Community Radio in India: A Model of Participatory Communication inIndia

Abstract

The Community Radio now-a-days is being identified as the basic need for the indigenous communities residing in the far flung areas, which otherwise could have been inaccessible for the governmental authorities. Since independence, our country has achieved various milestones in the field of communication, but CRS as a milestone for the communication has proved it’s metal during pandemic times too. Through this research, the researcher has studied the country wide distribution of the Community Radio Stations. The researcher, through analysis of the documents available on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and other web resources, studied the initiatives of Community Radio Stations which were adopted during the time of Pandemic. The moment, our country got independence from the shackles of slavery, a plan of action was required to be drawn in order to empower the people of India for the purpose of awareness. The development in a country is counted within various parameters. When our country got independence in 1950s, development was understood as industrialization and urbanization, but by 1970s and 1980s, it included parameters involving the betterment of human lives by working on the schemes which may improve the figures of malnutrition, healthcare of pregnant women and infants and overall changes which may lead to the better living conditions. The governments could also work on the betterment of various societal sections by adopting the measures to reduce poverty and land related issues along with providing minimum basic needs etc.(Narula, 1994) In such a scenario, it was mandatory to ensure the participation from all the communities irrespective of their demographic variations. Although Television had entered India on September 15, 1959 radio was able to feel the nerves of the people around India. The Independence Day speech and the coverage of World War II had been the best examples to prove this point. The point here to be stressed is the participatory nature of community radio. The historical context in this regards points towards the activeness of governments to promote this tool of participatory communication. The Supreme Court Judgment in 1995 about the Airwaves being a Public property and efforts by NGO Voices did a commendable work of igniting the spark that led to lighting the minds of bigger strata of population. The studies conducted on the impact of community radio (Timalsina and Pardhan, 2019) on rural populations emphasize on the points like the situational similarity, changes in agricultural practices, emergence of a democratic platform to raise the voices of the masses and a discussion forum on Local Issues, Contribution and Good Governance. In its blog titled ‘Community Radio — Aiding India’s Rural Development’ dated 1 Nov 2019, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) says, “Community radios help connect the disenfranchised, airing their challenges and concerns. Often, we tend to view rural development merely from the prism of economic growth. It should rightfully also include social, spiritual and moral enhancement too. Its role includes poverty eradication, illiteracy eradication and employment. Community radio is the common link which binds all these development factors over a common communication channel.” Ministry of Information and Broadcasting report based on yearly data of 2020 and released in 2021 quotes, “Community Radio is an important third tier in Radio Broadcasting, distinct from Public Service Radio broadcasting and Commercial Radio. Community Radio Stations (CRSs) are low power Radio Stations, which are meant to be set-up and operated by local communities. The policy guidelines for Community Radio were last amended in 2018.” In an article titled ’Community radio gives boost to rural development’, The Hindu quoted an authority involved in the studies concerning impact of radio on masses mentions, “The Central Government has initiated a convergence between Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Self Help Groups (SHGs) to facilitate rural transformation and adding community radio stations may have far-reaching benefits as radio is now accessed over mobile phones as well. Community radios speak the dialect, language, and voice of the people in their own style. People can look forward to participating in the programmes as, speaking on radio, makes the local villager a celebrity in the area.” Community Radio Stations are always credited with benefitting the indigenous communities. Dahal & Aram (2013) in their study on indigenous people mentioned “Indigenous communities can reflect their agenda of identity re-establishment towards empowerment through the active participation in the production of media contents. Active participation of indigenous communities in local radio production not only mandates acknowledgement of ethnic identity in the new nation building but also give an opportunity of lesson learning on the potentiality of using community radios as one of the tools for empowerment. In this context, reestablishment of identity through community radio deserves appreciation because it facilitates the creation of discursive space which will ultimately help to establish pluralist democracy by creating different public spheres.” Johnson & Rajadurai (2020) in their research highlighted the impact of community radio broadcasting on a community inclusive of farmers, students, workers and homemakers residing near a community radio station and studied and found that this governmental initiative was successful in improved income and agricultural yield for farmers, health and wellbeing of the community as a whole and growth as well as development of kids. The interviews conducted with the people reflected the success of this initiative as it offered solution to their general problems in farming like insect/rat issues, reduced transplantation duration, reduction in the use of human resources during cultivation, additional income from sale of straw; problems related to health and wellbeing like improvement in knee pain, less cases of anaemia, stomach pain, learning of new healthy dishes through a cooking show, addressing kids problems through free doctor consultation etc.