communication & Dean
Sarojini Naidu School of Performing Arts, Fine Arts & Communication
University of Hyderabad
Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500046
Phone: +91-40-23135500/5501 (off); 94407-24914 (m)
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