A Success Model for Empowerment:

Exploring Community Broadcasting in Three Neighbouring Countries

Manas Pratim Das, PhD

Synopsis

The world today appreciates the need for community broadcasting. It has the potential to
ensure freedom of opinion and expression that is upheld by Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Community broadcasting came to the neighbouring
countries of India, Bangladesh and Nepal much later in comparison to some parts of the
world and even compared to some other countries in the continent of Asia. The
development of community broadcasting in these countries has not followed the same
trajectory but share a good number of commonalities. The community radio stations in
these countries have their stories of success but are facing problems of existence due to
lack of funds and difficulty in generating proper content for the community. This paper
seeks to analyze the scenario and suggests some measures for a successful and
sustainable model for continued existence of community radio stations. It proposes a
consortium of universities and institutions that will act as an umbrella for community
radio stations. It suggests measures to overcome problems of manpower and technology.
It calls for a charter for each station that will effectively rule out interference of members
of the consortium in programme planning and production.

Keywords: community, CRS, universities, NGO, technology, charter

Background

The history of community radio broadcasting is definitely not as old as that of radio as a
mass media. The credit for setting up the first community radio can be claimed by
Joaquin Salcedo who began broadcasting with a home made transmitter in a little known
village of Columbia in 1947. Such stations were owned and operated by miners in
Bolivia in the early fifties of the last century. The first community radio station in Africa
was set up with help from UNESCO in 1982 in Kenya. The next to follow on the
UNESCO list was in a country in Asia, namely Sri Lanka. The community radio stations
were set up in 1983 with a specific purpose. The large scale irrigation project called the
Mahaweli Development project had displaced around a million people and it was felt that
a community radio service could help in proper resettlement of the same. The Kenyan
and Sri Lankan experience inspired citizens in those countries where the wave of
democratization and decentralization had noticeable effects in the 1980s and 1990s.
UNESCO worked with its mandate to empower marginalized communities to set up their

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own broadcasting stations in those places. Among those were countries from Asia as well.
Philippines were among the leaders. Other countries in Asia and specifically the Indian
subcontinent, however, lagged in progress in this regard. Even at the end of the nineties
the government and civil society in India, Bangladesh and Nepal were debating on the
need and the norms of ushering in community radio.1

The Supreme Verdict in1995 was the game changer as far as community radio in India is
concerned. The honorable court ruled that airwaves are public property and must be used
for public good. Consequent upon this, several conferences were held by civil society
groups to take advantage of this ruling. The Bangalore Declaration in 1996 and the
Pastapur Declaration in 2000 emerged as a result of these activities. The first policy for
community radio was framed by the NDA government in 2002. However it were only the
universities and IITs and IIMs that were empowered to set up community radio stations
(CRS). Anna University was the first to utilize this opportunity and Anna FM became the
first in-campus CRS on February 1, 2004. In 2006 came a new policy where the scope
was widened to include agricultural universities, educational institutions and civil society
institutions such as NGOs as CRS owners.2 The CRS movement in India has not garnered
enough strength in spite of these exercises. As per the Open Government Data Platform
India, there are only 149 operational CRS in the country as in June 2013.3 Another source
puts the figure at 179 in 2015.4 In such a vast and populous country like India the figure
itself creates a poor mark sheet for CRS movement.

Bangladesh happened to release its first policy for community broadcasting in 2008 under
the Awami League government. It was titled ‘Community Radio Installation, Broadcast
and Operation Policy‘. Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication
(BNNRC) was instrumental in persuading the government in bringing out this policy.
However not many stations in the country could be set up since the release of this policy.
The first list of 14 CRS was published in 2013. The process of setting up and running
these stations happened with the help of UNESCO.5 As is the agenda of all CRS, those in
Bangladesh help in elevating the socio-economic status of the marginalized population
and bring forth their voice to make democracy more participatory. Particular mention
may be made of their service in spreading warning about tropical cyclones.6

The situation in Nepal became favorable to setting up of CRS through these steps taken
by the government

• rights to information, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of print

and publication was enshrined in the 1990Constitution of Nepal
• provision for private media was made in the National Media Policy of 1992
• National Broadcasting Act of 1993 made space for independent radio
• National Broadcasting Regulations of 1995 defined the processes and methods
necessary for establishing FM stations in Nepal

With all these thrusts the first community radio of Nepal, called Radio Sagarmatha,
started broadcasting in March 1996. By 2005 the number CRS increased to about 50. A
new phase started in CRS movement in 2006 when a new constitution was adopted

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following the People’s Movement. In just over a year about 150 licenses for community
radios were distributed.7

Stability of CRS

It can easily be said that stability of CRS will mainly depend on regular supply of funds.
There is no fixed formula for the supply of funds to CRS in the three countries being
discussed here. The funding sources are diverse and could be government, non-
government, Non Government Organization (NGO)s. The sources can as well be local,
national or international. Research undertaken by Ideosync Media Combine with support
from CEMCA and UNESCO gives an analysis of funding sources of twelve CRS in the
three countries. A good number of these stations were found to be heavily or moderately
dependent on their parent organizations for funding. Where CRS have developed under
universities and educational institutes, the funding sources are much less diverse. This
means that such institutions are capable of taking care of the financial needs of the
concerned CRS. Such an advantage is not enjoyed by other CRS. Where large NGOs
with qualified people are running the CRS, funds could be garnered through attracting
project grants form government or non-government sources. Proper writing of project
proposals and persuasion contributed to their success.8 However, doubts still prevail over
the actual aim of the NGOs in using the CRS platform as has been borne out by published
articles penned by experienced personalities in the concerned field.9 So the NGO model
of fund generation cannot always be welcomed without critical examination.

In rest of the cases, diversity of funds meant that there is very little financial stability. The
research categorically stated that ‘Community generated funding either do not exist or are
small for most CR stations.’10 This means, CRS can hardly look forward to sustain their
operations depending on funding received from the community.

While analyzing financial stability, it needs to be mentioned here that the Government of
India circulated a memorandum in January 2017 detailing its plan for supporting the CRS.
Titled ‘Guidelines for providing grants to community radio stations’, it has sought to
provide funds for eligible CRS for installation of necessary equipments and content
generation.11 It is of course too early to decide how many CRS has been benefited by this
scheme. But it is true that it needs expertise to appeal for and sustain the flow of such
grants from the government. There can be a debate on to whom the CRS should look up
to for such help – NGOs or Universities? But as of now universities offer a better option
because of their organization and financial health. However, once such a choice is made a
further debate can rage over whether the basic purpose of CRS is served through such a
choice.

Manpower and Content Generation

Content generation by the community itself has not been found to be steady and
continuous. The Ideosync Media survey found out some genuine trouble. In quoting one
specific interview the survey had stated that on one hand the remuneration demanded by
skilled manpower is difficult to meet and on the other those who get trained on the

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institute’s investment leave after it is over.12 UNESCO report has cited Nepal’s situation
where a large number of CRS get their content produced by houses based in Kathmandu,
the capital. Concerns have been expressed over ‘syndicated programming’ aired on CRS.
Local issues often take a backseat in the content generated by production houses in the
capital of Nepal.13

It has also been found in some survey that often girls come forward to take part in content
generation and they sometimes create an active group of programmers around them. This
is good keeping in mind the vision of community radio for bringing all sorts of equality
in society. However, once the girls get married and move away from the community, the
groups collapse and there is a vacuum. It takes a lot of time to regain the lost momentum.
Also when the girls are working hard to make the community radio popular, even the
broad minded family finds it unattractive as there is no remuneration and often no credit
on the broadcast.14

Special initiatives to create trained manpower have also been taken in some cases. In
Bangladesh such an initiative was taken in 2009 with the help of UNESCO to train some
150 persons.15 In recent times the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) has
also announced plans to impart training for setting up and managing community radios.16
But the problems of retaining trained personnel within the CRS units remain as usual
which is intricately tied to the financial problems.

It has to be pointed out here that language presents a challenge for all three countries in
general and specifically for a large country like India. Sometimes even trainers are hard
to find for imparting training in the particular language of the community. Developing a
manual is also difficult. Again, the non-literacy of the community members makes a
manual useless even when developed. The unavailability of suitable content in the
language of the community concerned fills the airtime with that in major languages.
Campus radios, operating out of educational campuses, and which are also categorized as
CRS do not face this problem as it is a mixed audience they are catering to. That audience
agrees in principle to listen to presentations in a major language when they choose to take
admission to a university or an institute.

Technology Issues

Technological tools need maintenance and this again calls for trained manpower. There
are more issues in this beyond receiving free-of-cost transmitters from organizations like
UNESCO. Installation and maintenance of these equipments can become a big problem
in many cases.17 Many recommendations are there to use open source software to reduce
costs but training the operators to use such software can again be a big challenge.
Switching to renewable sources of energy for power supply to CRS has also been
suggested. Even development of software at CRS has been suggested.18 These software
are supposed to help students and other citizens who are moving to the digital platform.
But such type of steps can hardly be undertaken by those who are already finding it hard
to carry on with regular broadcast. These suggestions are next to building castles in the
air.

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Seeking A Success Model

With this backdrop a success model, a sustainable model alternately, is sought to be

proposed that will enable CRS to move ahead without compromising their stated goals.
The idea of building a consortium of universities is at the centre of such a proposal. This
paper holds that a strong parental organization holds the key for a successful model.
Experimentations with various sources of funding have not been able to throw up a model
with financial viability. Now, consortiums are not unheard of in the space of CRS.
Several have been constituted to support particular causes and the vehicle of community
radio has been tagged to the same. To cite an example, a consortium called Community
Radio Consortium for Environment Protection (CRCEP) helped CRS in Uttarakhand to
propel ahead with their disaster awareness programmes.19 But the one proposed in this
paper will have a different character. It will exclusively be formed with the participation
of at least five universities and institutions having government approval and belonging to
nearby areas of the CRS. Funds in several accounts of such universities that either remain
unspent or are reported to be spent through unnecessary extravaganza can be identified
for the purpose. Such a plan, this paper claims, is completely different from training and
technical help that the universities provide to CRS around the globe. This will need
appropriate changes in policy.

The following features will characterize such a consortium:

• All participating universities are to have equal financial responsibility and no

university or institute can appeal for a pull out before a period of three years have
lapsed. After a pull out by an institution another institution can be co-opted.
Inclusion of one NGO, to be replaced every three years, can also be considered.
• Even after keeping in mind that CRS have to be non-profit, it cannot be ignored
that a minimal source of steady income or profit has to be ensured so that CRS do
not have go through sudden patches of financial stringency or insolvency
examples of which are not hard to find. To this end a capital expenditure has to be
incurred by the consortium to set up residential facilities and updated studio setup.
These will not belong directly to the CRS but will remain under the consortium
and will be utilized for research and survey of various kinds that are not
necessarily linked to CRS. The revenue that accrue from the facilities will
however be added to an account of the CRS.
• The consortium will create incentive for attracting youth in the community to the
CRS stations. The youth can be provided with certificates for the effort they put in
to promote and help CRS. It could be turned into a longer duration course with
weekend training on language and arithmetic skills by teachers from or affiliated
to the institutions. This would help in raising the educational level of the
communities and at the same time help the CRS to function.
• Course modules in language translation have to be integrated so that the trainees
can suitably translate the text of the content and make the programmes available
in other languages. This will promote exchanges between CRS and at the same
time raise the pitch of appeal for donation from possible sources.

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 • Departments of humanities in universities like sociology, women’s studies,
journalism and mass communication etc will keep a provision for projects at
undergraduate and post graduate level that are to be done only after visiting the
area served by the CRS. Science departments like agriculture, geology and
chemistry can also provide for such projects where applicable. Programmes on
such projects will have to be mounted on the CRS. This will ensure that the
residential facilities are utilized and university education gets deeply connected
with the realities of the area.
• A charter for CRS will have to be created that will debar the university
management bodies from directly influencing or changing the day-to-day
programme planning and production. Many public broadcasters all over the world
have such a charter and it is not difficult to effect.

While retaining the dominant role of the consortium, the CRS will have to look for funds
and technical resources from elsewhere. There are certain areas that have not been tapped.

• ‘Adopt a Community Radio for a Week’ can be an extremely appealing theme. It

could be taken to potential individuals and social service organizations around
the country. If the required amount could be cleverly packaged, split intelligently
and kept low then it could be paid by even people in middle income groups.
These are the people with often an innate urge to contribute to social causes but
do not have a huge surplus of money to satisfy high priced requirements. This
way community broadcasting will run a campaign and get noticed in the eyes of
the people. To keep the campaign low-cost, the process could be started on social
media.
• Project proposals will have to be sent to government departments to take
advantage of announced schemes. As of now, such projects are of great financial
as well as awareness value to the CRS. The existence of the consortium will
hopefully ensure that there is no weakness in writing proposals and filing
utilization reports after conclusion of the project. As has been pointed out earlier,
other than those CRS where large NGOs are running the show, community
broadcasters often fail in these technical areas.
• Universities of technology and their affiliated colleges have not been inspired yet
to take up projects to aid in developing low-cost antennae and other accessories,
software etc for community broadcasting. As has been observed by experts in the
field, many such colleges keep churning out copied models without even a bit of
innovation and hardly learn how to apply their knowledge of technology.20
Money, be it public or private, spent on this part of the syllabus is simply ruined.
Linking some of the educational projects on a compulsory basis will help both
sides.
• The idle hours for the transmitter can be converted into some fruitful endeavours.
The suggestion for lending time on transmitters owned by Prasar Bharati was
once strongly forwarded by the erstwhile Information Adviser to the Prime
Minister B G Verghese.21 The idea can be taken and developed upon so that idle
hours of the transmitter can rake in revenue for the CRS.

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Conclusion

The usefulness of having community radios is acknowledged by one and all. Though a
late entrant in this field, the trio of India-Bangladesh-Nepal has been able to appreciate
the benefits of having CRS. Some of the crucial factors that unite these three countries
are dominance of agriculture in the economic scenario, uneven development and
concerns over environmental conservation. CRS can play a very important role in
correcting imbalances in these cases. But CRS in these countries have to evolve out of the
poor condition they are in. As has already been explained, Nepal with a plethora of CRS
is not being true to the ideals of community broadcasting. The numbers of CRS in India
and Bangladesh are yet to come up to an appreciable level. Several researches and
surveys have suggested measures for improvement of CRS scenario from time to time.
Governments have also issued policy guidelines and welfare measures. In spite of all this,
community radios in these countries suffer from existential problem. The measures to
help CRS come in bits and pieces and the sword of financial insolvency always hang on
the head of the management of CRS. Many CRS, who have managed to exist, are not
able to broadcast for more than a few hours.

This paper addresses the basic existential requirements and leaves out issues like political
intrusion etc. A consortium can never be without problems but holds enormous
possibilities for this field. Stress has been put on utilizing the money that is unspent and
often not properly spent in the universities and institutions. However, the paper does not
move away from subscribing to the collective clamour for more financial allotment to
higher education in government budget so that the CRS movement also receives a boost
through the consortium approach. Similarly, proper policy interventions to realize these
suggestions is another initiative that this paper seeks.

Reference:

1. Colin Fraser, Sonia Estrepo Restrada, Community Radio Handbook, UNESCO,

2001
2. Ground Realities: Community Radio in India, UNESCO, 2011
3. https://data.gov.in/catalog/operational-community-radio-stations
4. Why India has only 179 community radio stations instead of the promised 4,000,
https://scroll.in/article/725834/why-india-has-only-179-community-radio-
stations-instead-of-the-promised-4000
5. Dewan Mohammad Alam, Community Radio in Bangladesh; Community Radio in
Bangladesh, http://dev.cpdbd.com/techbd/?p=126
6. Seven Community Radio stations in Bangladesh work to address cyclone komen,
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication,
http://www.bnnrc.net/home/bnnrccomen-
7. Ian Pringle, Bikram Subba, Ten Years On: The State of Community Radio in
Nepal, UNESCO, 2007

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8. Community Radio and Sustainability: A Participatory Research Initiative,
Ideosync Media Combine, April 2015
9. R Sreedhar, Community radio: here is the community, 30/11/2016, thehoot.org
10. Op cit
11. File No. 402/101/2016-CRS, Guidelines for providing grants to community radio
stations, New Delhi, 12th January 2017
12. Op cit
13. Op cit
14. Prachi Pinglay, Reaching out through the skies, Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 09,
Apr. 23 - May. 06, 2005
15. Capacity building of community radio personnel in Bangladesh, IPDC Projects
Database, unesco-ci.org
16. Himanshi Dhawan, Community Radio: IIMC to give training on setting up
stations, TNN, June 21, 2016, Web edition
17. Op cit
18. Ankuran Dutta, Innovations in community radio with special reference to India,
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and
Commonwealth Media Educational Centre for Asia, New Delhi, India, 2014
19. http://www.thebetterindia.com/68292/community-radio-gali-gali-sim-sim-
sesame-india/
20. Saraswathy Nagarajan, Forging entrepreneurs in India, The Hindu,
Thiruvananthapuram July 17, 2015, Web edition
21. B G Verghese, Reforming Prasar Bharati, Deccan Herald, 3rd March 2013,
http://www.bgverghese.com/PrasarBharatiReform.htm