When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga

Once cleared, it will usher in a radio revolution in the country which officials estimate should not take more than six months.

Over two years after the policy on community radio was announced—the BJP government’s decision on December 18, 2002 confined it to universities and colleges for security reasons—the UPA government is planning to hand over the radio to the community.

What this effectively means is non-governmental organisations, voluntary associations, Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) can start radio stations of their own, subject to the availability of frequencies. With bank guarantee money proposed to be reduced to Rs 25,000 from Rs 50,000, the radio station can become operational.

One of the reasons for bringing in a change in the policy, according to sources, was the lack of effective communication during the recent Tsunami disaster.

‘‘Communities operating radio stations along the coastal area could have issued adequate warning to prevent large-scale casualties,’’ sources said. With this in mind, the I&B Ministry has proposed that the community take charge of radio operations.

Advertising will be allowed but has been capped at five minutes to an hour of programming. Foreign funds will be allowed through the FCRA or Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Flexibility is also being shown in increasing the wattage of transmitters which is now at 50 watts.

The license duration is being increased from the current three years to five years.

The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication (for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication—a procedure both long-drawn and cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now.

Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma Dhwani—where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent initiatives to usher in a radio revolution.