Radio as a
medium of communication plays an important role in the nation’s socio-cultural,
political and economic development. It
has the unique advantage of being receivable through low cost, battery
operated, and mobile receiving sets, affordable for almost everyone, even in
the rural areas. With appropriate strategies, radio can expand its reach to
sparsely populated areas and remote corners of the country.
Community Radio
There
are three options for expansion of radio network viz. (i) the commercial
broadcast model (ii) public service broadcast route and the (iii) community
radio. While each of these modes helps
in enhancing coverage, there could be clashes of interest particularly in the
share of target audience and content.
Community radio, as distinct from public service broadcasting, serves to
bring small communities together, focuses on the common man’s day-to-day
concerns and helps in realizing local aspirations. In this sense, it aims to contribute to the lives of the local
community creation of content by the people and for the people of that
community.
Policy on Community Radio
Broadcasting
In
December’02, the Government announced a policy for the grant of Community Radio
Licenses to educational institutions and organisations to be
identified/selected, in accordance with the prescribed eligibility
conditions. Under the terms of this
policy, Community Broadcasting Licenses could be granted to well established
educational institutions/organisations, recognised by the Central Government or
the State Government.
The matter
was reconsidered and the Government in December 2006 decided to broad base the
policy by bringing ‘Non-profit’ organisations like civil society and voluntary
organisations etc., under its ambit in order to allow greater participation by
the civil society on issues relating to development and social change. These would include civil society and
voluntary organisations, State Agriculture Universities, ICAR institutions,
Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Registered Societies and Autonomous Bodies and Public
Trusts registered under Societies Act or any other such act relevant for the
purpose. Registration at the time of application should at least be three years
old.
Basic Principles
An organisation desirous of operating a
Community Radio Station (CRS) must be able to satisfy and adhere to the
following principles:
It should
be explicitly constituted as a ‘non-profit’ organisation and should have a
proven record of at least three years of service to the local community.
The CRS to
be operated by it should be designed to serve a specific well-defined local
community. Ownership and management structure should be reflective of the
community that the CRS seeks to serve. Programmes for broadcast should be
relevant to the educational, developmental, social and cultural needs of the
community.
Selection Process
Applications
for establishment of community radio stations shall be invited by the Ministry
of I&B once every year through a national advertisement. However, eligible
organisations and educational institutions can apply during the intervening
period between the two advertisements also.
Universities, Deemed
Universities and Government run educational institutions will have a single
window clearance by putting up cases before an inter-ministerial committee
chaired by Secretary (I&B) for approval. Once the WPC Wing of the Ministry
of Communication & IT earmarks a frequency at the place requested by the institution,
a Letter of Intent (LOI) shall be issued.
In the
case of all other applicants, including private educational institutions, LOI
shall be issued subject to receiving clearance from Ministries of Home Affairs,
Defence & HRD (in case of private educational institutions) and frequency
allocation by WPC wing of Ministry of Communication & IT. The Ministries
concerned shall communicate their clearance within three months of receipt of
the application. Community Radio
Station will have to be set up within three months of receipt of all
clearances.
Permission
shall be for five years, and will be non-transferable. No permission fee shall be levied on the
Permission Holder. However, the Permission Holder will be required to pay the
spectrum usage fee to WPC wing of Ministry of Communication & IT.
Transmitter Power and Range
CRS shall
be expected to cover a range of 5-10 km. For this, a transmitter having maximum
Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of 100 W would be adequate. However, in case of a proven need where the
applicant organisation is able to establish that it needs to serve a larger
area or the terrain so warrants, higher transmitter wattage with maximum ERP up
to 250 Watts can be considered on a case-to-case basis.
Funding & Sustenance
Applicants
will be eligible to seek funding from multilateral aid agencies. For foreign
funds necessary clearance under FCRA will be required.
Transmission
of sponsored programmes shall not be permitted except programmes sponsored by
Central & State Governments and other organisations to broadcast public
interest information. In addition, limited advertising and announcements
relating to local events, local businesses and services and employment
opportunities shall be allowed. The maximum duration of such limited advertising
will be restricted to 5 (Five) minutes per hour of broadcast.
Revenue
generated from advertisement and announcements shall be utilized only for the
operational expenses and capital expenditure of the CRS. Any surplus after
meeting the full financial needs of the CRS may be ploughed into the primary
activity of the organization, with prior permission from I&B Ministry.
Content Regulation
The
programmes should be of immediate relevance to the community. The emphasis should be on developmental, agricultural,
health, educational, environmental, social welfare, community development and
cultural programmes. The programming should reflect the special interests and
needs of the local community.
At least
50% of content shall be generated with the participation of the local
community, for which the station has been set up. Programmes should preferably be in the local language and
dialect(s).
The
Permission Holder shall not broadcast any programmes, which relate to news and
current affairs and are otherwise political in nature and would also adhere to
other stipulations in this regard.
Imposition of
penalty/revocation of Permission Agreement
In case
there is any violation of conditions, Government may suo motto or on basis of
complaints take cognisance and place the matter before the Inter-ministerial
Committees on Programme and Advertising Code for recommending appropriate
penalties.
The
penalty shall comprise of temporary suspension of Permission for operating the
CRS for a period up to one month in the case of the first violation, up to
three months for second violation depending on the gravity of violation and
revocation of the Permission for any subsequent violation. Besides, the
Permission Holder and its principal members shall be liable for all actions
under IPC, CrPC and other laws.
Other Terms &
Conditions
The basic
objective of the Community Radio broadcasting would be to serve the cause of
the community in the service area of the Permission Holder by involving members
of the community in the broadcast of their programmes.
The
services of the CRS will be provided on free-to-air basis.
The
Permission Holder shall provide such information to the Government on such
intervals, as may be required. In this
connection, recording of programmes broadcast during the previous three months
have to be preserved failing which Permission Agreement is liable to be
revoked.
In the
event of national emergency/ war or under similar situations, the Government
reserves the right to take over the entire services and networks or
revoke/terminate/suspend the Permission in the interest of national security.
All
foreign personnel likely to be deployed by way of appointment, contract,
consultancy etc., by the Permission Holder for installation, maintenance and
operation of the Permission Holder’s services shall be required to obtain prior
security clearance from Government of India.
Benefits
The
community radio is aimed at enhancing participation of the people in the
development process and capacity building in rural areas, through
education. It would provide
opportunities to the people to upgrade their skills and enhance their creative
talents, besides preserving and promoting the traditional wisdom, knowledge and
skills. Thereby CRS would help promote and project the local language, arts,
craft, culture and traditions.
CRS would
bring within easy reach of the rural population, topical information in areas
of agriculture, social welfare, education, health and environment and help in
creating rural networks for the rural cottage and village industry.
Safeguards
With a
view to ensure that the medium is not misused, adequate safeguards have been
provided. Bank guarantee of Rs.
25,000/- has to be furnished to ensure timely operationalisation. The Permission Holder shall have to adhere
to the provisions of the Programme and Advertising Code as prescribed for All
India Radio and preserve all programmes broadcast by the CRS for three months
from the date of broadcast. News and Current Affairs, election and political broadcasts
are prohibited.
In case of violation of the terms
and conditions of license, Government can revoke/terminate/suspend
license. To prevent overlap with
private FM, the community radio stations will be non-commercial ventures.
*Secretary, Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting
SV/AB/RTS/VN
SS-36/SF-36/23.01.2007
(Release ID :24289)