[cr-india] "Sangam Radio" in Frontline

[Vinod Pavarala]

*Frontline: Volume 25 - Issue 01 :: Jan. 05-18, 2008*

*Voice of the people *

by J.B.S.UMANADH, *in Sangareddy*

MEDAK district, in the backward Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, will
soon have its own FM radio station that will be managed by Dalits, mostly
women. The Community Media Trust of Pastapur will run the station from The
Green School, or Pachasaale, of the Deccan Development Society (DDS), a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) of which the trust is a part.

The DDS established the community radio station in 1998 but did not get the
nod from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to go on air. It
crossed the hurdle recently with the Ministry issuing the letter of intent
for the station. The delay was mainly on account of the lack of a policy on
the issue of licences for running FM stations. The Government of India
initially approved the grant of licences to educational institutions and
subsequently extended the policy to NGOs.

Until the approval came, Sangham Radio, the name of the Medak station,
played recorded news capsules on a tape-recorder in the nearby villages on
specific days. This "narrowcasting" had its effect on the local people, who
soon became eager consumers of information on issues such as biodiversity
and seed sovereignty.

The station is managed by Algole Narsamma and 'General' Narsamma, Dalit
women who are alumni of The Green School.

With the training they received as student reporters, they record programmes
on topics relating to women's empowerment, local problems relating to health
and indigenous knowledge and traditions. Each programme is produced in a
one-and-a-half-hour magazine format by mixing interviews and discussions
with folk songs and drama. They ensure that each capsule has a fair dose of
storytelling to keep the listener interested until the end of the programme.


Down the years, the team has gathered enough material that could see it
through 600 hours of broadcasting. The narrowcast was limited to one and a
half hours. The terms of the licence also allow them to broadcast for the
same length of time.

'General' Narsamma, who is excited about the possibility of a broadcast,
said the local people initially called the radio "Bichapolla Radio" (Radio
of Beggars). She added that the region was sparsely covered by All India
Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan.

P.V. Sateesh, Director, DDS, said the idea of a community radio struck him
in 1995 when he was working on a project, Learning Without Frontiers (LWF),
with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.
UNESCO's concept of LWF was that people who had not "learnt" in their early
years should not see it as a barrier to learning. They could start at any
point of time and become literate.

Taking a slightly different point of view, the DDS, a two-decade-old
organisation that has been working with women's sanghams (voluntary
village-level associations), concluded that non-literates had much to offer
to the outside world and that it was time to recognise them as teachers and
not as learners.

"It is in pursuit of this concept that we decided along with the community
of sanghams that we should explore the possibility of equipping the
non-literate women with the skills of video and radio," Sateesh said.

In 2001, the DDS set up the Community Media Trust, and soon illiterate women
started handling cameras and microphones and collecting information just as
any radio or video journalist would. Now, the station is abuzz with a flurry
of activity as Sangham FM plans to start broadcasting its programmes within
a few months. Algole Narsamma and 'General' Narsamma are working on
digitising the programmes that they have already produced. "Akka Chellelara
Koodi Podame, Mana Sangham lo Matalada" (Sisters let us come together and
talk at our Sangham) will be the signature song of the station, Algole
Narsamma said.

The DDS has 5,000 women members, mostly Dalits, who represent the poorest of
the poor in their village communities. The anchors have selected 10 girls
from The Green School to gather information from member-villages in
neighbouring mandals such as Zaheerabad, Jherasangham, Kohir, Nyalkal,
Munipalli and Raikode. Sangham FM's 100 watt Effective Radiated Power (ERP)
transmitter can cover a radius of around 10 kilometres. The government can
permit the use of even 250 watt ERP transmitters in special cases.

In the event of the Sangham FM getting the more powerful transmitter, the
region's flat terrain will allow many more villages to receive its
broadcast.
*Social concerns*

During the formulation of the policy guidelines, fear was expressed about
the possibility of community radios falling into the hands of extremist
elements, particularly the Maoists, in regions such as Telangana. Vinod
Pavarala, Professor and Dean, Sarojini Naidu School of Communication,
University of Hyderabad, said sufficient checks and balances had been built
into the policy guidelines to avoid such problems. Community radios have to
retain recordings of their programmes for a period of six months in order to
enable the authorities to verify violations, if there are any.

The content regulation and monitoring section of the guidelines cautions the
permission holder not to offend other communities, castes or religions. The
permission holder is told not to criticise friendly countries and not to
broadcast news. Pavarala hopes that the condition that the licence should be
renewed every five years would act as a deterrent to such activity if any.

Experts point out that the available spectrum can accommodate 100 to 200
community FM stations in the next five to six years.

Community radios are eligible to seek funding from multilateral aid
agencies, but applicants seeking foreign funds will have to obtain clearance
under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976.
*In the air*

Sangham FM is not the only community radio in the country that has been
striving to cater to the needs of the unreached millions in their local
dialect. Ujjas Radio, established by the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan
(KMVS), has been active in the Kutch region of Gujarat since 1989. The KMVS
has 10,000 active members.

The need for a community radio was felt as the AIR station at Bhuj transmits
programmes only in Gujarati and not in the local Kutchi dialect. The KMVS
has been broadcasting programmes since December 1999 by purchasing
commercial slots on Radio Bhuj. The "Chala Ho Gaon Mein" (Come, let's go to
the village) community radio of rural Palamau in Jharkhand is also
broadcasting through the AIR-FM station at Daltangunj. The programme was
initiated by Alternative for India Development (AID), an NGO, which provides
it financial and technical support.

The 30-minute capsule of Chala Ho Gaon Mein is the only radio programme
linked with gender equality and justice available in the local dialect.
Today, it broadcasts twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays, from 7.15 p.m.
to 7.45 p.m.

Voices, a Bangalore-based media NGO, and the Mysore Resettlement and
Development agency (MYRADA) launched "Namma Dhwani", a community radio, in
2001 at Budhikote village in the Kolar region of Karnataka. Namma Dhwani
produces programmes in a dialect that is a mix of Telugu and Kannada. The
NGO has been cablecasting programmes on television since 2003.


-- 
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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