Outcomes
of Civil Society Consultations held during March October 2004
Organised
by
OneWorld South Asia
0. Background
The community interest
groups and non-governmental organizations have for long been advocating
for Government of Indias permission to initiate, run and sustain
community radios in every village and Panchayat and among communities
in India. The decade long campaign proved partially successful
when the Government announced its policy for the grant of licences for
radio stations to educational institutions with certain guidelines in
December 2002. Subsequently, a number of educational institutions
have duly applied for community radio licence. Anna University
was the first to obtain such a licence. Although the government
policy was a response to the decade long campaign for community radio,
the announcement in December 2002 limited the scope to the educational
institutions, making the whole policy read as the campus radio policy
rather than the community radio policy.
Since then there has been
demand for expanding the scope of radio as a medium of communication
for meeting the needs of local communities with request to review the
campus radio policy termed as the community radio policy.
Several meetings were held
subsequently steered by the UNDP-UNESCO combine with support from the
Ministry of I&B; OneWorld South Asia with support from its
partners; CR-India list on a continual basis on email; and during the
course of the consultation process on the licensing conditions for the
Second Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting organised by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The following
recommendations from partners of OneWorld South Asia takes into
cognisance the deliberations at the above meetings, provides a direct
response to various aspects of community radio policy that needs to be
revised.
Community radio
recommendations
1. Definition of Community
Radio
While deciding the
eligibility criterion for issues licences to communities, the following
definitions proposed by the World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters, www.amarc.org) is appropriate:
a) Community radios promote
the right to communication and facilitate the freedom of speech,
encourage creative and diverse statements and contribute to a
democratic process and a pluralistic society.
b) Community Radios provide
education and production possibilities and are responsible for the
transmission. They encourage local creative talents, cultivate local
traditions and broadcast an entertaining, educational and development
promoting programme for its listeners.
c) Community Radios secure
the ownership of the radio in a way that it is owned by local
representatives of a visible community or an interest community.
d) Community Radios are
editorially independent of governments, trade, religious institutions
and political parties in the compilation of their radio programme.\
e) Community Radios make
sure that marginalised groups and minorities have access to the radio
and secure as well as promote cultural and linguistic diversity.
f) Community Radios make
sure that the listeners receive information on the base of multiple
sources and points of view and allow space for opposing points of view
from each person or organization.
g) Community Radios are
organizations which work on a non-profit basis in order to maintain
their independency and are financed by a multitude of donors.
h) Community Radios
recognise and respect voluntary work and acknowledge the right of paid
work for organisational matters and for the elaboration of working
structures, which are beneficial for all people involved.
i) Community Radios
elaborate management forms, programme structures and working
conditions, which rule out any discrimination and are accessible to all
people involved, employees and voluntary helpers alike.
j) Community Radios
maintain communication with other community radios in order to promote
and raise understanding on peace questions, tolerance, democracy and
development.
2. Eligibility Criteria
2.1)
Community based organisations, Gram Panchayats as well as other local
bodies such as registered self help groups should be eligible to run
community radio stations in addition to educational institutions/
organisations recognised by the Central/ State Governments to give it a
wider scope and meet the needs of the local people. The applicant or
the head of the organisation applying for community radio should
necessarily be of Indian origin.
2.2)
The financial condition of the applicant organization, its ability to
raise resources and overall financial sustainability should not be an
eligibility criterion, to ensure that people from all groups are able
to voice themselves, without exclusion.
2.3)
Only registered organisations should be eligible to apply for community
radio license.
2.4)
Cooperatives engaged in commercial activities can also be eligible to
apply, however the community radio programme should be not- for-profit.
3. Licensing procedures
3.1)
Applicants may be given temporary permits to operate in the interim
period during the time taken to grant a regular licence.
3.2)
An independent and transparent body comprising representatives from the
government, civil society organizations, media professionals, technical
experts and grassroots groups should be set up to examine, evaluate and
decide on the applications for community radio licence.
3.3)
The requirement of furnishing a bank guarantee at the time of applying
should ideally be done away with, or should be a token amount of Rs
5,000.
3.4)
The current procedure of obtaining clearance for licenses is long drawn
and time consuming. In order for efficient and fast processing of
licenses there should be a single-window clearance of applications.
3.5)
The maximum time period for clearance of a license should be laid down
at three months, failing which the department may be deemed to have
given consent.
3.6)
The current period for a license is three years. This should be changed
to a period of five years, renewable for another five years.
4. Technology parameters
4.1)
The maximum permitted transmitter power and antenna height should be
pegged at 1 KW (maximum) and 30 metres respectively. Depending on
geographical conditions and spread of the community (example, Kutch
region or the north-eastern states), the applicant should be allowed to
approach the authorities for a higher transmitter power and antenna
height. Broadcasting using transmitters up to half a watt should be
de-licensed.
4.2) The number of
frequencies to be allotted for community radio should ideally be fixed
at three within a particular coverage area for optimisation.
4.3)
Separate frequencies should be earmarked for commercial and community
radio.
5. Funding and
Sustainability of Community Radios
5.1)
To encourage more local bodies to come forward and start community
broadcasting that would address the specific needs of their communities
the government, central/ State should create a corpus fund from which
it could provide grants to financially weaker groups to help start
their stations.
5.2)
To ensure sustainability of community radio, the current ban on
commercial advertising on community radio stations should be lifted. It
could however be regulated by fixing it at ten minutes of advertising
per hour of broadcasting with a 50% cap on revenue from any single
source
5.3)
Since the objective of community radio programmes is to air programmes
on issues related to development, community radio stations should be
permitted to accept funds from foreign donors as per the FCRA
guidelines applicable.
5.4)
The licensee should not be charged any licence fee and spectrum use
charges as levied by the government.
5.5)
All organisations applying for licences should be given relaxation in
customs duty for import of equipment as are currently applicable to
educational institutions.
6. Monitoring mechanism for
community radios
6.1)
As per the current regulations, the Programme Code for AIR is
applicable for all. This needs to be examined and may be revised based
on experiences. A separate programme code for community radio should be
fixed only after consultations with the stations and their stakeholders.
6.2)
The ban on broadcast of news and current affairs programmes should be
removed completely from community broadcasting as the purpose of
community radio would be to educate and inform.
6.3)
Community radio stations should be required to keep recordings of their
transmission for a period of six months from the date of broadcast.
6.4)
Religious programming needs to be sensitive towards all religions and
should not violate Article 19 of the Constitution.
7. Stakeholders supporting
community radio recommendations to TRAI
1) Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach
Director, OneWorld South
Asia,
C-2/6 Safdarjang
Development Area,
New Delhi 110016
Phone: 51756975
Email:
2) Joseph Pookkatt
Managing Trustee,
Consumer Online Foundation,
C-128 (SF), Defence Colony,
New Delhi 110024
Phone: 24336836, 9810245211
Email:
3) Jayalakshmi P. Chittoor
Consulting Editor (i4d
Magazine),
Centre for Spatial Database
Management and Solutions (CSDMS)
G-4, Sector 39, Noida
201301
Phone: 9811309160
Email:
4) John Bargoyary
Head, Indev Project,
The British Council
17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg,
New Delhi 110001
Phone: 51497206
Email:
5) Angana Parekh
Director, Women's Feature
Service,
G-69, Nizamuddin West,
New Delhi 110003
Phone: 24359886
Email:
6) Anirban Gupta
Management Trainee
(Business Development),
Tarahaat,
111/9-2 Kishangarh, Vasant
Kunj,
New Delhi 110070
Phone: 26122881/2
Email:
7) Rafi Ahmed
Legal Expert,
Institute of Social
Sciences
8, Nelson Mandela Marg,
New Delhi 110070
Phone: 22531263, 9891352468
Email:
8) Kaushik Basu
Coordinator (Query
Redressal),
Indian Society of
Agribusiness Professionals,
R289A, Greater Kailash I,
New Delhi 110048
Phone: 51730573, 30938993
Email:
kbasu12@rediffmail.com
9) Sevanti Ninan
Media analyst/ Media
Foundation (thehoot.org),
180, National Media Centre,
Gurgaon 122002
Phone: 95124-2356806
Email:
10) Prof. Subbiah
Arunachalam
Distinguished Fellow,
M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation,
No 3rd Cross Street,
Taramani Institutional Area,
Taramani, Chennai 600113
Phone: 044-22541229
Email:
11) Tom Thomas
Director, Praxis
Institute for Participatory Practices,
C-75, South Extension Part
II,
New Delhi 110 049
Phone: 51642348/49-51,
9810222788
Email:
12) Dr Shankar Ghose
President
Charkha Development
Communication Network,
G-15/11-12 (GF), G - Block
Malviya Nagar, New Delhi -
110 017
Ph: 26680688, 26680816
Fax: 26680816
Email:
13) Ambika Sharma
Programme Officer
(Outreach),
Winrock International
India,
1, Navjeevan Vihar,
New Delhi 110017
Phone: 26693868
Email:
14) K T Arasu
Director, Alternative for
India Development,
Plot no. 1, VGN Nagar,
Iyyapam Thangal, Chennai 600056
Phone: 044-26272336
Email:
15) Mitu Verma
Country Director,
Panos Institute India,
49 FF, Defence Colony
Market,
New Delhi 110024
Phone: 248333657
Email:
16) Chetan Sharma
Founder Director,
Datamation Foundation
Charitable Trust,
B 12, Swasthya Vihar, Delhi
110092
Phone: 22512161/ 9811718133
Email:
csharma@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
17) Dr Vinod Sena
Director, Shruti
Information Centre,
1398, Dr Mukherjee Nagar,
(Near Batra Cinema)
Delhi 110009
Phone: 27658467/ 27653809
Email:
shruty@eth.net
18) Satyan Mishra
CEO, Drishtee,
9/7 (FF), Nehru Enclave
East, Kalkaji,
New Delhi 110019
Phone: 26430105, 26430105,
26430106
Email:
19) Prof Leela Rao
Director (Academic),
Manipal Institute of
Communication,
Press Corner, Manipal
576119
Karnataka
Phone: 0820-2571201
Email:
20) Dr Neelavalli
Director, Initiatives:
Women in Development,
2107, 13th Main Road, Anna
Nagar, Chennai 600040
Phone: 044-26222856/0578
Email:
21) Ruchita Khurana
Information Coordinator,
Toxics Link,
H-2, Jangpura Extension,
New Delhi 110014
Phones: 24320711/24328006
Email:
22) Shakil Ahmed Kakvi
Chairman, Kainat
Foundation,
Kainat Nagar, Kako
Jehanabad, Bihar-894418
Phone: 09431-297223,
06114-227781
Email:
23) Umasankar Sahu
Executive Secretary,
ADHAR,
P.O. Loisingha,
District Bolangir 767 020,
Orissa
Email:
24) Kumar Abeysinghe,
Governor, Marga Institute,
93/10 Dutugemunu Street,
Kirulapone, 6 Colombo
Sri Lanka
Email:
25) Vikas Centre for
Development
D-2/7, Industrial Estate,
Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar 751010 Orissa.
Email:
26) Rajesh Shah
Managing Director,
Saline Area Vitalization
Enterprise Limited,
Shree Apartments,
University Hostel Road,
Navrangpura, Ahmedabad
380009
Phone:
079-27913569/27913715
Email:
27) Avdhash Kaushal
Rural Litigation and
Entitlement Kendra,
68/1, Rajpur Road, Dehra
Dun 248001 Uttaranchal
Phone:
0135-2746071/2745539, 3101392
Email:
28) Osama Manzar
Founder Director,
Digital Empowerment
Foundation,
D-307 (FF), Sarvodaya
Enclave,
New Delhi 110017
Phone: 51829729, 9810042862
Email:
29) Dr Suman Sahai
Convenor, Gene Campaign,
J-235/A, Sainik Farms,
Khanpur, New Delhi 110 062
Phone: 26517248
Email:
30) Ashish Sen
Director, Voices,
No 165 (FF), 9th Cross,
Indiranagar, Bangalore
560038
Phone: 080-25213902
Email:
31) Bilal Aziz
Coordinator Training &
Networking,
Bunyad Literacy Community
Council,
E-105/A 9, Gulasht Colony,
Main Boulevard Defence
Near Adil Rashid Hospital,
Lahore Cantt, Pakistan
Email:
32) Rima Kashyap
Managing Trustee, Shakti,
c/o ERA, NM Wadia Building,
123 MG Road, Mumbai 400026
Email:
33) Rishi Chawla
Country Representative,
Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI India),
63 B D Estate, Mall Road,
Delhi 110054
Phone: 30957966, 9810602266
Email:
34) R Sreedher
Director, AVRC, Anna
University,
and Channel Manager, Anna
FM (India's first campus community radio)
Audio Visual Research
Centre, Anna University, Chennai 600025
Phone: 044-22300105/106
Email:
35) Neeraja Prabhakar
Ph.D. research scholar
(community radio), Anna University-Chennai
35, Velu Street, West
Mambalam
Chennai - 600 033.
Phone: 044-24711394
Email:
36) Prof B P Sanjay
Academician with interest
in communication and development issues
Email:
37) Sheelu
Tamil Nadu Womens
Collective
E-53, 15th Street, II
Cross, Periyar Nagar,
Chennai - 600 082.
Phone: 044-25501257
Email:
38) Henri Tiphagne
Executive Director,
Peoples Watch Tamil
Nadu,
No 6, Vallabai Road,
Chokkikulam,
Madurai 625002
Phone: 0452-2539520
Email: henri@satyam.net.in
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