[cr-india] Community Radio Station to Start at Mahila SEWA Trust, Ahmedabad

[Alokesh Gupta]

Community Radio Station to Start at Mahila SEWA Trust, Ahmedabad

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed
a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and
operating a Community Radio Station at Mahila SEWA Trust. Letter of
Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter
Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various
Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational
within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS
will increase to 49 in the country.

SEWA started its community radio initiatives for building capacity of
the women of the informal sector. The main objective of the activity
is to provide information and education to the members in the remotest
of the villages. The radio programmes are made on different subjects
like health, water, agriculture, animal husbandry, national and
international events etc. The programmes particularly emphasize
community participation. The professional experts give the training to
the women at grassroot level.

Mahila SEWA (Self Employed women association) was set up on 18th June
1975 under the Bombay Public Trust act. Mahila SEWA Trust’s main goals
are to organize women workers for full employment and self reliance.
Mahila SEWA Trust organizes women to ensure that they obtain full
employment. Mahila SEWA Trust provides childcare, healthcare,
insurance and conducts trainings and seminars.

The Ministry encourages setting up of the Community Radio Stations as
CRS promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to
express themselves, and empower the women. The main aim of starting
the CRS is to provide different and useful information to the people
in nearby villages.

(Public Information Bureau, Govt. of India)