COMMUNITY
RADIO STATION - GOVERNANCE
News:
Celebrating 20 Years of
Community Radio in India
What's
in the news?
●
With a view to ensure the growth of the
community radio sector, the Information and Broadcasting Minister released
revised policy guidelines for setting up CRSs in India on the occasion of World
Radio Day (February 13th).
Key
takeaways:
●
The guidelines were released during the
Regional Community Radio Sammelan (South) at Anna University, Chennai, to
celebrate 20 years of Community Radio in India.
Community
Radio Stations:
●
Community Radio Stations (CRSs) are
low-power radio stations with a coverage area of approximately 10-15 km radius, depending on the area’s
geography.
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They are intended to be established and
managed by local communities.
Significance:
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It provides a platform for disseminating
content in localized dialects and regional languages.
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They addresses local, context-specific
issues and facilitate discussions using local idioms.
Policy
Framework:
●
In 2002,
the Government of India approved a policy for the grant of licence, for setting up of CRSs, to well established
educational institutions.
●
The Policy
Guidelines were amended in 2006 permitting community-based organisations
such as ICAR institutions, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Registered Societies, Public
charitable Trusts, etc., to own and operate CRSs.
○
This was to allow greater participation on
issues relating to development and social change.
Establishment
of CRS in India
●
The
first Community Radio in India was started on 1st February 2004 at Anna
University, Chennai.
●
Later, licences were granted for setting
up CRSs at well-established educational institutions including IITs/IIMs.
●
The Government decided to broaden the
policy by bringing ‘Non-profit’
organisations like civil society and voluntary organisations under its
ambit.
●
The Government has been taking several
proactive steps enabling ease of registration by making the process for
submission of applications completely online.
●
The sector has grown substantially and the
number of CRSs has increased from 140 in 2014 to 481 in 2023 (out of which 155
were added in the last two years).
●
In the next three years the target is to
create more than 1000 CRSs in India.
Revised
Policy Guidelines:
●
The guidelines include an increase in
advertising rate to ₹74 per 10 seconds
and advertising time to 12 minutes per
hour.
●
The licensee will set up an advisory and content committee
comprising members of the local community, with 50% representation for women.
●
The guidelines provide that an eligible
organisation operating in multiple
districts would be allowed to set up a maximum
of six CRS’ in different districts of operation, provided it fulfils
certain conditions laid by the Ministry.
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The initial time period for the ‘Grant of Permission Agreement’ has
been increased to 10 years.
●
The validity of the ‘Letter of Intent’ issued to an organisation has been fixed at one
year.
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A buffer of three months is given to the
applicant for unforeseen circumstances, and the timeline for the complete
application process has also been fixed.
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The revised policy guidelines are expected
to fuel growth of the community radio sector.