1 COMMUNITY RDIO STATIONS IN INDIA

What is Community Radio  A Radio of the people...by the people.....for the people  Extraordinary and invisible medium  Gives voice to the voiceless  A way to leverage communication for development -greater reach- still localized  A community resource and a storehouse for traditional knowledge & Cultu re 2

CR Policy in India  India’s Community Radio Policy emerged from a grassroots movement  Supreme Court Judgment 1995 – Airways are public property to be used for public good  First CR Guidelines in 2002 – Only educational institutions were eligible  Policy was broad based –New Policy

4 The CR policy (2006)  ‘Non-profit’ organizations/educational institutions registered for 3 years  Serving a specific well-defined local community  CRS ownership and management structure reflective of the community it will serve.  Programmes for broadcast must be relevant to the educational, developmental, social and cultural needs of the community

5 CR Policy 2006 Contd. Who are eligible ! – Registered Societies and Autonomous Bodies – Public Trusts registered under Societies Act or any other such act. – Educational institutions

6 CR Policy 2006 Contd.  Who are not eligible – Individuals; – Political Parties and their affiliate organisations; [including students, women’s, trade unions and such other wings] – Organisations operating with a motive to earn profit; – Organisations expressly banned by the Union and State Governments.

7 Technical guidelines  A CRS expected to cover a range of km  Maximum transmitter strength of 100W ERP  Max. antenna height above ground = 30 meters  Min. antenna height above ground =15 meters

8 Cost of setting up CRS  Cost of setting up a CRS Lakhs  Fixed Cost – Infrastructure for the studio excluding land cost - Rs 5 Lakhs – Computers, Furniture etc.- 1 Lakh – Transmitter/Antenna – 2-5 Lakh s  Recurring Expenditure varies Salaries Content Generation Maintenance

9 Funding & Sustenance  Government does not have a scheme for funding CRS  Agriculture Ministry funds KVKs  UNICEF/UNESCO have funded some CRS  Capital Cost and running expenditure to be borne by the CRS operators

Funding and Sustenance  Main source of revenue for CRS – Advertisements  Advertising permitted for only 5 minutes per hour of broadcast.  Rate for advt.- Minimum of Rs 1 per second of Broadcast ( Rs 300 per hour )  Sponsored Programmes only by Central & State Governments  Revenue generated to be ploughed back into primary objectives of NGO 10

11 1. CRS Application 3. Presentation to Screening Committee and Inter Ministerial Committee 2. Clearance from ministries i.e Defence, Home, HRD, Agriculture, Communication and IT 4. Issue of Letter of Intent (LoI) 5. Application for SACFA Clearance & Frequency Allocation 6. Issue of SACFA clearance & frequency by WPC 7. Application for Grant of Permission Agreement (GoPA) 9. Application for Wireless Operating License (WoL) 10. Issue of WoL 11. Commencement of CRS broadcast (Within 3 months of signing of GoPA) 8. Issue of GoPA The CR application/Licensing process

12 Fees & Levies  Processing Fee= Rs 2,500/-  Bank Guarantee= Rs 25,000/-  Spectrum Fee= Rs 19,500/- per annum  No permission fee required

13 Challenges  Building a sustainable business model  Involvement of women & marginalized  Finding NGOs with the right philosophy  Creating a relevant training & capacity building process  Building local support structures/networks  Building local maintenance support Ensuring community ownership

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17 Thank You