[cr-india] Applying for a community radio

[sajan venniyoor]

Dear Rakesh,
1. According to the Government, there are no more FM frequencies available
in Delhi for Community Radio. All the CR frequencies -- so to speak -- in
Delhi have been given to educational institutions. You may be able to set up
your radio station in other parts of Delhi NCR, like Faridabad, Gurgaon,
Ghaziabad etc, but it's very unlikely you'll get a CR frequency in New
Delhi.

2. In any case, your chances of getting a CR license are minimal if you say
you wish to address only autorickshaw drivers. Apparently, the government of
India does not consider autorickshaw drivers to be a 'community'; at least,
I understand that a similar proposal from Chennai was rejected a couple of
years ago on the grounds that auto drivers don't make up a relevant
community. To get a CR license, you must pretend that you serve the entire
community of people who live in the coverage area of the CR Station (though
this may include autorickshaw drivers, of course).

3. I am not convinced that you would have an audience of 4,00,000
autorickshaw *drivers* (@ 1/3 the potential audience, according to you). It
is very unlikely that there are 1.2 million autorickshaw drivers in Delhi,
not even if you include their families and other dependents. Of course,
there may well be 1.2 million autorickshaw *users* in Delhi on any given
day. In which case, if your audience consists of commuters as well as
drivers, you may also consider involving taxis, transport buses and the
Delhi Metro. A radio service aimed at commuters and the public transport
system in general will also give your CR station a wider range of
programming.

4. As I said, the chances of any NGO getting a CR license in Delhi are now
remote. Even if you do, the range of a CR station in Delhi would be no more
than 4 to 5 kms radius, which will cover only a part of the city. A more
realistic option would be to produce one or two hours of transport / traffic
related content every day, and share it with the 8 or 9 existing CR stations
in Delhi. I am sure they would find it extremely useful.

regards,
Sajan

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Rakesh Agarwal <rakesh at nyayabhoomi.org>wrote:

> We are an NGO and we work with the autorickshaw drivers. About a year ago,
> I had posted my desire to set up a community radio station in Delhi for the
> auto drivers who would fix the radio in their moving vehicles. I got a few
> very encouraging responses.
>
> We are now ready to apply. Could someone from this group partner with us in
> setting up this radio? There will be a captive audience of 4,00,000 a day @
> 1/3rd of the total potential.
>
> Rakesh Agarwal
> Secretary, NyayaBhoomi, Delhi
>
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