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Community Radio consultation on Feb 27-28

By AT News |

The Ministry of Information &Broadcasting (MoIB) is organising a regional consultation on Community Radio (CR) in Guwahati, Assam, in collaboration with OneWorld Foundation India. Despite being one of the culturally rich region,North-Eastern region has just twoCommunity Radio Stations.

The three-day workshop being organized on 27th, 28th February 1st March 2015, with local partner Radio Luit – a Community Radio station being run by Gauhati University. The consultation also coincides with fourth anniversary of Radio Luit.

The consultation is part of a series of awareness workshops that the Ministry is holding to popularise community radio movement and to encourage potential organisations to apply for licences. These workshops are now being organised in regions from where there are less applications and the potential of the communication media still lies untapped. This workshop at Kolkatais for organisations from West Bengaland the bordering districts of neighboring states. 

Experts, CR enthusiasts, government officials and NGOs will interact with the participants during the next three days to demystify the licensing process and the technology associated with the CR. The operating CR stations from the region will share their practical experiences.

Community Radio Station Radio Luit will share its experience on community engagement and their popular radio programmes produced by the community like Mukoli Sora, Bikhyon, Gawe-Bhuyen, etc.  

Currently, the country has around 180CRS that are owned by NGOs, educational institutions and KVKs. The MoIB is putting a strong emphasis on creating thousands of CRS across the country so as to strengthen the grassroots communities. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has also announced, that it is in the process of creating a single window clearance system to simplify the process for setting up a CRS. The ministry has also set aside a fund of Rs 100 crores for CRS in the 12th Five Year Plan. 

Some of the objectives of this workshop are:

  • To propagate and demystify the Community Radio Policy and its process
  • To generate awareness among the potential applicants and stake holders
  • To motivate potential civil society and other organisations to apply for license to operate CRS 
  • To explain and demonstrate the online application process 
  • To provide an overview on the process of capacity building, content generation, technology, management, ownership and sustainability of CR station
  • To have serious and eligible applicants from the region with a low footprint of CR Stations.

The participants will discuss community radio guidelines, the eligibility criterion and also take a look at the CR policy in minute detail. They will be exposed to how to establish a CR Station and how to manage it thereafter. The application process and the other processes to be able to set up a CR station will be explained at the workshop. The three-day event will also deliberate upon the technical infrastructure for a CRS. 

The event will also look at the content and creating a regular supply of content for the CRS. The event will have a slew of workshops and interactions with experts who will explain the process of operating radio stations. 

 

RSVP: Tej Prakash Yadav: 09818557709

 

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Assam Times Staff. editor@assamtimes.org
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