Gurgaon Ki Awaaz broadcasts 24 hours a day a wide range of programs that include programs on careers, entrepreneurship, migration, women’s empowerment and health, folk culture especially music, health, sports, and community reportage by school-going children. The station’s first trial broadcasts went on air on November 19, 2009 following several months of training for its team of raw village recruits, most of whom had never even opened a computer before. Many have not finished school. Today, the same reporters confidently and independently handle field assignments, studio recordings, editing and research. Within their communities, they enjoy new-found respect as carriers of the community’s songs, views, problems and concerns.

TRF”s community radio initiative is an attempt to intervene in the community’s struggle with inadequate power, gaps in education infrastructure, and lack of knowledge about opportunities in education, livelihood and income generation. This, despite the fact, that a large number of Gurgaon’s villagers either have substantial land holdings, or have substantial cash reserves from selling off this land. Also at the receiving end are the lakhs of migrant workers who live and work in Gurgaon, and yet have no say in the shaping of their environment.

The bulk of programming on Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station, broadcasting on 107.8 MHz FM, is created on-site in government schools in villages such as Garhi Harsaru, Sikanderpur, Sarai Alawardi and Dhankot. The radio is a wonderful medium to reach the community — because by its very sound and music, it is very evidently “their” station. The station records and airs folk music and folk ballads performed by local music groups and performers, children’s music (much of it recorded by the children in our government schools), and debates and discussions very much like Chaupals, that bring together diverse, but local, voices.

Sentiments that are also echoed by Sunita Chandel, a village housewife, she is now one of the twelve community reporters the radio station has. It was unheard of until now that a daughter-in law of the village, would be actually recording programmes, editing, reporting and getting involved in solving women related issues. Initially there were lots of questions and refusals to grant permission at home but once my family and society realised how productive the work was they gave their permission.”

Interestingly both Kanshiram and Sunita are part of a new era in communication, one that was much needed until now. But then the concept of community radios has long been the demand of rural India, so much so that today it is a reality. Predictably doubling up as a medium of entertainment and an effective mode of information and awareness, the first community radio station in Lalitpur, UP is all set to go on air soon.

An initiative of department of Planning, Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP), UNICEF office for Uttar Pradesh and Ideosync Media Combine, community radio is being geared up as an important means of community outreach. Not only in the state of UP but Uttarakhand too. Jharkhand, Gujrat and Bihar these conventional radio stations have been making waves ushering in a change no other form of communication could achieve so far.

But will it work as a powerful mode of information dissemination for the community by the community?

Mr Tapas Datta, Programme Manager, UNICEF elucidates,”The few examples we have seen so far on how community radio can be used as a powerful tool of information and awareness goes on to prove that it is now become an integral part of democratic process. It is like a double edged sword which focuses not only on the interactive roles of individual shaping lives of people but at the same time facilitating a more horizontal spread of information which is ushering in a remarkable change in behaviours and attitudes.”

And with Lalit Lokvani, situated 22 km from Lalitpur in Alapur village of Birdha block, making a beginning with over a lakh eager listeners within its 15 km transmission range covering 60 villages, radio will never be the same again. While dry run has been initiated the actual transmission will start after getting the license from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting soon, the station has been granted the frequency at 90.4 Megahertz.

And what programmes will the villagers get to hear?

Says Mridul Srivastava, station director of Lalit Lokvani, Community radio is the real voice of the people, it is a communication service that caters to the interests and needs of a certain area, its culture, craft, cuisine and above all social and development issues. Most of our programmes will have participants from within the village community itself. In fact the narrow casting has been so successful that we are getting requests by the local candidates of various political parties to campaign for them through our community radio station.

Adds Mazboot Singh, Community Reporter, Lalit Lokvani, Lalitpur, UP, recounting his experiences on how CR station in Lalitpur helped bringing about women empowerment “Lalit Lokvani proved to be a powerful motivator for the local women to come and participate in the radio programmes and also campaign for their rights and rights of the community as a whole. Though we are yet to start broadcasting the demand for our programmes are so high that we are narrow casting even now.”

But what is extraordinary is that the community radio stations are doubling up as nerve centres in the villages of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand as well.

Citing examples of how their community radio station ‘Mandakini Ki Awaaz’ in Uttarakhand was raising relevant issues, Manvendra Negi, Station Manager of the community radio station elaborated, “Community radio can be used to solve many issues of social and cultural nature simply as it involves active participation of the community. As its a collaborative effort of SSGs, NGOs, gram panchayats and community reporters the impact it has is far more lasting than any other medium. Every social issue and government run programmes for the benefit of the community gets attention and information reaches those who need it most. What more can a communication media ask for?”

Darmyan Rana, Station Manager, ‘Hevalvani’ a community radio station also in Uttarakhand explains how their community radio station was also using the local cable network to disseminate information and programmes to the community.

“Using photographs as the background we run programmes with audio provided by our CRs and it has been very well received. The two pronged approach of CR thus makes it doubly meaningful for community outreach programmes as the imapct of visuals are always more.”

But does CR have a impact to address social evils like corruption?

“Why not,” says Suresh Kumar, Programme Coordinator, AID Jharkhand and Radio Vikalp, Garwha, a community radio initiative, “Take the example of programmes like Chala Ho Gaon Mein, which addresses topical issues of the village community. Here matters of violence, women rights and even corruption are addressed regularly specuially now with the elections around the corner. I feel the community radio is not only a cheap and best option for rural outreach programmes but is also pro poor as it helps fight for solidarity justice and good governance. Through the folk songs and dramas that we produce we have managed to do away with social evils and superstitions, raise child labour issues, highlight corruption and campaign against illetracy etc. Awareness and information about AIDS, Polio, Malaria and TB have also been addressed through our CR programmes.”

Making a mention of the utility the community radio can have for disseminating information of govt policies and schemes, Kumar further says,”CRs can support the govt efforts to spared awareness about their schemes and policies and at the same time also help educate the community about the how they can benefit from these policies. As far as we have seen the impact of the policies through listenership of CR is higher than publicity material the government has printed so far.”

Now that’s what we call making waves and literally!

Anjali Singh – Citizen News Service (CNS)

(The author is a senior journalist and Director of Saaksham Foundation. Email: saakshamforchildrights@gmail.com)

Here’s the full story.
Village Community Radio will give voice to people’s issues
10 January, 2009

“Community radio is the real voice of the people, it is a communication service that caters to the interests and needs of a certain area, its culture, craft, cuisine and above all social and development issues,” said Mridul Srivastava, the station director of ‘Lalit Lokvani’.

‘Lalit Lokvani’, is a village community radio planned to be operational in Lalitpur region of Uttar Pradesh state (India). It is a joint initiative of a Sai Jyoti Gramudyog Seva Sansthan (a non-governmental organization) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), situated just 22 km from Lalitpur in Alapur village of Birdha block.

The 15 km transmission range will take in its fold 60 villages comprising around 100,000 population. While dry run has been initiated the actual transmission will start after getting the license from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. For now, the community radio station has been granted 90.4 megahertz frequency.

Mridul, station director and four reporters of the Lalit lokvani, interacted with the UP state media at ‘Media for Children’, a bi-monthly media initiative organized by UNICEF and ‘Media Nest’, on issues of women and children. Media Nest is an organization that works for the welfare of media persons and their families.

Mridul and his team of twelve village reporters, including two women, have been provided technical training in reporting, researching, programme production, and broadcasting. As part of their capacity building exercise, they have prepared programmes on local culture, festivals, development, women and health issues.

It is unthinkable that a daughter-in-law of a village can actually record radio programmes, edit and in fact help in solving issues of women, said Sunita Chandel, who shared her experience of being a radio reporter. She said initially there were lots of questions, but once the family and society realised how productive the work was, they gave their permission.

“I am both happy and proud after I became a community reporter,” she said. “If it is difficult to step out of one’s home for a daughter-in-law, then believe me, it is even more difficult for a daughter to do so, but I held my ground and today I am an example setter-for the village girls,” said Varsha, a young community reporter.

This was the first journey outside Lalitpur for both Sunita and Varsha, and they were thrilled with this great sense of empowerment and purpose in life.

For the other two male reporters- Bhagwan Das and Kashi Ram the work has meant the unfolding of a new tool of communication.

“We get a chance to see the real issues of the people and through our work we even provide a solution,” said Bhagwan Das.

As for Kashi Ram, being a community reporter was a great feeling of being useful to society and community. He said while earlier he was just a listener of radio today he is the communicator and he enjoys the work which gives him a chance to be a leader.

The Government of India made a policy of issuing private community radio licenses for 5000 stations in November 2007. This made it possible for registered non-government organizations to enter the field, said Augustine Veliath from UNICEF.

“UNICEF saw the potential of this communication medium and selected Lalitpur, one of its integrated project districts for setting up the maiden community radio station,” informed Augustine.

“Such interactive sessions with the real people help broaden vision of the media. The idea is to sensitize the press, give them in-depth information on issues which they can then translate into reports and features,” said Kulsum Talha, Secretary General, Media Nest.

- Citizen News Service (CNS)

Using that as a basic matrix, we can then build the foundation for a “community radio” which by its very definition must be an even more companionable presence than a wide area channel that talks to many more people.

Building a community radio in Gurgaon, one that caters first and foremost to the semi-urban, semi-rural population that lives in villages around the urban residential and industrial sprawl in what is now referred to as New Gurgaon, means that the first colour in our palette is language, probably Hindi, preferably Haryanvi. To draw the broad strokes that will define the station, the minute a listener tunes in, we need some truly world-class Haryanvi music.

Luckily, just such a talent is not too far away. Prem Singh Dehati is a Haryanvi folk musician and theatre person who has spent over three decades regaling the people of this state with adrenalin pumping Haryanvi music, ranging from folk songs set around seasons, harvest and marriages, to patriotic songs that hark back to the brave deeds to Raja Nahar Singh in the Revolt of 1857 to heart-wrenching ballads about dying soldiers writing their final letter home.

A Grade-A performer with All India Radio and Sangeet Natak Akademi, Mr Dehati works for the Cultural department of the Haryana government. He has very generously offered to assist Radio Gurgaon in creating special folk music for our jingles, fillers, and lead-ins for programs, especially programs on education and livelihood. In addition, he has offered to guide us in short-listing performers who can record in our studio, or who can offer opportunities for live recording.

The biggest challenge that has emerged, then, is not talent, but finding the financial resources to fund the creation of a bank of at least 35 to 40 hours of Haryanvi folk music that we can play in between regular programs. We will need at least 20 lakhs over the next one year to cover the cost of calling musicians to our studio, their charges, which range from Rs 4000 to Rs 5000 per hour of recorded music, the charges of a good sound engineer to supervise these recordings so that they are of good quality, etc. The upside for any corporate supporting such a venture is that our community would love to hear such music – hence any advertising message that would go with such a broadcast would have an involved and engaged audience. Every hour of music that is played, would have this message broadcast with it, “This hour of music is made possible with support from….” – four times for each hour of music. Since there are many other CRs in other parts of Haryana, mostly run by educational institutions and agricultural colleges, this bank of Haryanvi music, shareable under a Creative Commons License, would mandate that the name of the company supporting the content creation would have to be broadcast as well. Hence, for a very modest sum, the sponsor/advertiser would gain enormous mileage across the entire state.

Another key area that we are looking at is Careers and Livelihood, since that is central to TRF’s ongoing work, and its work in the past. We want to create a thrice-a-week, one-hour long Career and Livelihood program that gives detailed information on one specific career in each program. Ultimately, over one year, we want to cover approximately 120 career options that our audience, and audiences anywhere in India, should be able to explore. The cost of creating such a program – all 120 modules – would be in the range of 8 to 10 lakhs, an amount that would cover the cost of research, studio and field recordings with resource people (heads of educational institutes, potential employers, people working in a specific field, etc).

The sponsor of such a program would gain enormous mileage, not only on Radio Gurgaon, where the program would be aired thrice a week (with repeat broadcasts on the same day), but on other CR stations across India. Any CR station that wants to air these modules under a Creative Commons License, would have to broadcast a message from the sponsor at the beginning, middle and end of each module.

Regardless of whether corporates support program creation for community radio for their own advertising and marketing needs, or under their existing CSR programs, the end result will be meaningful programming for the community, and a unique opportunity for brand building for a corporate entity.

We begin work soon on doing the woodwork for the studio and procuring the transmitter and the studio and field equipment. Then Ideosync does two induction workshops (one in each of our target schools) to build a team of students who can be trained in programming.

Our community is very spread out – almost splashed out like big large drops. The way out that we are planning is to sound proof a room in each of our target schools (low cost with egg-shell trays and durries on the ground) and let the students use those to record their programs using field recorders like the Zoom H2. Assuming we can even manage to put in a hand-me-down computer in the room, the students should be able to cut a CD and send it off to the studio. Venu of Ideosync wants to even explore the possibility of teaching the kids editing on this computer, so that they can learn the entire process without getting out of the school premises. We have to keep in mind the fact that girls especially do have quite a number of restrictions on their movement. In winter it also gets dark early so all the work has to be done before school closes at 2 pm.

Meanwhile, we have to continue to look at content partnerships (like the one we’ve been exploring with Pratham), sponsorships (to cover the enormous cost of running a CR station), and people who can contribute in terms of music, expertise, programming, advertising, you name it.

The road ahead is ironically just as potholed as Gurgaon’s roads.

But the flip side of the goverment giving the in-principle go-ahead to political ads on FM channels could well be a hijacking of the airwaves.You can read the full story that was published in Mint on November 19, 2008 here.

Since recordings will anyway be done, visually disabled students could be offered these “textbooks” as CDs or audio cassettes. Magazine articles and newspaper features could lead to on-air discussions and round-tables.

The question that’s been turning in my mind is: would publishers be open to sharing their content on-air without any charge? Would they be willing if we gave them back that content as audio files (a kind of barter arrangement?). Or, in the spirit of the enterprise, will they truly believe, that a good idea (or book) gets better when it is spread around?

In classes as high as 8, in children as old as 14, we’re encountering a frightening lapse of reading skills. If we make them sit in a line, it almost always seems to be the children towards the back (they seem to gravitate there), always the quietest (you’ll almost miss seeing them, and will certainly miss hearing them), yet always with that curious, desperate shine in their eyes, wishing and hoping that they could cut through the fog of their illiteracy.

One of the early partnerships we had explored for our community radio station was with Pratham, especially Pratham Books. I’d met them off and on at assorted meetings and book fairs, and their work, and their books had been sitting at the back of my mind as something exceptional. On a whim, I wrote on their website. Within a day, I had an answer. Actually, I had several. All of them positive, energetic, and gung-ho.

Now, all these weeks later, we’re looking at a concrete plan to air a regular slot, at least twice a day, that takes Pratham’s reading pedagogy to a wider audience through the radio. To those children left behind. To those children left at home.

As we hammer out the programming, train the volunteers, and learn from the process about what works and what doesn’t, I’m hoping that the content we create in this process can be used by community radios and Pratham across India. To start with, in the Hindi speaking states, since that is the language in which we are working, and later, as regional language adaptations in other states.

This time it was Shashi, a boy in class 9 (fairly small-built, unlike his somewhat bigger classmates), who caught my attention. The expression on his face while I was talking, the way he was poring over the questionnaire had anyway caught my eye. Then, he called me over to explain a question: In the last seven days had they read, heard or seen any news item that they thought was significant? I’d barely finished my sentence, when he piped up, “The Assam blasts.” I repeated “In the last seven days… Were those blasts in the last seven days?” “Yes,” he said, firmly. I thought back to the newspaper front pages of the last one week – yes, the blasts were current news. When I admitted he was right, he said, almost proudly, “Mein kabhi galat nahin likhta.” (I never write something wrong.)

By the time Shashi finished his questionnaire, the principal walked in. She’s a very determined woman who has really turned this school around. She’s enthusiastic, energetic and seems to manage her way around the state’s educational bureaucracy. Shashi got up, gave me his questionnaire, and asked me, “Iska result kab aayega?” (When will the result come?” Perhaps he thought this was some sort of selection process for the radio station. Just as I was about to start answering him, the principal sushed him and said, a little harshly I thought, “What result are you expecting? Go away and don’t ask silly questions.”

Shashi went out, looking a bit unhappy that the questions jostling inside his head were not being answered. I was unhappy too – but I didn’t want to talk to him in front of his school principal. It seems he had had a round of scolding in the morning because he had come to school in slippers.

Five minutes later, the principal left, after her courtesy call. Within a minute, I saw Shashi hovering around the doorway. I beckoned to him, and immediately he started throwing questions at me. “Who would get training for the radio station?” “How would we select the children?” “When would the training start?” “When would broadcast start?” Completely natural questions, that I was so delighted had been articulated in this child.

Once he got his answers, Shashi was happy as a lark. With a cheery “Good afternoon Ma’am” he took off.

I was happy too! I had found one more gem for our radio station.