Groups and individuals from poor communities from across South Asia are taking communication and information matters in to their own hands and exercising greater control over their access and services. Even before governments give official sanction to electronic community media, an increasing number of communities are exploring whatever avenues are open to them to get their voices and messages heard.
For the past ten days, representatives from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have been meeting with counterparts in Nepal to share experiences and build skills and vision to take community media forward in the region.
Hands On Community Radio is the first workshop of its type to bring together grassroots practitioners from different countries in the region. The workshop is facilitated by CECI-Asiaıs Media Support Network with support from Antenna, one of Nepal's leading media production and training groups.
Participants in Hands On Community Radio have shared numerous stories of how communities cannot wait for the authorities to open the airwaves; some build their own transmitters to reach villagers during times of crisis, others are making television programming and getting them out on local cable networks even though the regulations may not allow for it.
With five self-styled community radio stations, more than twenty independent FM broadcasters and increasing the number of experiments in local television production, Nepal is leading the subcontinent in community media development, however activists and advocates in other countries are working hard to catch up and their efforts are generally far ahead of their respective governmentsı policies.
In Jharkhand, one of India's poorest states, Alternative for India Development (AID) has been working with local communities to develop community radio since 2000. According to Salam Khan, one of two AID representatives currently in Nepal, "As in other places, media in our area is dominated by coverage of politicians and celebrities. We are working to shift the focus to the community level and to put the last man first and the first man last."
Suresh Kumar, a 42-year old father of six from the local area has great faith in the medium: "My dream is to use community radio to resurrect the Gandhian ideal of self-sufficient villages." Chala Ho Gaon Mein, a 30-minute weekly programme produced in the local langauge by a team of 16 village reporters is broadcast by the local Daltongunj All India Radio FM station. Using dramas, songs and interviews, the programme deals with issues ranging from corruption and child labour to dowry and alcoholism.
In Karnataka, Namma Dhwani community radio will be reaching village listeners in 2003 using a local cable network. Mangala Gowri, the groupıs energetic young studio manager told of how they make audio programmes and air them using cassette players within womenıs groups meetings, a system they call narrowcasting, as well as to the weekly local market,. Seema Nair, who supports Namma Dhwaniıs efforts explained: "Narrowcasting is effective, especially for the womenıs groups, but it is limited in terms of reaching the whole community, so we came up with the idea of cable radio."
Mana Radio in Andhra Pradesh has been on the air since October this year broadcasting a weekly half hour programme with 40 milli-watts of power to villagers in a 500 metre radius of the station. According to Neelima Reddy, a local development worker, "The station was started by local women who are organised into twenty-six self-help groups (SHGs). These women want to share their views, their situations and success stories and to motivate other women, especially those women who are not part of SHGs."
Tajunisa, one of Mana Radio's representatives at the workshop, joined a self-help group in 1997 and has participated in making two radio programmes. Local songs, like those Tajunisa sings, reflect local realities and form a regular part of the Mana Radio programme. Some 2000 miles to the north, Uttaranchal's Garwali communities have been promoting community radio since 2000 when they received basic training in how to use portable tape recorders, conduct interviews and produce short programmes. Rajendra Negi of Hemal Vani Community Radio has made programmes on topics ranging from agriculture to disaster preparedness. Jagdei Rawat of Raibar Community Radio relates their experience: "Our group has increased from two to eight producers. We are preparing for a station, but we donıt have any funds yet so we can only do so much."
Although developments in Pakistan and Bangladesh are not as well advanced as those in India, media and development groups have charted a clear course for themselves. Irfan Hayat Khan, who is making his first radio programmes during the workshop, explained that Pakistanıs Taraqee Foundation has already applied for a community radio license. "There is no community radio in Pakistan yet; this would be the first."
Bangladeshıs Massline Media Centre is a leading advocate for community radio. According to Riaz Uddin Khan, "Community radio has an important role to play in a democratic Bangladesh. Learning from the successes of Nepal, we can do so much in Bangladesh to take community radio forward. I am feeling inspired now to return home and take up the challenge."
After a week of exposure, discussions and radio production, the main message emerging from the Hands On Community Radio workshop is that communities across South Asia are determined to use whatever information and communications tools are appropriate and available to them in order to ensure their own local development and governance.
Stay tuned for more reports from Nepal on community media in South Asia
For more information:
Institute for Development Studies Sussex University, UK;
c/o
djh_page@aol.com
Centre for International Studies & Cooperation (CECI), Canada;
c/o
ipringle@pcmedia.org
Other short pieces in this series:
Hands On Community Radio in Nepal (05Dec02)