[Reader-list] Community Radio Policy - Activists hail Decision by Group of Ministers/Cabinet Urged to Okay

[Shivam Vij]

Activists hail Decision by Group of	Ministers/Cabinet Urged to Okay

Media Release

Activists hail Decision by Group of Ministers Cabinet Urged to Okay
Community Radio Policy

New Delhi, October 13, 2006

 The Community Radio Forum of India has hailed the Group of Ministers
 recommendation to clear the Community Radio Policy, drawn up by the Ministry
 of Information and Broadcasting. The new policy will now allow civil society
 organizations, NGOs and other non-profits to apply for Community Radio
 licenses making citizens radio a reality. The Forum urged the Union
 Cabinet to accord the highest priority to approve and notify this policy and
 brings about democratization of Indias airwaves.

 Under the present community radio guidelines, only well-established
 educational institutions are permitted to set up campus-based radio
 stations. Following the landmark Supreme Court judgment of 1995  which
 declared that the airwaves are public property, to be used for public good
 - members of the Community Radio Forum, international advocacy groups such
 as World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), other civil
 society organizations across the country and international development
 organizations including UNESCO and UNDP have, over the past six years,  held
 several consultative meetings with the ministry  to expand the eligibility
 criteria to include community based organizations.

 In May 2004, the I & B Ministry, in consultation with civil society
 representatives including the Forum, drew up a set of policy recommendations
 to allow communities to own and manage their own FM community radio
 stations. In August 2005 the Forum petitioned the Prime Minister
 (http://www.petitiononline.com/comradio/) to put an end to this
 discriminatory broadcast policy where corporate houses could buy FM
 frequencies but communities could not own and operate their own stations and
 were left with no other choice but to buy air-time from existing All India
 Radio stations. Members of the Forum have since then collected over 50,000
 signatures on this petition.

 News programmes and advertisements are currently banned on campus radio.
 The new policy will not only open up community radio to NGOs, self-help
 groups and other community-based organizations, but will also allow them to
 become self-supporting through limited ad-revenue.

 On notification of this policy India will become the first country in South
 Asia to have a separate policy for community radio.

 The Community Radio Forum, which is an association of community radio
 broadcasters, activists and academics looks forward to a genuine
 democratization of the countrys airwaves when this policy comes into force.

 Stalin K.
 For, Community Radio Forum, India
 Contact: stalink123 at gmail.com

 The Community Radio Forum, India
 1. Stalin K., DRISHTI - Media, Arts & Human Rights, Ahmedabad 2. Preeti
 Soni, Radio Ujjas, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Bhuj 3. Ashish Sen, VOICES,
 Bangalore 4. Dr. Vinod Pavarala, Dean, School of Communication, Central
 University, Hyderabad 5. Nandita Roy, National Foundation of India, New
 Delhi 6. Shankar Ghose, Charkha, New Delhi 7. Frederick Noronha, Panaji, Goa
 8. P V Sateesh, Deccan Development Society, Hyderabad 9. Dr. B P Sanjay,
 School of Communication, Central University, Hyderabad 10. Nitya Jacob,
 WriteShop, New Delhi 11. Basheerhamad Shadrach, New Delhi 12. Vickram
 Crishna, Radiophony, Mumbai 13. Nimmi Chauhan, DRISHTI - Media, Arts & Human
 Rights, Ahmedabad 14. Geeta Malhotra, OneWorld South Asia, New Delhi 15.
 Osama Manzar, Digital Empowerment Foundation, New Delhi 16. Venu Arora,
 Equal Access, New Delhi 17. L Ajith, Radio Alakal, Trivandrum 18. Ram Bhatt,
 VOICES, Bangalore 19. Gabar Singh, Umang Group 20. Nalini Abraham, Plan
 International 21. Anshu Sharma, SEEDS, New Delhi 22. Tom Thomas, Praxis
 India, New Delhi

 ____________________
 Suman Basnet
 Regional Coordinator
 AMARC Asia Pacific
 Kathmandu, Nepal

 http://asiapacific.amarc.org

 Phone: +977 1 5554811
 Fax: +977 1 5521714

 Forwarded for information purposes by
 -----------------------
 Fouad Riaz Bajwa
 FOSS Advocate