New Delhi (NVI): Community Radio networks are ‘agents of change’ and the Central Government is working on a plan to increase the number of such stations in the country as they can play a pro-active role in creating awareness, the Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar said.
The minister also called upon Community Radio (CR) stations to spread awareness and information about Covid 19 in the remotest parts of the country.
Addressing nearly 300 community radio stations as part of a special outreach initiative, Prakash Javadekar said, “The Government is also eager to raise the air time for advertisements on community radios to make their operations self-sustaining.”
He further added, “Community Radios are allowed air time of 7 minutes per hour for advertisements while the same is 12 minutes for TV channels. We are eager to give equal time to all the radio stations so that there would be no need for them to seek funds.”
There are currently 290 Community Radio stations operating in the country. Of these, 130 are run by educational institutions, 143 by Civil Society Organizations and 17 by Krishi Vigyan Kendras. These low power FM radio stations with broadcast reach of 10-15kms radius often play a significant role in grass root level communication.
Javadekar said 75 per cent of the expenditure during setting-up of Community Radio stations is borne by the Ministry, which constitutes majority of the fixed expenditure. The revision of advertising time is expected to help these stations meet their operational expenditure to a large extent.
To support Community Radios, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is implementing an ongoing scheme namely “Supporting Community Radio Movement in India” with an allocation of Rs 25 crore.
The Minister also touched upon the key demand of community radio for permission to broadcast news. He assured that he will consider allowing news broadcast on community radio the same way it is done on FM channels.
However, the minister prodded stations to play a key role in combating fake news menace by verifying it through local sources. He invited stations to share it with All India Radio so that the reach of the truth can be amplified.
