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India Still Waits: Rural Poor Not Yet Ready For the Promise of Radio
By Frederick Noronha For over six years we are ready for transmission. But Pastapur (the village) has no right for its own radio. They're ready and raring to go. But for development workers wanting to launch their own micro-powered community radio stations, it's like a case of shouting with their mouths gagged. Since the mid-nineties, community groups have expected permissions to come for them to set up non-profit ultra low-powered FM radio stations. But till date, this has not come, leading to some protagonists to try everything short of pirate radio to get themselves heard. In Andhra, women in Medak district have used 'narrow-casting' -- or creating audio content and circulating it on cassettes. In Buddikote, a village two-and-half hours drive south of India's 'Silicon Valley' city of Bangalore close to the Tamil Nadu border, villagers supported by UNESCO and local NGOs are working on sending out audio broadcasts via cable. To avoid violating the law, others in the remote border district of Bhuj in semi-arid Gujarat not far from the border with Pakistan, and in Daltongunj in eastern India's Jharkhand state, are resorting to hiring out costly broadcast-time on the All India Radio network. In another Andhra Pradesh village in southeastern India, a state government-backed initiative to broadcast led to transmitters being seized on orders of New Delhi. Reports surfacing from diverse quarters from this vast country of a thousand million suggest that some have already begun broadcasting defiantly violating the antiquated laws that govern this medium with so much potential. Over the past few weeks, since early 2003, New Delhi has itself cautiously opened the possibility of educational institutions setting up their own not-for-profit and non-news based FM radio stations. But though the government calls this 'community radio', only educational institutions are qualified to apply for licences. There's also one very clear caveat: entertainment is okay, no news. It's also not very clear what would be the cost of getting permissions for running such a local station, and there seem to be too many obstacles currently in the way of actually encouraging such options to come up. -x-x-x- Let's leave aside the paper and, for a moment, shift to the field. Slender and slightly-built Mangala Gowri (25), the mother of two, is studio manager at the modest UNESCO supported broadcast facility planned at Buddikote in south Karnataka. She says: "We've created programmes on health, organic farming, water development, sericulture, and school lessons, but can't broadcast it (because the current laws don't give licenses to community groups)." Seema B Nair is an urbane and articulate young lady who trained as a media professional at the educational Mecca of Manipal on the Indian west coast and opted out of the mainstream rat-race to work on this alternative venture in the heart of rural India. She told this correspondent during a recent visit to the village: "Cable radio (audio transmitted via cable-TV network, to stay within the laws) will reach the entire village in a few weeks." This has since become a reality. In this tiny and parched village of Buddikote where villagers say it hardly rained for three years, a historic nearby fort commemorates the birthplace of the father of Mughal ruler Tipu Sultan. It's here that locally-generated 'radio' programmes have been broadcast over loudspeakers on the weekly market-day, and 'narrow-casts' have also targeted school-children. Far away on the sub-continent sized nation, other experiments have been tried out. "It's a voice for the people of Kutch, India's second-largest district (after the icy remote northernmost Ladakh), which is a region bigger than some states of the country," says Saeed Khan, while introducing the radio programmes put out by the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, a women's group there. Khan argues that radio helps cope with Kutch's varied diversity, which reflects itself in the existence of as many as 17 ethnic groups, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes spread over a region of which over half id desert and where life is "very harsh". Sounds of the crane -- a migratory bird from Siberia, but popular in the area -- kick off the radio programme, which can, at least in theory, reach out to the 75% local Kutch population that owns at least an inexpensive radio set. Inspite of getting the Chameli Devi award for alternative journalism, this programme can't broadcast via its own station. Simply because the laws don't allow it to. In Andhra's Medak district, members from among the five thousand lowest-of-the-low caste Dalit population -- facing multiple discriminations of being women, Dalit, poor and rural -- are keen to get a voice on the airwaves. "For over six years we are ready for transmission. But Pastapur (the village) has no right for its own radio," says a parrot green-sari clad Narsamma. This young lady, called locally 'General' Narsamma for her leadership qualities, is speaking through a recorded video-cassette which chronicles the frustrations in getting a voice on the air in India. When this video was screened at a recent United Nations Development Programme consultation to identify how ICTs (information and communication technology) could help development, the end-of-the-show applause was punctuated with more than a little embarassment. There's little to clap about on this front.... ("General" Narsamma is a 25-year-old daughter of farm labourers and non-literate Dalit or the lowest among India's caste hierarchy parents. Currently, she is one of the 'producers' employed by the Deccan Development Society, an NGO, to create audio programmes. Earlier she did odd farm labour jobs to help her family.) Sunanda of AID is part of an NGO that broadcasts out of Jharkhand's Palamu region, notorious for its poverty and many social ills. "We've bought time from All India Radio, with support from (the funding body) National Foundation of India." "We've been covering controversial issue, and are very sure that we're soon going to face strictures from the administration. But we're prepared for that," she adds. Kinnari Toliya, a communication professional from the Manipal Institute of Communication in the coastal Karnataka educational town of Manipal, says the MIC had sent in an application and proposal for launching an educational radio station "way back in October 2002" to the Ministry and Information and Broadcasting. "Unfortunately, we haven't heard from them yet," says she. "The Ministry should have no problems in giving us the yes, but it hasn't. It's very discouraging specially for someone like me who is still new to this concept (but) understands very well the potential of a medium like community radio. I am totally put off by the whole thing," she commented in a recent discussion on the Internet. Some unusual approaches are being forced among those wanting a way out. In end-March 2003, the Unesco-supported 'Namma Dhwani' alternative broadcasting outlet got a voice, using a roundabout technical solution that doesn't violate India's laws. It launched its cable-audio-casts, through a local cable operator who along-with the many satellite channels beamed from across the globe, also streamed in the locally generated audio channel from their village itself. This let some 200 households in the village to listen to the audio programme via their television sets, though much cheaper though still-illegal-in-India ways of doing this via FM radio transmitters are possible. "By May, the entire village will have access to (locally generated) cable audio," says Ashish Sen, who heads the Bangalore-based Voices communication NGO that has been promoting this and other alternate communications ventures. Namma Dhwani ('Our Voice' in Kannada), as this venture is called, involves farmers from the area, the non-government organisations MYRADA and VOICES, and is supported by Unesco. 'Namma Dhwani' is itself three years old, and earlier tried circulating voices recorded on cheap cassettes. Seema B Nair, who is the Voices programme executive, says after the inaugural programme "an old lady called to say that (studio manager) Surya Prakash was speaking too close to the microphone. Other women requested for Kannada songs. A young man enquired how he could volunteer." This 'cable audio' initiative was triggered off by a 'school audio' effort where the local school was linked to the community audio production centre by a direct cable. This programme, started in June 2002, enabled educational and general knowledge programmes made by the senior school children and teachers to be 'cable-cast' twice a week -- a roundabout ways of sharing knowledge because India still tightly controls the spread of community radio. "The enthusiasm of the children had a ripple effect on many of the parents which accelerated the larger cable audio effort," argues Sen of Voices. "In the past two weeks the number of volunteers at Namma Dhwani has visibly grown and provided a visceral dimension to the project. Programming lasts for two hours. The content is determined by the local community and includes farmers' issues, income generation and health related programmes, story telling by children as well as folk and cinema music," he says. Situated on the Karnataka-Andhra border, the community is conversant in both the languages of Telegu and Kannada. Namma Dhwani's programming is in Kannada, Telegu, Urdu and Hindi. -x-x-x- There's clear reason why this technology makes sense in a South Asia where literacy is low, poverty and regional diversity (including linguistic) are marked, and the people still prefer the oral medium to the written. "You could get a portable radio station for Rs 250,000," says Delhi-based Dr. Wijayananda Jayaweera, who is the UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (Unesco) regional communications adviser for Asia. "In nearby Nepal, community radio stations are run by cooperatives, as in the case of Lumbini Radio, and by even the local civic administration, as in Madanpokra," he adds. What is the lowest cost at which one could get a voice on the airwaves? It could be as low as a few hundred rupees. On the Radiophony website (http://www.radiophony.com) one can find a description of a simple communication center that can be built with commonly available commercial materials at a cost well below Rs 100. "Of course, you have to do the construction yourself," as an engineer trained in India's prestigious IIT network Vickram Crishna points out. Crishna has been long supporting the attempt to find technical solutions that are affordable. Recording costs are extra. But in some of India's local electronic markets, a lot of low-cost options are available. Stations meant to earn revenue, of course, need much more. Crishna lists their wants as follows: transmitter, antenna, recorders, microphones, editing equipment, studio, offices, libraries, managers, producers, editors, anchors, salespeople and accountants, electricity, food and refreshments, security, local travel, conferences and so on. Add an overhead for coordination with the government... there are many departments in different ministries who need hand-holding. "(For community radio) here's one prescription: microphone, transmitter, antenna. Cost of setup: Rs 500 or less. Here's another: microphones, analog recorders, transmitter, antenna. Cost: Rs 2,500 or less. A third: microphones, analog recorders, analog editing, archiving, transmitter, antenna. Cost: Rs 10,000 or less (for about a year of regular casting). Return on investment for all three models: zero. In fact, if you include any form of compensation for people's time, RoI will be negative," says he. But, he notes, promoting community radio still makes sense "because of the intangible benefit of giving a small dose of empowerment, and the ability to use their own voices, to people who are today completely under the thumbs of other people (like us)". Citizen campaigners believe that thousands of low-powered community radio stations could be set up across India, each reaching out to an estimated 78.5 sq km. That means that a country of India's size could have some 37,835 stations spread over some 2,973,190 sq km. That makes for about 780,000 channels. If some were larger-powered transmitters, there would be enough frequencies for an estimated 23,175 FM stations. That's a whole lot of potential radio stations. -x-x-x- On paper, India currently grants permissions for setting up and running community radio stations. In reality, this low-cost technology that can really reach out to the common(wo)man in country still battling poverty and illiteracy is far from practical. Earlier this year, the Indian federal government unveiled its rules that allow educational institutions to set up 'community radio' stations. But, the licensing costs are still vague, elite educational institutions seem to get a preference in setting up such stations, and like in other non-government controlled radio stations in India the broadcasting of news is expressly banned. Clearly, New Delhi still treats non-government controlled radio as suspect. 'Community broadcasting licenses', the federal government decided only as late as in 2003, would be given to "well-established educational institutions or organisations recognised by the Central Government or the State Government". Each application for setting up a low-powered FM radio station will have to be referred to the ministries of Home Affairs, Human Resources Development, and even -- hold your breath -- External Affairs and Defence! Licences will be issued only after getting the "requisite clearances" from these ministries. Any foreign personnel to be "deployed" at the station would need to obtain security clearances from the Government of India too. In its enthusiasm to regulate radio closely, the government may have ended up tying the hands of the very groups they claim they want to promote. Programmes "will (have to) focus" on issues relating to education, health, environment, agriculture, rural and community development. Content must be "confined to social, cultural and local issues". So, on the one hand, the state has launched what it calls "community radio", but on the other expects the educational sector to broadcast on low-powered transmitters -- from within its campus -- on subjects that the largely middle-class campus students would probably find dull and boring to deal with. (Campus radio has its rightful place in the world of non-commercial, non-government broadcasting. But its focus would be different, given that it would need to enthuse students about its need.) Current regulations are such that this concept would be clearly unworkable. 'Community radio' stations are disallowed from carrying commercials or advertisements. Fair enough. But, on the other hand, they are required to pay a 'spectrum usage fee as determined by the Wireless Advisor'. At the time of writing (April 2003), the quantum of the spectrum fee was unknown. But some analysts following the debate closely, like Mahesh Acharya of the Centre for Knowledge Societies in Bangalore suggests that this would be a whopping sum of between Rs 4-800,000 (see Frequently Thought Questions about Community Radio, by Mahesh Acharya mahesh@cks-b.org, undated). Red-tape is not helping things. In reply to a parliamentary question (unstarred question 1944, 10.3.2003) the Indian government said just three educational institutions have applied for permission to set up what the government calls 'community' radio stations on their campus. But their applications, sent in to the I&B Ministry, have been "returned back" over a bureaucratic loophole. It is clear that there are a whole lot of uncertainties and roadblocks in the process, which simply dissuade institutions from applying. Till date, nobody knows what the 'spectrum fee' for these stations would be. Senior officials, at a recent UNDP meeting in Bangalore, were unable of confirm or deny reports that the fee would be a whopping Rs 400,000 to 800,000 each. Interestingly, the minister of state for Information & Broadcasting told Parliament recently that "as per the procedure, the applicants are required to send their applications through the State Government/the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India (authority recognizing these institutions), as the case may be. The following three institutions had sent their applications directly to the Ministry, which have been returned back: (i) Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, Pondicherry (ii) Mailam Engineering College, Villupuram (Tamil Nadu) (iii) Institute of Technology and Management (Gwalior)". -x-x-x- Nothing highlighted better the sad case of community radio in India than the plight of Mana Radio (the term meaning 'Our Radio', in the Telugu language spoken by an estimated 66 million in south-eastern India). This was a World Bank-funded and state government-supported programme that was torpedoed by the Central Government for allegedly violating the law. Officials of the federal government's Department of Telecom seized the transmitter being run by the Society for the Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in Orvakal village, in the south-east Indian state of Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district. It said the broadcaster did not possess a license to broadcast. Programmes from Mana Radio were launched over the tiny village transmitter from October 2, 2002 -- the birth anniversary of the leader considered as the Father of the Indian nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi -- to build awareness in the village. Local village men and women were trained to record programmes and broadcast one-hour weekly, each Monday. Programmes included songs, discussion or news about the community and its concerns. But officials who seized the transmitter in early February were quoted saying they had received an advisory from the central authority's monitoring agency to "seize the transmitter" since it has not been licensed. Campaigners for the the legalisation of community radio in India point out that, going by an antiquated 1885 colonial-time British law, even owning transmission equipment is illegal. This 'radio station' comprised a low-powered transmitter that has been installed atop a house in Orvakal village to reach out to homes within a range of one kilometre, effectively covering the entire village. It has two digital tape recorders which double up as editing equipment. Programmes were heard by the village on some 50 radio sets that were distributed free of cost as part of the programme. 'Mana Radio' had infact been touted as the first community radio of India, and its launch was widely covered by newspapers and TV channels. In October 2002, reports from Kurnool said in India's major newspaper group, 'The Times of India': "India's first community radio has been launched at Orvakallu in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday.... The station's locally-generated programmes, including a play and a news bulletin, have received good response from the villagers. The bulletin was prepared by reporters Nagaraju, Laxmi Prasanna, Jayaram and Prakash. Nagaraju and Laxmi Prasanna read the bulletin, which included local and national news." Content was scheduled to include songs, documentaries, stories, jokes, interviews with officials, and talks on agriculture, animal husbandry and literature. Local officials said some 30 young men were given training for three days in producing programmes at Orvakallu. Technical support came from a technician, Anshuman, who helped the local group in establishing the radio station. Radio signals were being broadcasted at FM 900 mhz and the plan was to extend the radius from 1 km to 5 kms in the next phase. Villagers involved were claiming that even illiterate women were coming forward to prepare programmes. Radiophony.com (see www.radiophony.com/html_files/oravakal.html), the network which was involved in providing technical assistance to setting up this initiative, called Orvakal "the first village in India to run its own audio broadcast center". It was then thought that radio would help their initiatives to lead themselves "out of the cycle of poverty". After checking various options, finally, the 'sarpanch' (the elected village head), a civil engineer himself, took the team to the highest point in the village, and negotiated for them to get a room at the top of this house, with an independent entrance. Houses here are built of slate-like stones mortared together very loosely with mud or cement. So, with some difficulty, the mast was placed on the top of this house. Some 20 men from the village were showed how to operate the equipment. (Women were mostly involved with a large teacher training programme, that was going on concurrently.) But the men were already familiar with the concept of recording and playback, and knew how to handle cassette recorders. "We trained the men in groups of four, making them record sample interviews, and use the post-production editing features to remove flaws (noise and interference from passing vehicles) and add voice overs," explains the Radiophony team. The total hardware cost, incidentally, was approximately Rs 35,000, which is about US$ 715. It was also thought that the sponsoring agency could be convinced "to continue to expand the scope of this pioneering effort" by networking groups of such village stations digitally to each other and to the Net, using inexpensive WiFi to the nearest fiber-optic enabled linkage points. But all this was not to be. Transmitters were simply yanked off the air. Interestingly, the state government of Andhra Pradesh is run by the Telugu Desam Party, which is a key supporter of the national level BJP-led ruling alliance. But neither this, nor the fact that the programme was backed with World Bank funds, helped in keeping this path-breaking experiment on the air. But others like Dr. P.V.Satheesh saw this differently. Said he: "When the Deccan Development Society and others applied for broadcast licenses as far back as 1998, we were not allowed. There was a terse two line reply from the Ministry that the giving license to community radio stations is still not under discussion. In fact there was a veiled threat that the Government would take legal action against DDS for setting up an infrastructure for community radio. "But suddenly we see The World Bank setting up the first community radio (station) in India. And that is also not a community-driven affair. It is the World Bank lead cosmetic intervention by the Chandrababu Naidu government. And I think it should be a very sad day for all media democrats in this country that World Bank gets a green signal whereas the Indian NGOs and communities get a different treatment. It is a strange irony that an empowering movement must be initiated through the financial muscle of the World Bank and the political muscle of Chandrababu Naidu. If the intentions of both were genuine, one could have said hurrah to this. But one knows that both the institution and the person are expert hijackers of the empowerment slogans for their own political agenda, to mask the rest of their anti-people programmes." Those involved with the project, like Crishna, denied that this was the case. Said he: "We have personally seen that the WB and UNDP people do oversee broadly and review what SERP does with the grant money. But to imagine that they have had the time to look at this very tiny project is stretching the imagination a bit. Anyway, let me tell the list that this project would not have happened if the community had not agreed to it and enthusiastically helped us set it up." Said Crishna: "We have been very publicly on this list advocating that a tiny low power station like this does not call for licensing, and SERP was willing to back us on this. We have innumerable examples of other low power applications like security systems, public address systems, toys etc being freely allowed for sale and use in India. What we built in Oravakal is really low powered, less than many of these other applications." Whatever the case, for now, there's little chance of rural India finding its voice on the airwaves. (ENDS) --
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March 2004 | Frederick Noronha, Freelance Journalist
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