It is bizarre how the politicians in
"It's not only changed the public's view of reporting but it's changed the people's expectation of accountability within the authorities"
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FM radio stations in major cities do not cater to the need of the poor. News has become a commodity reserved for the elite in
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Broadcasting the good society
May 2004 - Towards the end of its stay in power, the Vajpayee government's Broadcasting Ministry joined hands with civil society advocates for the creation of a progressive radio policy. This move came after over five decades of independence, and nearly 9 years following a landmark 1995 ruling of the Supreme Court that virtually outlawed government or commercial monopoly over airwaves. While it is tardy, it is nonetheless positive.
In the meantime, all over the world, radio has come to stay. Radio stations are relatively cheaper to establish, operate, and run than television. Advertising revenues are lower than those from TV, but the numbers of radio stations are several multiples of the numbers of TV stations. Radio is a local and personal medium. Given a good balance of regulation, grievance redressal, public service programming, community and commercial broadcasting, radio audiences will grow, and so will the developmental and cultural experiences of listeners. This has been observed in many countries, both West and East.
But in stark contrast to regulation of TV, telecom and recently mobile telephony, successive governments have been unwilling to give up their control over radio broadcasting. Even today, AIR remains the dominant player and is the only public broadcaster funded with tax rupees. The few commercial FM stations licensed so far have run into a viability crisis barely a couple of years into their operation, thanks in part to exhorbitant license fees. (see Frequencies of expectation, May 2004). There are even fewer non-commercial stations, notably ones run by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, and the most recent one at
In 2003, the Amit Mitra committee reviewed the crisis in the commercial FM sector and made definitive recommendations. The committee did not delve too deeply into issues tying down community broadcasting and non-commercial radio, but two recent developments have brought this element to the fore. First a Community Radio (CR) workshop in New Delhi saw top bureaucrats from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, several stakeholders and practitioners from Indian civil society and UNDP executives coming together to talk enabling community broadcasting in India. This engagement led to broad sharing of concerns from both sides of aisle, government and people. Second, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has commenced holding a series of consultations on phase II of FM licensing that includes licensing and regulation of non-commercial FM stations. What's more, the regulator has recently announced that it will hold separate consultations for regulatory issues on CR.
For its initial consultation paper, TRAI must be commended. The document has a clarity that has been sadly uncommon in our government. For each broad issue in FM radio regulation, the TRAI paper outlined the problems, placed the Amit Mitra FM committee's recommendations next, and then proceeded to pose the questions that the public could answer. This structure made it possible for several informed but time-constrained individuals and civil society organizations to send in their inputs before the May 7 deadline. India Together submitted one as well.
Both the Ministry-UNDP workshop in
The questions on the table are serious. Many centre on whether or when licensing policy must differentiate between non-commercial and commercial stations. May both be allowed to broadcast news and current affairs? Must the same revenue sharing and entry fees be levied on both types of stations? Must we permanently reserve sets of FM frequencies for non-commercial broadcasters? Can there be narrow content restrictions on non-commercial stations with monitoring from the government? Surely, there are distinctions. But a uniform constitutional framework should guide the regulatory role in both commercial and non-profit radio broadcasting. In addition, there is an abundance of international experience for reference.
This momentous phase of consultations coincided with the elections; democracy has just delivered a new executive to run the nation. New governments have a tendency to bring uncertainty to all policies advocated by the outgoing one. But this is also a time of opportunity for the incoming political leadership to look at its own history of decades of tying down radio and yet demonstrate its differences from those just evicted. In the broadcasting world, this turns largely on this question: will the new government be more willing to accept that whatever policies are pursued, they must not end up placing freedom-of-speech restrictions on non-commercial stations? Civil society groups that remain engaged with the TRAI consultations are keenly interested in the answer.
In a truly progressive society, determination of what we mean by the word 'progressive' is ultimately done by citizens and communities themselves. Policies conscribed by the government's understanding of this word, however well-intended they may be, may not meet the public's interest recognized by the courts. The telecom authority as well as the government must bring and retain this consideration at the forefront of their discussions.
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Voices of the marginalised
In the poorest part of Jharkhand, community radio has become an important instrument for the development of neglected communities. If access to their own media were freer, the villagers believe, things could be even better. Pratibha Jyoti reports on the progress made even without government support for community stations.
As Etwa Bedia, the field coordinator of the Community Radio initiative, enthuses, "The villagers have been given a new life with this initiative. The Community Radio has become a tool through which the villagers can now have their voices heard by the policy makers." "Radio is a medium that is cheap and has an excellent reach. Most villagers already have or have now bought a radio set. It is our forum where we can reflect on our every need and problem," says Malya Bedia, a resident of one of the villages.
Initiated by Charkha Development Communication Network, this Delhi-based NGO aims to empower the rural poor and the disadvantaged communities and to articulate voices that highlight the local issues to the opinion leaders and policy makers. Initially as part of a Pilot Project Community Radio initiative in Jharkhand, in association with the regional partner, Manthan Yuva Sansthan, a need-based study was conducted of selected community people, who were then trained to develop and design a half hourly radio programme in a magazine format. As Mohammad Shakeel, the Associate Coordinator of Manthan, explains, "It is the villagers themselves who choose the issues to be aired in a programme". The residents of these 17 villages are not only the listeners, but also the directors of and performers in this half-hour programme.
The popularity of the show is evident by the fact that every Sunday at
Now it is through radio that news on various government schemes, Panchayati Raj and news on rural development, is being aired in the local dialect of Panch parganiya. The villagers now know the number of houses being made under the Indira Awas Yogana and the quantity of food grain being distributed among shopkeepers under the public distribution system.
Rita, one of the narrators, begins her day by practicing her script, for which she has to walks down a whole 3 kms, to the Mungadih village. "Since the day community radio has entered the village, the inequality between the men and women of this village has lessened. When Manthan approached me with the suggestion to present the programme, my husband and mother-in-law were totally against it. But I had made my decision and quietly came for the recording of the programme. Now my husband is very proud of me," grins Rita.
As Rita explains, earlier the women of the village were hesitant to discuss their personal problems and local issues. But the community radio has given them a platform to share their views confidentially and seek guidance on the same.
But why Angada block? Sudhir Pal, the local coordinator of the community radio initiative, explains, "Despite the formation of the new state, none of the villages have witnessed much positive change. But Angada is such a block, where none of the development work has yet reached. Here people do not have even the basic facilities of roads, electricity, education and basic health care. The community radio initiative is a platform for these voices of the marginalised, which will help the community to fulfill their needs and aspirations." Moreover, the block is placed strategically, for the nearest town to the region is the capital city of
Statistics show that this block is one of the poorest and the most backward regions of Jharkhand. Here, of a total population of 1 lakh people, 45% are scheduled castes, and 15% are scheduled tribes. Sustaining themselves on forest and farming, the residents, with difficulty, grow crops of wheat and Marua, for there is just one source of irrigation, which is the hand pump. Although many hand pumps have been built in the region, only one or two actually have a water connection. Under such circumstances, rainwater becomes the more viable option for the farmers. There is one PDS shop that opens rarely and that too only for few hours. For the past 20 years, one can see electricity poles, but till today the villagers are yet to witness the electricity connection.
In such a situation, the community radio - a social, cultural and political tool - has become an important instrument for the development of the marginalised communities. "The impact of the community radio shall be greater when the government gives organisations and communities the access and the freedom to own radio stations. One cannot hope for much social change until community radio enjoys the same freedom as does the television, newspapers and other magazines," comments Charkha Chairperson, Shankar Ghose.
There are many obstacles to the growth of the radio, he explains. In 1995, P.B. Savant, the noted Supreme Court Judge had claimed that the public had full right over the airwaves. Despite this, Prasar Bharti still has control over the free airwaves. In the process, one needs to have a license for the community radio and the process to acquire it is so complex that one needs to gain permission from at least four Ministries (Home, Defence, Human Resource and Foreign). The Broadcasting Review Bill, which has not been cleared for the past four years, can bring new hope to more initiatives such as these, in every district of every state. Meanwhile, one may only hope that the sounds of silence in the Angada Block,
© Charkha Features, Pratibha Jyoti
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