Vol. VI No. 10
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CEMCA catalyses CR movement in Asia R Sreedher, Director, CEMCA
Community Radio via distance learning
Information for development
V N Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU
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Creating awareness through CR Kongu CR Station, Tamil Nadu, India
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Contents
Vol. VI No. 10
Features 5 10
Editorial Reaching the unreached through community radio
October 2008
Rendezvous 37
13
PANOS South Asia
16
Review of CR Policies: Bangladesh
40
Community radio law-lost in transmission Danny Geevarghese
In search of community voices Tareq Ahmed, Alamgir Khan
19
Community Radio, Pakistan
21
Kongu CR Station, Tamil Nadu, India
34
National Seminar on Community Radio, IGCNI, 13-14 September, West Bengal, India Broadcasting for the grassroots
Interviews 6
Asha Kanwar, Vice President, COL, Canada Distance education and learning with ICTs
7
V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, India Community radio via distance learning
‘Community Radio’: An alien word Nasir Aijaz
Creating awareness through CR K Thangaraj, R Asokan and S Gandhimathi
23
Bihar Floods Review Role of radio in disaster management Ashok Panigrahi, Bharat Bajaj and V R Hari
Case Study: Holy Cross Community radio, Kerala, India Serving communities: The Holy way P Govindaraju and M Kalavathy
Columns 42 44
Bytes for All Books received •
•
29 e-Agriculture.org Revisiting e-Agriculture.org Ritu Srivastava and Subir Dey
11-13 November 2008 KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Other Voices The struggle for Commuity Radio in India Understanding Development Communication
45
What’s on
46
In Fact Mapping Community Radios in India
32 25
Green IT News
26
Climate Change Community, UN Solution Exchange Exchanging solutions on climate change
netgov Speak: Lead up to IGF 2008 Coordinator: Jayalakshmi Chittoor, CSDMS
et
online.n
info@i4d
Airing the voices of the voiceless
In conversation with CEMCA, COL, New Delhi Catalysing the CR movement
Conference on Community Radio, 29-30 September, 2008, IGNOU, New Delhi
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Part VI: What are the advantages and disadvantages of migrating to IPv6?
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Internet Governance i4d | October 2008
Editorial Reaching the unreached through community radio ADVISORY BOARD M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Karl Harmsen United Nations University Kenneth Keniston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Mohammed Yunus Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Nagy Hanna e-Leadership Academy, University of Maryland, USA Richard Fuchs IDRC, Singapore Rinalia Abdul Rahim Global Knowledge Partnership, Malaysia Walter Fust Global Humanitarian Forum, Switzerland Wijayananda Jayaweera UNESCO, France EDITORIAL BOARD Akhtar Badshah, Frederick Noronha GROUP DIRECTORS Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar EDITORIAL TEAM Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Programme Co-ordinator Jayalakshmi Chittoor Content Editor Rajat Banerjee Sr. Research Associates Ritu Srivastava, Ajitha Saravanan Research Assistant Subir Dey Sr. Graphic Designer Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Graphic Designers Om Prakash Thakur, Shyam Kishore,
Freedom of expression is a fundamental value. And, community radio is a highly empowering tool. Communities spread across the rural lands in South Asia particularly are not able to enjoy what is enshrined in the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”. This is because poverty, illiteracy, isolation and social exclusion act as major barriers to access. Community radio can change the scenario for all, even those facing such barriers. In South Asia, barring Nepal, which takes the lead, the community radio movement is rather new. Countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are still working towards an appropriate community radio policy and framework for opening of its airwaves. In other developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, community radio initiatives could not pick up pace mainly because of resource constraints and sustainability issues. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), through their Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) has been engaged in supporting Community Radio movement globally. Infact, CEMCA’s engagement has been intense - besides creating awareness of the community radio policy and opportunities, CEMCA has also engaged itself in facilitating licensing thereby helping licence applicants with SACFA clearance (in India), technical guidance, baseline studies, and capacity building. The over-arching support rendered by CEMCA has enabled a number of civil society organisations and academic institutions to benefit from the new policy guidelines and enabled them to make a foray into community radios. CEMCA has also provided logistical and content support to the October 2008 issue of i4d magazine – a special issue on community radio.
Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Web Programmer Zia Salahuddin i4d G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India Phone +91 120 250 2181-85 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net Web www.i4donline.net Printed at R P Printers, Noida, India i4d is a monthly publication. It is intended for those interested and involved in the use of Information and Commnication Technologies for development of underserved communities. It is hoped that it will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up to date on many activities in this wide and exciting field. i4d does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors. i4d is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided.
CEMCA has recently collaborated with Indira Gandhi National Open University to develop the first ever certificate programme on Community Radio. The learning modules are already prepared and published and the course will commence early next year. CEMCA has also offered 150 scholarships to enable grassroots/community media broadcasting aspirants to avail this certificate course training. This vision of creating the right capacity building framework stems from the leadership both at the Commonwealth of Learning headquarters in Canada and in the Delhi office of CEMCA. In this issue of i4d, we bring before our readers some of the very useful resources and case studies which we hope will inspire many to establish more community radio stations. We look forward to learning from our readers about other initiatives that can be shared with the global audience of i4d!
Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2008 Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
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5
INTERVIEW : ASHA KANWAR, VICE PRESIDENT, COL, Canada
Distance education and learning with ICTs
Prof Asha Kanwar, Vice President of Commonwealth of Learning, Canada sharing her views with Jayalakshmi Chittoor, CSDMS What are the current initiatives of Commonwealth of Learning to foster UN Millennium Development Goals? Learning for Development is the theme of COL’s Three-year Plan for 2006-2009. It addresses a development agenda that includes the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, the goals of Education for All (Dakar), and Commonwealth’s objectives of peace, democracy, equality, good governance and the needs of small states. Increasing and improving human learning is the key to fulfilling most aspects of this development agenda. Conventional instructional approaches simply cannot expand quickly enough to meet the challenge. COL’s role is to help countries use a range of appropriate approaches and technologies to foster learning at scale. Could you share with us the development goals of COL? The Commonwealth of Learning was set up by Commonwealth heads of Government in 1997 to widen access to learning opportunities
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by ‘making use of the potential offered by distance education and by the application of communication technologies to education’. COL works with ministries of education, educational institutions, civil society entities and individuals to build capacity in open and distance learning and applications of technology so that quality education and training can be provided to large numbers of Commonwealth citizens. For example, COL has worked with The Republic of Gambia to develop a policy for distance Higher Education. COL has worked closely with the National Teachers Institute in Nigeria to offer distance education teacher training courses to large numbers of teachers. COL has supported the establishment of the national Open School of Trinidad and Tobago to expand access to secondary schooling. At the request of Commonwealth Ministers of Education, COL is coordinating the establishment of the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC), which is a collaborative initiative involving 30 of the 32 Commonwealth small states. COL works with rural and urban communities to impart skills training for better livelihoods. How is community media an effective tool for generating local consciousness? Community Media, particularly the radio, is a very cost-effective electronic item that has immense reach and potential. If the radio is tapped as a community media as has been done in India to a great extent (CEMCA initiative on Community Radio Awareness with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt of India), it would work wonders for generating awareness and empowering communities. The radio is affordable, available, user-friendly and accessible even in the most remote areas of the globe. We need to work on how we can optimise the potential of the radio as a teaching and advocacy tool.
What is the role of ICTs in community driven media initiatives? While the community radio is an initiative as well as a resource waiting to be taped by more and more Commonwealth countries, other forms of ICT in community driven media initiatives cannot be ignored or even ruled out. For far flung and difficult areas, the radio is effective, but for areas where literacy is higher and computers and Internet is easily available, it is a good medium of communicating community issues. Television may be tapped as another useful resource. The radio, the television, the Internet/ Internet Radio, Webcasting services, the I Pods, mobiles are increasing being used by the community. In the past few years, the growth of mobile telephones in Africa has exceeded the growth in South Asia and can be a powerful pedagogic tool. Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to the role of ICTs in community driven media initiatives. For instance, the I-Radio/Webcasting could be used to warn people/fishermen about impending storms. Farmers could be warned about the weather or dairy and poultry, and about infectious diseases. ICTs in community driven media initiatives may be used for framing policy, strategy, capacity-building and models to promote the use of mass media and ICTs. What are some of the COL initiatives to bridge the digital divide besides CR? COL has supported a Wiki platform called ‘WikiEducator”during the current Three Year Plan 2006-09, to encourage collaborative content development in resource-poor countries. Initiatives like ‘Easy Now’ provide technology options to content developers so that accessible and available technologies can be harnessed to provide education and training at all levels. However, the digital divide is a wider development issue. There have been many interventions in the last ten years to bridge the digital divide. i4d | October 2008
INTERVIEW : PROF V N RAJASEKHARAN PILLAI, VC, IGNOU, INDIA
Community radio via distance learning
Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai is Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. During his career spanning 37 years, Prof Pillai has held leadership posts with University Grants Commission (UGC) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). An active teacher and researcher in the field of Chemical Sciences, Prof Rajasekharan holds an international patent for the gram-scale preparation of biologically important peptides. In this interview, Prof Rajasekharan Pillai informs the readers of i4d about a new Certificate Programme on Community Radio by IGNOU, New Delhi, which was launched in September 2008. October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
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Prof. Pillai, could you please share with the readers of the i4d magazine some information about the new Certificate Programme on Community Radio that has been launched? Is there a plan to launch this programme all across the country? Yes, we have planned to launch this programme not only across the country but also outside the country. For example, we would like to launch this programme in the Commonwealth region in the immediate future. Its a first of its kind programme in Asia and the very fact that it is supported by CEMCA, which was originally a part of IGNOU and now a part of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) are also supporting this particular activity. The entire content of the programme was created with an eye on the developmental priorities of the entire Asia-Pacific region and also the Commonwealth. Therefore, we would definitely like to launch this programme in all our languages.
and bring them into its folds. So, in this respect, we are looking at the objectives of the University system also. Firstly, we are giving them the capacity for development of the community. And secondly, we are bringing them into the folds of the higher education system. This is interesting because one of the question I wanted to ask you was regarding the school drop-outs. There are many individuals who are talented, but are not able to face the competitive exams of the Boards, and we see that the 10+2 eligibility criteria may be a little too high for a rural drop-out to meet. We are definitely looking at the issue as we have the Bachelors Preparatory Programme (BPP) under which, if a person has not passed his 10+2, he has to undergo a certain programme which will make him eligible for the certificate course. In such cases, I am confident that the University will be able to make an exemption for those who are talented otherwise, to undergo this particular course.
How soon will that happen? This programme will be launched in other major languages within the next few months. To give you an example, we are planning to launch it in Bengali, a language that will help us cater to the CR Would you be publicising this programme in all local practitioners in Bangladesh. Another possibility which we see is newspapers including the very small newspapers? that, a large number of educational Yes, we have to do it and we will publish institutions are being promoted “A Bengali version of this programme will it in all local newspapers and will send for taking up Community Radio this communication to the villages be launched soon which will allow us to or Campus Radio. This means, through different channels. This boys and girls who are studying in cater to practitioners in Bangladesh” week, we will probably have another colleges can simultaneously take up programme of the MS Swaminathan this particular programme, which is a certificate programme which Research Foundation on Rural Development, we plan to mention can be developed into a Diploma and finally into a Degree course about our course during that conference too. even. And then, a college which is having this facility, can interact with the community. And a person who has not gone to a college, When we are looking at delivering this module over a six who is not enrolled in higher education, is a performing artist or months period, do we expect that there will be some linkages a local musician, can work as anchors and can also register for that you will make with people who have received licenses or this particular programme. people who are working in this sector? Yes, actually they will be experts, for example, we have given case Just to get a further clarification, we learnt that the minimum studies of successful community radios that means they have qualification to apply for this programme is 10+2. Does it the systems in place, so we will be taking them on as experts. mean that the course modules are softened enough to take And our study centres will probably be such organisations who that into consideration? have the facilities. And people who are making use of media That’s right, it is intended for the 10+2 students but we will for development, their expertise will also be made use of. definitely be administering this module in the local parlance, And we have requested to the government to make it a condition in regional languages as well as the way in which they receive that all licensees as of now should give internships for this this particular programme. And we will also think about people programme. This is the first of its kind programme in Asia and who do not have the minimum qualification, but if they are we are very confident about it. Only thing, as you mentioned, talented in other art forms. We will give them a sort of is that we have to give the right kind of publicity to the a ‘bridge course’ and make them eligible for this programme real clientèle.
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i4d | October 2008
IN CONVERSATION WITH CEMCA, COL, NEW DELHI
Catalysing the CR movement Dr R Sreedher, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) sharing his view with Jayalakshmi Chittoor, CSDMS media (both video and audio) in collaboration with a partner agency D.Net.
How is CEMCA playing a role in the community radio movement in Asia? Commonwealth of Learning and CEMCA make their action plans in three-year cycles - CEMCA’s vision for July 2009 - June 2012 is to become a centre of excellence in promoting community media, with a special focus on Radio in the region. In India, CEMCA is playing a pivotal role in the growth and development of community radio in terms of policy, planning and practice. It also works as a nodal agency of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India for promoting CR activities in India. In Bangladesh, where CR policy has just been put into place, CEMCA partnered with BNNRC, the nodal agency in Bangladesh looking into implementation, to organise the first formal three-day awareness workshop that was attended by 100 representatives of various institutions including the Bangladesh Open University and civil society organisations. Further, CEMCA arranged a study tour for a team of three from Bangladesh, comprising a technical person (BNNRC), production (D.Net) and participation/mobilisation (Rupantar). The idea was to create a TOT team in Bangladesh to provide guidance to the CRS that are to be set up. CEMCA will continue to build capacities of this and other teams. Since 2005 CEMCA has been working to build capacities of various grass root agencies in content development for community
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What are some of the capacity building activities that have been undertaken? One of the major capacity building initiatives in CRS that CEMCA has undertaken has been through a community radio project of RVPSP, Department of Science and Technology called Science for Women’s Health and Nutrition. The project aimed at raising awareness about health and nutrition related issues among women and also encourage uptake of these services. 13 CRS were prepared to take up the project, and eventually 10 CRS ran the programme - a daily broadcast on the CRS. For preparing the project proposal, the partners undertook a baseline survey of 1000 women from 1000 households in the listening zone, and underwent a week long capacity building exercise which included members from the campus and the community. The biggest contribution of this project has been to open up the CRS to the community women and vice versa. This sustained effort by CEMCA has also helped build an audience and a relationship between the community and the CRS. Please provide a list of the various projects that have enabled community radio stations to come up in India and Bangladesh? CEMCA has been working at various levels in India. On behalf of MIB, CEMCA has conducted four Regional Consultations to raise awareness about CR policy and encourage and guide applicants. The consultations have been held at : • Lucknow (North) • Pondicherry (South) • Kolkata (East) • Baramati (West) • Nearly a 100 participants drawn from institutions and CSO attended each consultation, which was held at a functioning CRS, to give the participants a ‘feel’ of CRS, exposure to the technical and managerial aspects of a CRS. In order to further speed up the process and reach, CEMCA has i4d | October 2008
recently proposed holding a state-wise consultation, which in principle has been has been accepted by MIB. To orient and guide the functioning CRS, CEMCA also facilitated a face-to-face with managers of functioning CRS with the MIB officials in February this year. CEMCA also held a workshop for LOI holders to guide them through next steps . The workshop gave LOI holders an opportunity to interact with MIB officials as well as officials from DOT. Furthermore, CEMCA helped the LOI holders to apply for their SACFA etc, which many applicants find difficult to negotiate on their own. CEMCA has set-up a permanent help desk, where it helps applicants through all stages right from filing the basic application to apply for SACFA (Standing Advisory Committee for Frequency Allocation, India) and other licenses. To date, CEMCA has facilitated over 40 CRS through various stages of their applications. CEMCA also holds capacity building for NGOs/CBOs in content generation for audio and video (like ITFCMahila Samakhya in Karnataka, FRCH in Pune/ParincheyMaharashtra) etc. The long term vision is for these groups to have CRS of their own. RVPSP-DST project Bangladesh
available online to help cut down response and processing time. CEMCA is part of a high level consultation team convened to examine the issue of routing part of DAVP funds through CRS, to help better financial sustainability of CRS. Planning: Besides consultations, CEMCA has recently collaborated with IGNOU to launch a certificate programme in CR management and practice. CEMCA brought together experts to formulate guidelines, write the courses and link existing CRS for practical aspects of the course. It also intends to promote the course by offering up to 500 fellowships to create a professional body of trained human resource to staff the upcoming CRS. Practice: The programmes include a help desk to guide applicants and conducting periodic workshops
Could you please briefly share with the readers of i4d magazine the engagement of CEMCA in developing tools, support and advocacy/awareness on community radio movement in India? Policy: CEMCA’s representative is a member of the screening committee. CEMCA has recently made a presentation to a high powered committee of MIB, and suggested various policy increments and provisions that would simplify and speed up setting up of CRS in the country. CEMCA is also helping MIB develop simpler application forms and formats that would also be
What are some of the key initiatives that will be needed to enable further progress of the community radio movement in the South Asia region? More liberalizations is not the answer. Making people aware of the existing guidelines and within this framework, attempts must be made to ensure more participation and interactivity among the listeners. The political scene in South Asia is not going to change dramatically and so is the view of the politician. Hence it is better that all of us start utilizing the existing tools to better the community media environment.
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What is the future of Community media in South Asia and South East Asia? Community media has a great future in South Asia. If you see the proliferation of TV channels and commercial FM stations, I feel a cost effective localized media will be the next thing that people will eye on. Already satellite TV serves more or less the aspirations of some select regions, or linguistic group irrespective of the foot print. This trend clearly shows that there is a need for the media to be near vicinity of the viewer/listener, and I feel community media alone can fill up the gap.
Community media: Global perspectives What is Commonwealth of Learning doing to promote Community Radio Stations in the world? COL’s work is based on the idea that learning is the key to development. We recognise that needs associated with learning for development are often greatest among marginalised populations in resource-poor areas of the Commonwealth; therefore localised and grassroots media, especially community radio, have a special place in our work and crosscut our programmes and initiatives. COL has been supporting community radios on the ground for nearly two decades, a mission that we are now
Interview
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
expanding. Based on this experience and our knowledge of this important sector of broadcasting and development, we promote community radio in our publications and our presentations to people in the domains of education, media and development alike. A nice example of how COL has promoted community radio: When the Prime Minister of Uganda addressed the Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open and Distance Learning in London in July 2008 he called for greater use of community radio in the service of education. Here was a senior policymaker speaking to an assembly of educators talking about the importance of a medium that makes an impact at the community level. We have no doubt that the Prime Minister was inspired by the small but significant success of community radio in his country, and in particular a station that COL was instrumental in establishing and developing in northern Uganda.
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The solutions are out there but community radio practitioners, facilitators and advocates often don’t have access to the success stories or to the materials and resources to develop them locally. To address this issue, COL is supporting an international community media peer group and an online space for the group to share and develop materials as open content; the focus is on sharing good practices in using community radio for non-formal education and, perhaps more importantly, to discuss and codevelop the approaches to making them a reality on a large scale across the Commonwealth. What are the opportunities/limitations of using community radio for education including non-formal education? Community radio is a unique type of media and the growth of community stations worldwide presents enormous opportunities for expanding and improving non-formal learning for development. Educators and development facilitators increasingly understand the importance of culture, context, and real participation of stakeholders in their own learning and development processes. These are all things at which community radio excel (at least when they follow generally accepted principles and practices). First and foremost, they are part of their communities; they broadcast in local languages, they draw on local examples and local experts; they are relevant and appropriate given local situations and resources; they actively engage with members of their communities, including women, youth and minority groups. One limitation is that community stations are generally resource poor and often operate in remote and equally resource poor areas. Community radio is also a new idea for most communities so it is important to share practical examples and good practices that cover all sides of a successful community radio enterprise: organisation, content and technical facilities. A key focus for COL – alongside support for developing learning programmes – is on organisational development for community stations: organisation – in particular a community radio’s base in and active engagement with the community – is the foundation for long-term sustainability and impact. The limitations also reinforce the need to support networking: there is strength in numbers and greater impact in economies of scale. What are the means by which community media can spread non-formal education? It is critical that community stations work closely with educational and developmental groups in their local communities and at the national or regional level. With limited resources of their own, community stations are most successful when local teachers, extension officers, local NGOs and community-based organisations use the radio to amplify their own work to build knowledge and raise awareness; participatory and voluntary programming at its best. It is really a win-win situation that can quickly and dramatically change the way information flows and knowledge works in a community; and more importantly, on a sustainable basis.
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Without displacing local content about local priorities, it is important for local community stations to be a part of larger networks that include educational and development-oriented institutions, e.g. open schools and universities, development research institutes, etc. Community stations should always prioritise local programming but localised services are also unique means to contextualize information and programmes from the outside and to make them locally relevant. How does COL help in the process of generating local content? Community media, especially radio, create unequalled amounts of local content on a daily basis; however in many cases there is as yet a long way to go in addressing real community needs, making the most of local knowledge and resources, and turning content into truly effective and long-term educational programming. Building local communities’ own capacities to use relevant media and ICTs is a critical part of expanding educational opportunities overall and addressing the full range of learning needs at the community level. We know that community radio can be a very effective vehicle for learning, in the context of formal education but especially for non-formal learning about issues like nutrition, disease, agricultural practices, resolving conflicts, promoting livelihoods and enterprise, etc. It can however be very challenging for community radios, which generally have very limited resources, to design, develop and maintain effective learning programmes. Sharing community media stories inspires people to come up with their own solutions, ones that are both appropriate and manageable. Once people have the ideas, it is a question of helping them to facilitate processes to realise the solutions. COL is working on 1) identifying, documenting and sharing good practices, 2) developing approaches and materials that help people to determine their own local solutions, and 3) to support community radios to act on their ideas and to design and develop new learning programmes for both formal and non-formal education. There are some results already visible – new training curricula resulting in new programmes – but we’re really taking a longterm approach, looking five to ten years down the road. Our vision is to support the realization of good practices in using community radio for non-formal education on a large scale, throughout the Commonwealth. COL’s capacity building programme for community media works with an international peer group and focuses on organisational strengthening, developing learning programmes, and enabling smart technology choices, including open source software. In the first phase, we’re focusing on associations of community radio stations and community radio groups that are actively working to develop community radio in their areas. For more information, visit the Community Media Space (http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media)of WikiEducator or get in touch with Ian Pringle (ipringle@col. org), COL’s Education Specialist for Media. i4d | October 2008
PANOS SOUTH ASIA
Community radio lawlost in transmission Though the Indian government is gradually opening up its airwaves for the local communicators, community radio broadcasters can’t broadcast news and programmes on current affairs
Introduction Article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights drafted in 1948 says, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.” Around the same time the Indian Constituent Assembly was drafting what was soon to become the longest constitution in the world in which, coincidently, a similarly numbered Article read, “All citizens of India shall have the right to the freedom of speech and expression” How effective have these two guidebooks been in providing a multiplicity of voices to the largest democracy in the world? “When it comes to television, technology outraced any possible regulation but with radio, the government still keeps a tight control probably given the larger audience that radio is perceived to reach”, says Siddarth Narrain of the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore.
Broadcasting legislation in India
Danny Geevarghese Projects Officer, Panos South Asia, New Delhi, India danny@panossouthasia.org
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
Technology leads the way when it comes to broadcasting legislation in India. Be it the Cable Act or the draft broadcasting bill, legislation came almost as an afterthought to existing broadcast technologies that first took the markets by storm. The Community Radio Act of December 2006 cannot however be called an afterthought as NGO groups, media professionals and academicians lobbied the government for more than ten years before the State gave India its community broadcasting legislation. What would have happened if scores of radio stations existed before the bill
was passed? History tells us that had the piece of legislation come sooner, there would’ve been a provision for legalising all existing operations with a caveat that they should be ‘registered’ with local authorities as soon as possible and would also have encouraged growth within the sector. Something very similar happened with Satellite TV in this country when all cable operators had to register themselves at the nearest post office according to the Cable Networks Regulation Act of 1995. This piece of legislation was introduced as an ordinance in September 1994 while the first cable networks had already begun operations in 1992! Consider this, the latest iPod has all the space to hold all your favourite songs but you cannot listen to it while driving or if you want to listen to the music in the device over larger speakers. For Rs. 450 ($10), one can acquire a ‘mobile FM transmitter’ which when attached to devices like the iPod will transmit your favourite music to your car’s (or room’s) speakers using an FM receiver, providing a hassle free wireless listening solution. There, however is a catch. Your neighbours may also be able to tune in to your ‘transmission’; but thankfully the signal is not strong enough to travel more than 20 metres. You therefore have become the proud owner of your own ‘mobile community radio station’. This can also be replicated with a couple of new age mobile phones. Does one break the law by doing this? Technically yes, because according to law, a person is not allowed to own and operate a transmission device without a licence. Neighbouring Nepal, with a population not much higher than that of the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, has had a
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The question is not about policy as it is about reaching out to those who are suffering. When over three million people are affected by the breach of the Kosi River, a solution may come in the form of radio, food or emergency supplies. Recognising this and rising to the occasion is what one would expect from a Central Government that announced aid to the tune of INR 10 billion instead of throwing rule after rule from the book. Should programme makers and community broadcasters not have gone ahead with the initiative? After all, one of the first steps in the long road to democracy was taken when news reading was banned by the then King of Nepal on FM stations in 2005. An ingenious group of news producers decided to defy the absurd decree by including a brief item on the King’s daily engagements, in rhyme.
The incongruities and difficulties
longer history of community broadcasting because of its unique geography. Given the country’s largely mountainous terrain (except of the plains in the Terai region of Southern Nepal) running wires for cable TV would have been extremely difficult giving way to far more vibrant radio stations than television centres in the country. In 2004, capital Kathmandu had seventeen FM radio stations in operation while New Delhi had only five, which included the two stations operated by All India Radio. My own organisation’s experience in promoting the development of community radio content in the landlocked country of Nepal has been more than encouraging. We recently also helped set up a web-enabled content sharing platform for radio stations and content developers. India, however woke up late to the concept of local communicators, and when it finally did, it was still groggy from the deep slumber it had been used to.
Rsising to the need of the affected Recently the Community Radio Forum (CRF) attempted to set up ‘emergency radio stations’ in Supaul, Araria and Saharsa – three flood affected districts in Bihar. There was tremendous support from bureaucrats, politicians and academicians for what would have been a first for Indian broadcasting. The initial bonhomie quickly faded and acquired colours of the walls of Shastri Bhawan which houses the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Delhi – a dull grey. The modus operandi and primary purpose was to set up and run the three stations temporarily to help reunite families separated by the floods, assist in aid distribution and help with the dissemination of evacuation/rehabilitation plans. After three months, the stations would have been dismantled. This was not to be. The government file has disappeared, blending into the grey of the walls of Shastri Bhawan.
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India’s own community licensing regime comes with its own set of fallacies. The first step in letting communities own and operate more stations would be to remove incongruities in the community broadcasting law, which include one which says that the community radio station cannot broadcast news and current affairs. Given the Intellectual Property Rights and its governing law, it would also be extremely difficult for a community radio station to generate enough resources to pay music royalties if Bollywood (or Kollywood, as the case may be) music were to be played regularly. Why should a community want to listen to a radio station that neither entertains nor informs? And what does that leave us with? Back to the dreary All India Radio model or the equally lacklustre NGO radio programmes on development, HIV/AIDS and life skill development? “We seem to be going backward with our broadcasting laws. The latest instance is the recommendation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that news be banned on satellite radio” says Siddarth Narrain. News on Satellite radio channels beaming into India has been around for many years now and “One cannot understated the logic of this step at this point” he says. Most programme makers have it drilled into them in their first year of ‘creative writing’ school that ‘content is king’, just as marketing students are taught that the ‘customer is king’. Many prospective community broadcasters when asked about content often say, “Content is not a problem, let us see if our license will come through.”
i4d | October 2008
The single most important ingredient is the one we are least concerned about, not because one is confident about programming but because we are preoccupied with governmental control and regulation. At the time of writing this article, nearly two years after the Community Radio bill was passed, only one community radio station had begun operation in India. Almost a score of Ministries are included in the process of ‘licence giving’. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is the nodal arm with Ministries as varied as Home, Defence, Civil Aviation and Human Resource Development included in the process. When state governments like Nagaland are winning laurels for new and innovative efforts at decentralisation which include the distribution of electricity and water, can the Ministry of I&B not authorise District Collectors to approve licences for community broadcasting initiatives? Presently, applicants are called to the I&B Ministry’s offices to face a ‘screening committee’ which comprises of Government and Civil Society. Can such a committee not be set up by a district administration making it easier for applicants who can avoid costs of a trip to the National Capital? Contrary to how many western European Governments function – with openness and trust for their citizens, we seem
to operate with suspicion. The Community Radio (CR) Act of the Indian Government also seems to ride on a similar maxim, contrary to the 1995 Supreme Court judgement which had declared the airwaves as ‘public property and the interest of the public comes first’. The judgement went on to add that “The right to impart and receive information is a species of the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution. A citizen has a fundamental right to use the best means of imparting and receiving information and as such to have access to telecasting for the purpose”.
Conclusion Thus, isn’t the CR Act’s guidelines, which says, “The Permission Holder shall not broadcast any programmes, which relate to news and current affairs”, a violation of the aforesaid judgement as by banning news and current affairs programme the Government is seeking to curtail the right of a citizen to receiving information as guaranteed by Justice P B Sawant and Justice S Mohan in February 95 in the Union of India vs. the Cricket Association of Bengal case. Obviously, the Government of India does not think so. But with technology far outspeeding the pace of legislation, one can only hope the government will keep pace.
Financial freedom to Indian FM Radio: Ministry of I&B On 11th September 2008, the Indian Union Cabinet authorised the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to grant permission to FM Broadcasting Companies for creation of subsidiaries, merger/demerger/amalgamation of companies by way of transfer of shares in relaxation of FM Phase II Policy. Until recently, private FM broadcasters were facing various difficulties and the new set of regulations will give them the much-needed financial flexibility and protect the sector. The Policy has been modified as under: “No permission holder, whether with or without foreign investment, shall be permitted to change the ownership pattern of the company through transfer of shares of the majority shareholders/promoters to any new shareholders without the written permission of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, which shall not be granted for a period of five years from the date of operationalisation of the channel, subject to the condition that the new shareholders conform to all the prescribed eligibility criteria. However, requests for transfer of shares for the purpose of creation of a subsidiary company, amalgamation of companies of the same group, de-merger of company, etc. would be allowed within the period of five years also subject to the fulfillment of the following conditions :a) The majority shareholders/promoters would continue to remain as majority shareholders/promoters and together should hold at least 51% of the total shares. b) The new corporate entities would maintain their FDI component within the prescribed limit and would not violate the terms and conditions of the tender document and Grant of Permission Agreement October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
The new corporate entities should have minimum prescribed net worth and adhere to all the terms and conditions of the tender document and the provisions of the agreement. The new company shall sign a fresh agreement with Government on identical terms and conditions (except for transferability of shares as provided herein) for the remaining period of license of the original company. Such transfer of shares would be permitted only once during the first five years period from the date of operationalisation. No new tax regime will be designated to provide any incentive to encourage creation of subsidiaries, merger/demerger, amalgamation of FM Broadcasting companies. Any tax implication arising out of such mergers/demergers or amalgamation would be governed by the provisions of the Income Tax Act,1961 as applicable from time to time. The processes/action taken by the licensee companies including for formation of new companies/subsidiaries/ mergers/amalgamations and/or disinvestments of undertakings, or part thereof, of existing companies etc., need to be compliant with the companies Act, 1956. The applicant shall not dilute such requirement through its Articles of Association or any Agreement” http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=42607&kwd
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REVIEW OF CR POLICIES: BANGLADESH
In search of community voices In the midst of discrepancies and backlogs in broadcasting policies, Bangladesh is trying to develop a unique CR policy that would ensure sustainable operation of CR stations
Tareq Ahmed Chief Executive Other Vision Communication Dhaka, Bangladesh ovc_avmedia@yahoo.com
Alamgir Khan Associate Program Coordinator Other Vision Communication Dhaka, Bangladesh
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Community radio in Bangladesh: An overview Traditional media, which is operated and controlled either by the government or corporate bodies, ensures little active participation of the poor and disadvantaged groups. Globalisation and the onslaught of the electronic media is also making it harder for the marginalised communities to extract full benefits of the existing technologies, thereby making the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalised, geographically, ethnically and financially less heard. In the traditional government and commercial media, these communities are just fodders for the big media machinary. Community radio, on the other hand, makes them active participators in broadcasting their own issues and resolving the crises in their lives through it. Community Radio therefore is rightly referred to as ‘the voice of people’ in most literature on it. Community radio (CR) has not been active in Bangladesh till now, though it has been present for 60 years in the world. In Bangladesh, it was conceived of as an idea first by Mass-line Media Centre (MMC), then alongwith it there joined Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio Communication (BNNRC) and others advocating for its initiation. All campaigners believed that Community Radio will help raise people’s voices, increase information flow within a community and empower the people at grassroots. To give further momentum to this issue, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) started a narrowcasting experiment through cable network. Forum Theatre began to
popularise the initiative through theatre productions. All these efforts led to the acceptance of the idea and the benefits of Community Radio.
Lack of policy framework In the policy area, the main obstacle to its introduction was the absence of a broadcasting policy in the country. It is strange that a country which has recently seen an upsurge of both print and electronic media lacks a broadcasting policy. In Bangladesh, there is still the official existence of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and Special Powers Act of 1975, all of which choke the voices of people. Even in the recent years, the Government of Bangladesh failed to develop a unique broadcasting policy that support the establishment and operationalisation of CR stations. In 2002, the Law Commission prepared a draft of Right to Information Law but it was not submitted to parliament for vote. In 2003, a draft Broadcasting Policy was prepared by the Information Ministry but that too was not adopted because of political turmoils. That draft policy of 2003 though admirably admitted recognised community radio as one of the
i4d | October 2008
three types of broadcasting, namely government, commercial and community.
Recent policy trends Recently, the non-partisan interim caretaker government has taken some good initiatives in policy matters by planning to introduce a Right to Information Ordinance. Most admirably it has prepared and adopted a ‘Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy’ this year. But without a proper broadcasting policy in the country this initiative seems to be a futile one. One of the major concerns here is whether all the good policies including this one will be continued even after the government is changed or will the cuckoo chicks be kicked out when the mother crow of politics returns to her nest. Though community radio activists from the civil society were involved in the preparation of this policy, it is still not clear how certain regulations creeped into the framework which benefit the bureaucracy rather than the community. To give a few example about some critical words in the policy [here quoted from translation by Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)]. Article 2 on Fundamental Principles says, ‘It should have an ownership and management structure that is reflective of the community that the CRS seeks to serve.’ Article 7.2.1 says, ‘Active and inclusive participation of the target community members is to be ensured in the operation and management of the station.’
Ownership and management issues But what the ‘ownership and management structure’ will be and how the ‘active and inclusive participation of the target October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
community members is to be ensured’ is not spelt out making the ordinance hazy. On the other hand, what is ensured in Article 7.2.2. is: An advisory committee will be formed for each station with the participation of local level government representatives such as Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Additional Deputy Commissioner (where the station is located at a district headquarter), Police officers of the level of Assistant Superintendent of Police and appropriate level representatives of nation building departments such as Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, Forests and Environment, Health, concerned Regional Director of local public radio station and NGOs working in the relevant field, etc. Truth is that, most of the officials chosen to advise the community radio stations, being government officials, are not likely to be local. Article 7.10 leaves one in no doubt about the extent of government control, which says, ‘Any Government authority may regulate or monitor the activities of any community radio station if necessary.’ For monitoring of CR Broadcasting ‘Every month a copy of CD containing the recordings of broadcasted programmes of community radio station will be provided to the local authority prescribed by the Government.’ And once again, ‘A local advisory committee will be formed under the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Officer-In-Charge of local police stations, and Regional Director of local radio station, Principal of locally situated education institution. The committee will monitor the community radio station activities on a regular basis and submit a confidential report to the Ministry of Information per month.’ Are UNOs (Upazila Nirbahi Officer, governmentappointed administrator of the local government body) and OCs (local police officer) so reliable not to put unfair pressures upon the local radio stations? And how deeply vulnerable the CR stations will be in this case whereas ‘The Government reserves the right to revoke the license at any time in public interest or in case of violation of the terms and conditions provided.’ (7.22).
Who are the real owners of CR stations? And the only entrepreneurs eligible for setting up the CR stations are NGOs ‘with at least five years of operation and involved in poverty alleviation or media & ICT sector’. Though the initiative is being propounded as a non-profit venture, micro-credit firms with high profiteering practices will be comfortably eligible with the signboard of poverty alleviation activities. On the other hand, campus radio will be shut out thanks to ineligibility of ‘students’ wings’, thus sharply reducing the benefits of community radio. This leads to a confusion in the definition of community the document itself has made in 1(a): A ‘community’ is considered to be a group of people who share common characteristics and/or interests such as sharing a single geographical location i.e. a specific town, village, or neighbourhood; sharing of economic and social life through trade, marketing, exchange of goods and services. Does not a students’ wing fall within this definition of a community? With so many don’ts, won’ts and cannots, rather than positive phrasing and attitude, it is questionable what the policy is aiming for. Will the governments, at present and the future ones use community radio for realising their own political agenda? Will NGOs, at the moment the sole initiators of this enterprise, use it as a convenient tool for furthering their micro-credit business,
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with a few social service initiatives as an eyewash? With these and other questions left unanswered, it is natural to be anxious about the future of the community radio. We must be wary of not tarnishing the name of community radio by mediocre attempts. It has a history of standing upright before political storms and not bowing before power and autocracy.
CR: Taking wings However, fear and anxiety accompanies every birth of a new child and does not and should not prevent rejoices of its parents and neighbours. After the community radio policy was formulated in March 2008, 180 applications were submitted from different organisations for permission. Out of them, the government has identified 116 organisations as eligible for approval in a meeting of the National Regulatory Committee held in the Ministry of Information. Community radio is taking wings in Bangladesh amidst the policy whirlwinds and it is anticipated and welcomed wholeheartedly by all. Amidst these celebrations let us also commemorate the glory of the Miner’s Radio of Bolivia, the father of this media genre, to keep us on track and free from any deviation in the coming days. Managed and run completely by the miners of Potosi and Oruro it fought a bloody struggle to protect people’s interests till its demolition in 1980 by the military coup d’etat. In face of the oncoming military advancement against their network, one of the last transmissions by a radio station was as heroic as this: The army is now about five kilometres from Siete Suyos and very near from Santa Ana, so we are preparing to defend ourselves. We know about 31 people detained, who have been sent to Tupiza. This is Radio Animas for all the south of the country. We are living crucial
moments, we are all mobilised, even our women have contributed preparing the defense Compañeros, we will hold until the last consequences, because that is our mission….
Digital Archiving of Audio Content using WINISIS and Greenstone The UNESCO’s Communications and Information Sector has come up with a draft manual for Community Radio Managers titled, ‘Digital Archiving of Audio Content – Using WINISIS and Greenstone Software.’ Acknowledging the growth in Community Radio (CR), UNESCO has recommended a cost-effective way to consolidate and store the wealth of information (generated by CR) in Digital Libraries. The self-instructional handbook is aimed at helping managers of community radio stations, FM radio stations, public service broadcasting agencies and any other organisations that deal with audio files in creating prototype archives of digital audio documents. In line with the needs of the community, the manual guides users in creatimg their archives with stable, free software like WINISIS, GenISIS and Greenstone. The book also mentions the URLs from where these software can be downloaded from. Furthermore, the manual states that the software used can also handle other forms of digital files like text, pdf, HTML and video files. The digital audio archive created through software like WINISIS can be built into a website consisting of a search box,
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a submit button, etc. The draft manual guides users to create these resources too. Taking note of the fact that not everyone is tech savvy, the authors have explained in brief most of the popular file formats used today before delving into the instructions for using the archiving software. The draft copy of the manual (in various formats) is available at the following addresses http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/ictd/cr/res26090803.pdf (Size 3966 KB) http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/ictd/cr/res26090802.htm http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/ictd/cr/res26090801.doc (Size 12,862 KB) The authors invite comments from community members on the draft to fine-tune it and to make it more user friendly. i4d | October 2008
COMMUNITY RADIO, PAKISTAN
‘Community Radio’: An alien word Despite legislations on Community Radio (CR) in Pakistan, the CR movement is still in a stage of infancy. The author explores the causes
Radio broadcasting in Pakistan: An overview The broadcasting history in Pakistan could be traced to early 20th century, but ‘community radio’ is still an alien term for most Pakistanis even at the end of first decade of 21st century. The FM radio broadcasters, however, are well accustomed to this term, and their radio stations too play the role of community radio to some extent despite licensed as commercial concerns. Pakistan inherited some radio stations at the time of its creation in 1947, established during the British rule in the subcontinent. The country developed its broadcasting system effectively over the years establishing a number of new radio stations in different cities and towns but all were state-run. Unfortunately, even by the end of 20th century, when the country had completed over 50 years of its inception, there was no concept of allowing any community, a private person or company to establish a radio station. In 1995, the first FM radio (FM100) of the country in private sector started operating in Karachi while state-run Radio Pakistan began its FM transmissions from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore under the title ‘FM101’ in October 1998. Later, in the year 2005, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation set up new FM radio stations at Gwadar, Mianwali, Sargodha, Kohat, Bannu and Mithi towns.
Establishing the PEMRA
Nasir Aijaz Bureau Chief Pakistan Press International (PPI), Karachi nasiraijazpk@yahoo.com
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
It was in the year 2002 when the then President Gen Pervez Musharraf promulgated an ordinance providing for the establishment of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to grant licenses and to regulate the radio/TV stations in private sector. The categories of
broadcast stations mentioned in PEMRA law/rules include: 1. International Scale Stations 2. National Scale Stations 3. Provincial Scale Stations 4. Local Area/Community-based Stations 5. Specific and Specialised Subject Stations and 6. Cable TV Network Stations Although, the PEMRA rules are clear on allowing community-based radio stations, as provided in categories above, but not a single license has been granted so far to this effect. On the contrary, the PEMRA used to invite bids through newspaper advertisements for setting up FM radio stations in different towns and cities and earned huge amounts through open auction of the licenses. The amount of bids varied according to the size of city/town and its commercial importance. A license for FM radio in Karachi was recently auctioned through open bid for PKR 370.6 million. The PEMRA rules describe this process as ‘Open and fair competition for granting license.’
FM radio licenses For granting FM radio license to any party, it considers economic viability, technical competency, financial capability, credibility and track record, extent of Pakistani share in ownership, features or market concepts and market advancement such as improved services, etc. During last five years, as many as 160 licenses for FM radios have been granted, based on the above mentioned considerations. Out of which, around 100 radio stations are operational. The big investors own all these FM radio stations. Registered under company law,
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majority of investors own three to five radio stations operating in different towns. Very few FM radio licenses have been granted to universities for educational purpose like licenses were issued to Universities of Karachi and Peshawar. The license fee though for such institutions is not so high.
Establishing an argument against CR The PEMRA denies having put any ban on granting license for Community Radio. “Nobody has ever applied for such license, nor the PEMRA has invited communities to apply,” a senior official told when contacted. The sources in PEMRA however, confided that setting up Community Radio stations would be discouraged, as they apprehend that this facility could be misused and regulating them would be a tough task if they sprang up in large numbers. According to PEMRA sources, regulating the FM radios is easy, as their transmission is monitored and action is taken immediately in case of violation of rules, terms and conditions. For example, the transmission of FM103 in Karachi was suspended and office sealed for relaying BBC news. Similarly, all the equipment of FM radio in Abbottabad was seized and radio station closed. The people engaged by FM radio stations across the country, however, are satisfied that the programmes they air serve the purpose of community radio. “Being a community radio you have to be so much precise in so many issues, every day issue like what is rate the of vegetable today, or there is road blockage, etc. That is community service. If you don’t do this, no one is going to listen to you in rural areas or in an area where people don’t have access to any other media,” said Rahil Khan, Marketing Manager at FM105 known as ‘Voice of Kashmir’ in Rawalakot town of Pakistan-administered Kashmir*. “Although we are called FM radios but we serve the community. All our programmes are community-based. We serve the society by providing information about the city situation like weather, traffic jams, free announcements about missing persons, etc,” said Afsar Awan, Head of News section at FM107 of Karachi. “As defined traditionally in sociology, the ‘community’ is a ‘group of interacting people living in a common location’. As such, the ‘community radio’, considered to be a non-profit and noncommercial communication set up, is built around the concepts of access and participation of communities based around the possible reach of the radio signals, who can receive the message and to participate in preparing the messages. “It is true that FM radios are commercial concerns, but they do not charge for any community service and instead generate revenue for survival through commercials of local business centres,” told broadcasters who had gathered recently at a conference at Rawalakot organised by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) for need assessment of FM radios of the country. The PPF, through missions, conferences and workshops is in the process of preparing a comprehensive report on the state of FM radios in Pakistan. “Except big cities like Karachi, Lahore, etc., the FM radios in other areas do not earn much. The FM radio station in a small * Also referred to as Pakistan occupied Kashmir in India.
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town needs a monthly budget of PKR 0.3 million to meet its recurring expenses and sometimes it becomes difficult to generate such amount” the participants revealed. “We engage male and female students, journalists and other people as presenters and pay them on a per programme basis keeping in view our limited resources. The community-based programmes and involvement of local people have brought the FM radios and the community very much closer,” said the broadcasters from North West Frontier Province, Sindh province and Southern Punjab towns.
Conclusion The conference had passed a declaration demanding the PEMRA to grant licenses for community radio being vital for sustainable development. Some of the broadcasters at the conference viewed that opening more FM radio stations in an area might not be financially viable due to competition in a very limited market of 50 km radius. The PPF mission to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistanadministered Kashmir*, met Muhammad Ashraf, who used to be an electronic engineer and operates FM107 radio at a hilltop. He had refused to accept the authority of PEMRA in this State and challenged it in the Supreme Court of Kashmir. The PEMRA had granted temporary license for this radio soon after 2005 earthquake but later refused its renewal. “We are community radio in real sense, as it is run by our volunteers. The students from Azad Kashmir University also take part in our programmes,” Muhammad Ashraf told. In Dheerkot, another town at an altitude of 9000ft in Pakistanadministered Kashmir*, it transpired that a radio mechanic used to prepare transmitters for a very small amount of PKR 25000. He admitted selling some transmitters to certain organisations but stopped making them after PEMRA threatened him of legal action after receiving a tip off. There could be such pirate radio stations in tribal areas of Pakistan like that of UK where the migrant communities used to run such radios without license, but they can’t be described ‘community radios’, as they operated as an alternate media for airing the views or propaganda by a particular group of people in the conflict areas.
Pakistan’s first digital radio studio The first Digital radio studio of Pakistan was established in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ), University of Peshawar in January 2003. It was in May 2001 that the department set up a radio studio and training centre equipped with an analogue system to produce radio programmes with financial support of the Friedrich Ebert Shiftung. The same studio was digitised in 2003 to produce quality radio programmes and to transmit the same through the internet by putting it on the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism’s website. Source: Dawn, 18th January 2003
i4d | October 2008
KONGU CR STATION, ERODE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
Creating awareness through CR CR as a communication tool can reach its target audience in the most effective way. Being an inexpensive medium, it can reach to the poor and being an audio instrument, it can reach to the the illiterate ones
Introduction Radio for nearly a century has been an effective medium of communication. The state-owned All India Radio (AIR) has emerged as the largest broadcaster in terms of the number of people who can have access to its transmitting stations situated all over the country. The only disadvantage has been that most of the programmes are centrally programmed, produced and broadcast. AIR’s approach is no doubt a top-down one and listeners really have no control over content – they are only to listen to the material that the producers deliver. The trend though is getting reversed with Community Radio (CR) enthusiasts establishing Community Radio Stations (CRS) in different parts of the country. Also, the political, geographical, cultural and linguistic diversities of a vast nation like India, does not allow many common programmes. The programmes have to be listener specific. Community Radio has a responsibility to disseminate information that the listeners’ want and to enlighten them to lead a peaceful, empowered and healthy life.
The workshop experience Dr K Thangaraj Chief Co-ordinator, Kongu Community Radio Kongu Engineering College
R Asokan S Gandhimathi Kongu Community Radio, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
Kongu Community Radio, one of the earliest in the country, ably supported by the management and the Principal of Kongu Engineering College, has emerged as a popular outreach activity of the college. The grass-root activities of Kongu CR, attracted the attention of Local Voices of Internews Network, Chennai and a sevenday workshop on ‘Emerging Issues in HIV Testing’ was organised at Kongu CR Station for radio professionals in January 2007. Radio Jockeys and Programmers from All India Radio and Community Radios were trained in the workshop by Mia Malan, Internews Network, Washington DC,
USA; Jaya Shreedar, Director, Internews Network, Chennai and R Sreedher, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi. The activities were supplemented by health awareness programmes, symposia, health camps for detecting Anaemia, eye and tooth disorders with the help of experts from the Erode branch of Indian Medical Association and Institute of Road Transport’s Perundurai Medical College and Hospital. Other programmes included a workshop conducted for 50 women on producing programmes on health awareness including child health. Apart from live broadcast of important functions in and around Kongu CR, live phone-in programmes were organised by bringing elected representatives to the studios and making them answer a variety of questions posed by listeners over the phone ranging from developmental schemes to health hazards. Some additional programmes were contemplated, commenced and planned to widen the area of activity. There are also instant broadcast of useful information, ranging from unexpected traffic diversion or train delay to long-term forecasting on health, agriculture, weather, etc. for better planning and action by the community.
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Enhancing listener participation The January workshop involved visiting villages and interviewing women as also bringing them to the studios for recording useful programmes - thereby ensuring community participation. The health programmes spread over a year concentrated on issues like HIV, anaemia, communicable and non-communicable diseases, children’s health and nutrition and environment cleanliness (including sanitation) among other things. Participation by students added variety to the programmes. In addition to talks and interviews, they were able to produce lively skit, songs and stories highlighting several aspects of health and nutrition. In March 2008, Kongu CR organised a listeners’ meet, the first of its kind in Community Radio history, inviting all the listeners who responded through letters and phone calls. The event proved to be an instant success and the listeners’ were so enthusiastic that they formed a Listeners’ Forum among themselves to assist Kongu CR in its day-to-day activities.
Kongu CR’s back-ups Based on the performance, Kongu Community Radio, bagged the coveted Radio Duniya Award for the ‘Best Campus / Community Radio 2008’ at the Radio Duniya conference held at New Delhi in February 2008. K Thangaraj received the award on behalf of Kongu Community Radio from Zohra Chatterji, Joint Secretary (Broadcasting), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Taking a cue from the preliminary survey, a workshop for community volunteers was organised by a team sent by CEMCA led by Jai Chandiram in April 2007. A project on ‘Science for Women’s Health and Nutrition’ catalysed and supported by Rashtriya Vigyan Evam Prodyogiki Sanchar Parishad (RVPSP) of the Department of Science & Technology, was launched on April 14, 2007, in a village nearby. Free radio receivers were distributed to about 50 villagers in order to encourage them to listen to and participate in Community Radio programmes
symposia has helped quite a few community members to have access to instruments used for recording and reproduction of sound and also editing and programming of broadcasts with the equipment available at the Kongu CR. Some of them regularly visit this studio to produce programmes and also use the available equipment to record programmes elsewhere. It is desirable that the programmes aim at economic, educational, environmental and moral development of the members of the community which CR serves.
Findings of the survey A survey was conducted by Kongu Community Radio in a few villages in its coverage area, and among other things; the health awareness and needs of the rural women were also studied. Some of the findings of the survey are given below. • Mosquitoes eradication is the foremost need • Better supply of drinking water is to be ensured • Toilet facilities needed • Chikungunya has affected the rural folks greatly of late • Self medication seems to be prevalent • Adverse impact of pollution is not known to the villagers • To improve the literacy level, greater awareness needs to be created
Proceedings of Kongu CR
Conclusion
Kongu CR has been having interaction with some schools nearby where the children were informed about global warming, nutrition, health and healthy habits. Drop boxes placed in some places helped collect the response of the listeners’ for some simple questions asked on the health programmes broadcast and suitable responses were given small gifts. Through all these activities, Kongu CR has been trying its best to encourage and empower the common people, providing them available information on their legitimate rights and entitlements. It has been serving as a platform to air their grievances, longings and aspirations. This has helped bridge the gap between the community on one side and the wealth of useful information available on the other side.
The advantage of radio is that it can be accessed from anywhere, at anytime. The receiver need not have power supply. Hence, it can reach areas where there is no electricity. Power failures do not hamper the radio’s reception either. At times, when due to unforeseen circumstances like floods, earthquakes, cyclones or even Tsunami, electric supply is cut off, radio served as the only means of information dissemination by which the affected people were reached. It will be worth the effort if the information useful to the rural masses are available with local authorities are provided to the Community Radio stations. The same can be disseminated quickly and effectively through Community Radio stations. CR broadcasts programmes on human health and nutrition and acts as a service and information provider for the community it serves. CR also reaches people who are not easily reached and addressed. In general, CR helps to narrow down the gap between the downtrodden and deprived members of the community and the well informed, elite and affluent members of the society.
Local empowerment Kongu CR enriches and empowers local people by providing facilities and chances of producing effective programmes. The training through workshops organised and through meetings and
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i4d | October 2008
BIHAR FLOODS REVIEW
Role of radio in disaster management This story helps us rediscover the power of a small local radio station to address the call of the distressed
Ashok Kumar Panigrahi Programme Executive, TPES, AIR ashokkpanigrahi@gmail.com
Bharat Bajaj Executive, Central Store, AIR bharatbajaj@yahoo.com
V R Hari Senior Engineering Assistant, IT Unit, P&D, DG AIR vrhari@air.org.in
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
Amjad Khan, not the dreaded Gabbar of Sholay, but an 8 year old lad in a new shirt, given in the camp, is gazing at faces, on the platforms of Bathnaha railway station, which has been turned into a mega relief camp for flood affected people of Bihar. Eyes dried in search of his abba (father) and two aapas (elder sisters) who have been swept away by the cruel Kosi. Embracing a branch of tree for five days and fighting for life without any food and drinking water, he was rescued by army personnel and brought to the relief camp of Batnaha. It took 10 minutes for the AIR team to make this boy speak and then he spoke, live on radio through a mobile phone. Voice choked with emotions and fear “Abba, ahan kahan chee? I am alone here. Please come and take me back”. Hundreds of eyes surrounding him in the camp swelled with tears. Anil Tiwari of AIR Purnea, who was accompanying the team could rediscover the power of his small local radio station to reach to the hearts of the people. This team from AIR Directorate was dispatched to Bihar on 8 th September to address the post flood distress of the victims of Kosi. The IT team at Delhi had developed a software which could transfer all the messages coming to a telephone number to a centralised database and load it on a server space. A provision had also been kept for uploading the missing persons’ information and posting messages from the field via internet. Apart from enlivening the AIR stations, this team travelled extensively deep into the flood affected areas and mega
relief camps. There were heart touching moments at every spot. People in groups with their invaluable radio close to the heart gathered around the team and poured out their despair as if they had found the most trusted relative for years. Akashvani had visited them for the first time after the catastrophe. The staff of local AIR stations worked relentlessly with a great sense of responsibility and dedication. The AIR team, after reaching Bhagalpur on 9th September coordinated the implementation of the special helpline module from the AIR stations of Bhagalpur, Patna, Darbhanga and Purnea. Once the module was publicised SMSs, messages through message box and information of missing/found person started pouring in, which were broadcast at regular intervals by these stations. The team visited some relief camps and marooned villages around Khagaria and Sonbarsha. Travelling in wooden boat for two kilometers through the flood water, the AIR team reached Aakah villages in water to find the villagers waiting for food, clothes, medicines and drinking water. The roads in the village had become like canals and had converted the single village in to a group of small islands.
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At AIR Darbhanga the situation was amazing. P N Jha, A K Roy along with engineering friends were busy answering the phones at the console and directing the presenters in the studio. The phonein programme being broadcast from AIR Darbhanga, thrice daily, was getting a wide response and was highly awaited by thousands of listners. On 12th September at 6.40 PM a choking voice in the live phone-in programme of AIR Darbhanga, is searching for his father who has been missing for the past 10 days. The message was on air. At 7.20 PM a brimming voice came in the same hour long live phone-in programme “Don’t worry; your father is safe at Saharsa”. Radio again united a family. Manikant Jha, popularly known as voice of AIR Darbhanga, who was slept only for three hours in the past 15 days smiled again. All the messages received through SMS on the AIR helpline number were automatically transferred to a database and uploaded on a central server in Delhi created by IT division of AIR. The frontline stations of Bihar i.e. AIR Darbhanga, AIR Bhagalpur, AIR Patna and AIR Purnea would access this message and within no time it would be on air, reaching every nook and corner of Bihar. Some of the announcements carried by AIR Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Purnea and Patna were: Shri Bijendra Mishra, who is safe at SSB Camp, Bathnaha is searching for Sh. Shankar Mishra and his family who were at Balua Bazaar, Saupaul. If they are listening to this broadcast, they may contact Bijendra Mishra. Sh. Bhavnath Singh, aged 65 years is missing since 01-09-2008. Shri Prafull Kumar Roy from Naruar, Madhubani, is impatiently searching for him. Information about missing or found persons can also be given to AIR, Darbhanga, Purnea, Patna and Bhagalpur. Akashvani
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stands with you during this testing time and will spread your message throughout the State. We are sure, with our efforts, your prayers and blessings of the Almighty, your families will be re-united. Hundreds of such messages are still reaching All India Radio through SMS, phones and internet, which are being broadcast regularly. Scenes of tens of people surrounding a radio set and listening curiously, waiting for news of their dear ones is a common sight across the relief camps, in the marooned villages and in the temporary hutments lining both sides of the roads. For people who have left their homes for the relief camps with just their clothes they could gather and the radio set this is the only medium to get information. In line with AIR Darbhanga the AIR stations of Purnea also started dedicated phone-in programme for flood victims of thirty minutes duration a day. The phones kept ringing and the messages kept pouring in. After two days, keeping in view the public demand, the programme was extended to one hour daily. The dedicated staff of All India Radio in Bihar was busy in production and broadcast of programme for the flood affected people, which is a praiseworthy effort. The current floods in Bihar were not just floods, the people who have seen it and have saved their lives staying on tree tops, stranded in the waters call it pralay (a disaster). It was a national catastrophe. It was a challenge and All India Radio has proved that it is the only source of information and mode of communication, a trusted friend and above all the ray of hope. It had already proved this role during the tsunami, the super cyclone of Orissa and many other natural calamities. It is well publicised for the people in the areas that are regularly experiencing the anger of the mighty nature to keep a torch-light and a radio set ready to face it. In the absence of electricity and uprooted communication towers the battery powered radio set is the only link with the outer world. Thus, these were testing times for radio and it proved that even amidst the glare of hundreds of television channels and glossy magazines it remains the trusted well wisher of common folks i4d | October 2008
CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS Two climate change special envoys appointed by Ban Ki-moon UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Kimoon has appointed two special envoys (former Botswana President Festus Mogae and former President of UN General Assembly Srgjan Kerim) for tackling climate change issues. Mogae has extensive experience in economics and development planning and has also served as Finance Minister of his country and in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The envoys would support the Secretary-General in his consultations with heads of state and other key stakeholders on climate change issues. They will also push for progress in negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the next round of talks slated to take place in Poznan, Poland, in December 2009. Ban Ki-moon hopes the envoys will be able to promote positive steps towards reaching an ambitious, comprehensive, inclusive and rectifiable pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.
China promotes chemical safety and emergency preparedness in the chemical industry China’s Ministr y of Environmental Protection (MEP), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Dow Chemical (China) Investment Company Limited, signed a joint project document for the promotion of safety and emergency preparedness in the chemical industry in China. The partnership would promote the development of safer production of chemicals and safety management systems in pilot industries. Lijun Zhang, Vice Minister in MEP says “We face formidable, but reachable goals October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
in China concerning safety and emergency responses. The chemical industry plays a very important role in our nation’s development and this programme will draw us closer to where we need to be; in essence, having safer places to work and live in.” This project would assist in enhancing capacity building the MEP and chemical industry in China said Arab Hoballah, Chief of the Sustainable Consumption and Production branch of UNEP
WWF-India committed to the cause of climate change With the world celebrating International Youth Day on 12th August, WWFIndia reinforces its commitment to the cause of Climate Change. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding an endangered demography and create political awareness among the masses. It was designated by the United Nations in 1999. This is an opportunity for both the governments and others to draw attention to youth issues worldwide. Concerts, workshops, cultural events, and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organisations take place around the world in honour of International Youth Day. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India, said, “Climate issues have assumed centrestage of discussions and negotiations globally and its impacts are proven and visible.” He added, “It is important for young people to come forward and contribute more in terms of spreading awareness on climate issues.” A special film screening and interactive session for college students was organised with Climate experts from WWF-India. Students from leading colleges of Delhi University took part in the proceedings and pledged to become ‘Climate Ambassadors’.
WMO: Climate forecast crucial to water resources and poverty reduction The chief of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 2nd September 2008, called for weather forecast to
play a greater role in planning for economic development as also in poverty reduction. According to WMO, the increase in climate variability and vulnerability due to climate changes would result in severe floods, droughts and cyclones. WMO will eventually update land and water resources development strategies and economic planning by taking different approaches such as integrated water resource management, integrated flood management and watershed management. WMO has appealed for funding to set up hydrological information system, that can provide timely, accurate and comprehensive water resource information.
UN Scheme to Combat Climate Change On 25th September 2008, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a new programme with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, to combat climate change by reducing the rate of deforestation. The programme, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) of the UN is aimed towards sustainable management of forests and to bring economic benefits to all the participating countries through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Ban Ki-moon emphasised that reducing deforestation is very much essential to combat climate change especially in developing countries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that deforestation contributes 20 percent of the overall greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere. In the initial phases of the programme, nine countries viz. Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia are participating. These countries will eventually get assistance from this programme to reduce the rate of deforestation which would decrease the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions.
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CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNITY, UN SOLUTION EXCHANGE
Exchanging solutions on climate change Introduction This article is compiled out of the responses of the members of the Climate Change Community of the Solution Exchange initiative of the United Nations in India. Solution Exchange is a unique knowledge sharing mechanism set up to help India achieve the development objectives of the country and the Millennium Development Goals by creating a network of development professionals to help them learn, share their experiences and to collaborate for common goals. Community members at Solution Exchange are connected with a moderated mail group. Usually, a member posts a message to his Community for advice, experiences, examples or referrals on a topic. The community members respond to the query based on their experience and knowledge. The moderation team posts relevant researched material and within a fixed time period (usually, 10-15 days) from the posting of the query, a Consolidated Reply is issued. The article here, is based on the responses from members of Solution Exchange Communities of Practice deliberating on three queries which have been consolidated under the title, ‘Experiencing Climate Change’. P K Thampan, Peekay Tree Crops Development Foundation, Kochi stated that climate change has become a matter of great concern. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased (in volume) from 0.028% during the pre-industrial period to 0.034% in 1987. The amount of CO 2 now is nearly 0.38%. The most important factors contributing to increasing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is deforestation and the use of fossil fuels. Experts have projected that the world temperature would increase by about 4.5 degrees celsius in approximately 50 years and this would result in unprecedented environmental hazards.
Query on Climate Change, Water, Agriculture & Coastal Areas In response to a query posted on 27th November 2007 by Preeti Soni (Energy and Environment Division, UNDP, New Delhi), informing the community members about the Government of India and Global Environment Facility (GEF)/UNDP project on ‘Climate Resilient Development and Adaptation’ and seeking information from the community about, (a) findings from studies and experiences related to sector-specific impact of climate change on water management, agricultural practices, with a specific focus on livelihood diversification and capacity building, and; (b) adaptation strategies, experiences and lessons learned for climate
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resilient water, agricultural and coastal management practices, with a specific focus on livelihoods diversification and capacity building, members cited a variety of studies undertaken and instances from their experiences, a brief overview of which is given below: B L Menaria, Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, stated that climate change has serious impact on agriculture. It is dependent on two factors. Firstly, the rate and magnitude of change in climate attributes and the agricultural effects on the changes and secondly the resilience of agricultural production to adapt to the changing environmental conditions. Overall, the climate change attributes - temperature, precipitation, atmospheric carbon dioxide content - all affect agricultural productivity. The increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere would have a serious impact on agricultural production in the coming years. Nations across the world are going to bear the brunt of climate change. Anand Babu, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), said that many global negotiations and protocols have been introduced and promulgated to reduce the level of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. But global conventions are not sufficient to halt the increasing greenhouse gases concentration. Therefore adaptation and mitigation strategies are very much essential in order to cope up with changing climate. • P K Thampan, Peekay Tree Crops Development Foundation, Kochi, said that afforestation programmes are an essential part of the climate change mitigation strategies. One hectare of land with dense tree cover can reduce 7.25 tons of carbon annually. Furthermore, it would improve food and fibre production, establish environmental services and create avenues for rural livelihoods leading to improved food security, reduction of poverty and enhancement of standard of living of the local populace • Jyotsna Bapat, The Energy Resource Institute (TERI), maintained that promotion of drip irrigation through unglazed earthenware pots as used in western Maharashtra is another effective strategy for the development of a climate resilient mechanism. Drip irrigation allows water to slowly seep to the roots of the trees in drought- prone areas. This form of water conservation technique allows people to be prepared for the decrease in precipitation that some parts of the world are likely to face in future. Acknowledging the role played by dykes and drainages that allowed for land reclamation in Back Bay areas of Mumbai, Jyotsna said that i4d | October 2008
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its a good way of resisting sea level rise and water flooding of urban settlements. As an additional precaution, water can also be pumped out during high tides in case wave breakers and dykes do not work at that time Vinod Kumar, Maithri, Kerala, opined that to combat climate change there should be clear understanding of local needs and scenarios. He affirmed that documentation of indigenous knowledge base of farmers ought to be a precondition to address climate change impacts. Moreover, the adaptation strategy requires strong capacity building and good networking among organisations, a reliable database, and a strong understanding of climate change at the regional and national levels. One of the issues flagged by Vinod is the difficulty faced while trying to convince a farmer about climate change. During Maithri’s Climatic Monitoring Programme in the Palakkad district of Kerala, best results were obtained when the farmers took part in a monitoring and data analysis exercise. He suggested that suitable processes should be developed according to the local conditions Coping strategies in climate change need the right kind of technologies, institutional arrangements and policies to reduce potential losses caused by climate change to improve livelihood options.
Query on Climate Change & Food Security Arun Balmatti, Agriculture, Man and Ecology (AME) Foundation, Bangalore, informed about AME’s initiative of studying the effects of climate change on agriculture and livelihoods in Mahboobnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, Raichur and Bijapur districts in Karnataka. A summary of the comments is given below: “Temperature has increased now and rainfall has reduced. The number of rainy days have also decreased. We are receiving less amount of rainfall now. Sometimes, the monsoon is delayed and sometimes, we receive early. Summers have become longer with strong sunlight and hot winds blowing. The winter season has become very shorter. The rains are not enough for the crops. It becomes difficult for us to step out during this time. These changes have started happening since only past couple of years. We work longer hours and more intensively, for reduced yields. Now cropping pattern has very much changed. Farmers are not even going for border and intercropping. Paddy, Minor millets, some vegetables are not grown due to climatic changes. We have shifted to cultivation of Sunflower from Safflower. We were growing paddy in low-lying areas, not now. Cotton is another crop, which now nobody grows. Foxtail millet now no body grows. Local Groundnut is also absconding. The yield has reduced by about 30%, before we used to get 12 bags but now only seven to eight bags.” Based on the comments received during AME’s study, Arun posted the following questions for the members of Solution Exchange, Food and Nutrition Security Community: 1. Whether farmers elsewhere registered similar kind of experience of climate change on crop, livestock, water and biodiversity – critically affecting food security and any study or reports available? 2. What are the ways of bringing the ‘practicioners’ (farmers), October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
the ‘facilitators’ (the Government) and the ‘enablers’ (development agencies) to address these challenges? The hotter summer days, colder winter nights and changes in precipitation patterns in recent years highlight the reality of climate change. Such climate fluctuations affect the environment, biodiversity, living conditions and directly affect agricultural productivity. Changing agricultural practices, extensive use of chemical fertilisers, monoculture plantations and intensive farming pattern affect natural resources causing soil to become unproductive. Drastic climate change on a global scale would influence local agriculture and ultimately the world’s food supply. Gopi Ghosh, Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), New Delhi asserted that the impact of climate change on food security can be categorised into two types (biophysical impacts and socio-economic impacts). The physiological effects on crops, pasture, forests and livestock and increased weed and pest challenges and shifts in spatial and temporal distribution of flora and fauna. On the other hand, socio-economic impact includes declining yield and production; reduced GDP from agriculture; fluctuations in world market prices; changes in geographical distribution of trade regimes; increased number of people at risk of hunger and food insecurity; migration and civil unrest. Arun Balamatti, Agriculture, Man and Ecology (AME) Foundation, Bangalore, mentioned that many of the plant species may not adapt to the changing climate situation. Projections show that the food production would decrease substantially. The Times of India, dated February 3, 2007, stated rice yields in India could fall by 40% if sowing season and growth period of crops change. The impact of climate change on food security can be mitigated by adapting the following strategies which can be addressed at various levels. • Raj Ganguly, GMED-USAID, Jaipur said, there is a need to alter the cropping patterns according to the effects of climate change by using alternative sowing and harvest methods. It can be called ‘autonomous adaptation’. Besides it, adoption of integrated community level farming practices could reduce the risk of crop failures and create biodiversity for water conservation. It would help in building a micro climate in the farm or villages. Besides it, Raj emphasised on the incorporation of high yielding varieties of crops based on the market requirements with proper harvesting techniques with good market linkages. According to him, taking recourse to high yielding varieties of crops could be an another strategy for the farmers to cope with the effects of climate change • Anupam Paul, Agriculture Training Centre, Fulia, articulated that the development as well as the government agencies should generate widespread awareness on climate change and its impact in order to educate the farmers. Besides this, extensive research on traditional agricultural practices and its knowledge is needed to develop new techniques of agriculture that resist the negative impact of climate change. Technological innovation is essential to reduce greenhouse sequestration. Promotion of afforestation is also beneficial to mitigate the effects of climate change
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Ardhendu S Chatterjee, Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC), Kolkata, held that rejuvenation of grasslands and degraded forests under community-based management programme would lead to sustainable livelihood management. Initiatives to popularise rainwater harvesting are needed especially for irrigation to mitigate the food security challenges Gopi Ghosh, Food and Agricultural Organisation, United Nations (FAO), New Delhi affirmed that government policies and adaptation measures, with the introduction of new technologies and water use efficiency, would facilitate maximum agricultural yields. Besides, communication systems to educate people about climate change and its impact on agriculture are needed in order to minimise the information gap between the government agencies and farmers Pankaj Kumar, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Delhi claimed that the government should promote agricultural insurance so that farmers are able to cope with frequent crop failures
Query on Gendered Adaptation to Water Shortages and Climate Change - Experiences Changes in climate affect tasks that are traditionally associated with women such as paddy cultivation, fishing, cotton and tea plantations, which eventually increases the hardships among women who already face problems with respect to the prevailing social inequalities and the ascribed social and economic roles leading to increased hardships for the gender. Women are also responsible for collecting water for household consumption and hence, are more affected when the quality of water and/or its accessibility changes. In this context, Meenakshi Kathel, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Delhi, requested the members of the Water and Gender Community in Solution Exchange to share information on the following points: 1. Experiences on developing and imple-menting gender sensitive adaptation strategies to the multi-dimensional effects of climate change 2. Information about organisations that are engaged in developing capacities to reduce vulnerabilities and increase adaptation of women to reduced food security, increased water shortages and diminishing livelihoods 3. Examples of case studies, documents, and project briefs on gender sensitive adaptation, reducing disaster risk of women dependent on water and other natural resources for livelihoods In response to Meenakshi’s query, member of the Solution Exchange discussion group submitted a variety of instances and experiences, a summary of which is given below: • Ruchi Kukreti, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Uttarakhand, mentioned that imparting training to the women’s groups as well as the youth in the grassroots level and the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs), need be encouraged to conserve forests and other natural resources. • Sandeep Mukherjee, Rankey Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, Haryana,
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affirmed that the use of solar energy, (through solar cookers, for example) is one of the best ways to cut down our dependence on wood as fuel. Apart from this, rainwater harvesting needs to be encouraged so as to deal with the changing water regime and also to ease access to clean water Awareness campaigns on climate change and providing training to cope with its impact (with a focus on women) would go a long way in preparing people to cope with the drastic changes foreseen There is a need to undertake afforestation programmes to enhance the overall stability of the environment and atmosphere, in addition to providing the populace with forest products which would enhance their livelihood security.
Conclusion Governments and development agencies need to devise multi-pronged adaptation strategies that are to be integrated and consolidated in the form of policy documents. These policies should be localised in accordance with the conditions and problems being faced in different regions/ communities around the world.
A commentary on carbon trading and climate change adaptation issues I would like to comment on Prof V K Jain’s interview published in i4d’s September 2008 issue (http://www.i4donline.net/ interview/interview-details.asp?interviewid=632) regarding climate change initiatives at JNU ( Jawaharlal Nehru University). While it is important to discuss the carbon trading economics and its world-wide impacts, it is equally important to discuss basic fundamentals of the earth’s climate and how it has changed in historical and geological time-scales. The present carbon trading schemes tacitly assume that the climate is changing due to human-added carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. This hypothesis of climate change being linked to human-added carbon dioxide has been espoused by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) a UN Body of international scientists. This hypothesis is being intensely debated in the scientific community at present and is far from settled. Many climate scientists on both sides of the debate are now of the opinion that simply reducing carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere may do very little to ‘stop’ climate change which is governed more by natural variability than by human activity. Worldwide, humanity has adapted and learnt to live with extreme cold climes like that of Siberia as well as extreme hot climes like that of the Middle East. I would like to encourage and suggest Prof Jain to include climate change adaptation strategies for India in his plans on climate change initiatives at JNU. Developing suitable adaptation strategies may be far more effective than carbon trading while dealing with present and future climate change. Dr Madhav L Khandekar Climate Consultant: Markham Ontario CANADA mkhandekar@rogers.com i4d | October 2008
e-AGRICULTURE.ORG
Revisiting e-Agriculture.org A new term, ‘e-Agriculture’ refers to an emerging field that focuses on the use of ICTs to improve agriculture and to enhance rural development. This involves ingenious ways of conceptualising, designing, developing and applying modern information and communication technologies in the rural arena with a focus on agriculture. The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) identified e-agriculture as one of the main action lines. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has been assigned the responsibility of organising activities related to the Geneva Plan of Action’s action line under C.7 ICT Applications (http://www. itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html) on e-Agriculture. A multi-stakeholder working group was set up in 2006 to guide efforts in this direction. Some of the key partners in this multi-stakeholder initiatives are CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation), FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), GFAR (Global Forum on Agricultural Research), GKP (Global Knowledge Partnership), IICD (International Institute for Communication and Development), UNDESA (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs), GAID (Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development), IAALD (International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists), NAL (National Agricultural Library), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and the World Bank. In September 2007, the e-Agriculture Community of Expertise was officially launched as a global initiative to enhance sustainable agricultural development and Food Security by improving the use October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
of ICT in the sector. The e-Agriculture community’s activities are structured in three components: a web-based collaboration space (the www.e-agriculture. org platform); face-to-face events; and incountry interventions. The overall aim of the e-Agriculture Community of Expertise is to enable members to exchange knowledge related to e-agriculture, and to ensure that the knowledge created is effectively shared and used worldwide. The Community
includes policy makers, rural service providers, development practitioners, farmers, researchers, information and communication specialists and others involved in agriculture and rural development. Currently, there are over 4,000 Community members from over 145 countries who participate daily on the platform, exchanging opinions, experiences, good practices, lessons learned, resources, news, events, and leading and participating in virtual forums.
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The online platform enables the community to exchange opinions, experiences, good practices and resources to ensure that the knowledge hence created is effectively shared and used globally. e-Agriculture.org website contains following sections:
Knowledge Resources e-Agriculture.org includes a collection of resources submitted by its partners and community members from around the world. These resources are in the form of case-studies and reports on e-Agriculture, policy guidelines on agriculture developed by various stakeholders and other learning resources. All resources are built by community members for community members. Some of the key resources are: Knowledge Base In this section, community members submit their experiences and their outcomes in the form of case studies and reports with relevant ICT statistics. The section covers the examples of government e-Agriculture programmes and policies. Members can search for documents, statistics and other files through a cross-referenced search engine on the page. Guidelines for Policy and Practice: This section covers policies and guidelines developed by different organisations and policymakers. Currently, the section includes recommendations from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the UK Department for International Development’s (DfID) Bridging the Rural Digital Divide Programme and IICD’s 2006 ICTs for Agricultural Livelihoods publication.
•
e-Learning Resources This section carries links to various e-Learning resources that would be helpful for the e-Agriculture community. The courses are designed to teach skills relevant to different areas of e-Agriculture. Currently, this section contains the following resources: • Information Management Resource Kit (IMARK) • ItrainOnline Multimedia Training Kit
e-Agriculture.org Resources e-Agriculture.org has also developed its own resource section, in which it covers various surveys and reports, presentations and Forum summaries developed on e-Agriculture.org. The e-Agriculture resources comprise mainly of Surveys and Reports, Presentations and Forum Summaries. Following a link on this page takes the user to a page titled, ‘e-Agriculture related Podcasts’, the content here ranges from personal interviews to coverage of
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•
CGIAR Online Learning Resources Centre The Global Development Learning Network (GDLN)
e-Agriculture.org Glossary This is a compendium of e-Agriculture related terms with their meanings. Users can see either the complete list of words or can browse the glossary through the list of alphabets. As in the other sections, users are welcome to suggest the inclusion of new terms.
international events and global discussions on ICTs role in Agriculture and Rural Development. e-Agriculture.org Forum In order to enhance sustainable agricultural development and food security with the use of information, communication, and associated technologies, e-agriculture.org hosts online forum to interact with experts and specialists on the different topics. Between 10-28 March 2008, e-Agriculture.org hosted a special online forum on the Role of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in collaboration with Katalyst, FAO and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP). In the online forum titled ‘Making e-Agriculture Work through Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Asia’, e-Agriculture.org explored the areas: • The scope of Public Private Partnerships to implement e-Agriculture successfully • Understanding the major & common constraints in PPP based on past experiences and current practices i4d | October 2008
Suggestions and solutions to overcome the challenges and focus on bringing practical solutions • The roles of stakeholders: government, private sector, and others This Forum was a lead up to the eAgriculture India 2008 Conference held in New Delhi, India which was organised by CSDMS, publisher of i4d magazine. The outcome was reported to the World Summit on the Information Society Follow-up Action meetings held in May 2008 as well as discussed and further expanded at the IAALD-AFITA-WCCA World Congress in August 2008. Earlier forums covered topics such as the CGIAR led improving access to agricultural research information and future forums are being planned on issues including mobile telephony and other important topics.
cloud’ of the most poplar tags at any given time. Currently, the e-agriculture. org contains following examples at the top of its list: • eAgriculture India 2008 • SITAg • Rural Press • Directory of Open Access Journals • Farm Works - Welcome • Ecology and epidemiology in the R programming environment.
e-Agriculture Communities The e-Agriculture platform connects community members to regional and topical sub-communities and allows community members to participate in the forum and check out the action groups. Anyone can become a member of the website/community by filling out a simple form at: http://www.e-agriculture. org/regform.html
Podcast The website contains podcasts of interviews and conferences which can be downloaded by the members.
•
Global Examples Inline with the interactive and participatory nature of the website, the e-Agriculture community includes volunteers who update a list of interesting items that can be shared online via social bookmarking. This bookmarking is done in the Delicious account ‘e_agriculture’. The list of bookmarks is tagged for easy reference. With several hundred bookmarks now tagged anyone can review it for new and interesting information on the Internet. The e-Agriculture platform shows a ‘tag
October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
News/Events The sections offers information on upcoming events related to e-Agriculture and news from around the world about items of interest to the community. The calendar sub-section lists, at a glance the upcoming conferences, seminars, etc.
Use of web2.0 tools
Social bookmarking The e-Agriculture.org uses del.icio.us, social bookmarking tool for sharing useful or interesting links with other friends. All online resources have been tagged on the del.icio.us social bookmarking site with the tag ‘e_agriculture’. For users who are not familiar with Social bookmarking, e-Agriculture.org also gives tips about how to use del.icio.us. Content-sharing via video YouTube: The e-Agriculture.org channel on YouTube, a free online web2.0 tool to share video content virtually, http://www. youtube.com/eagriculture, contains videos demonstrating the use of information and communications technologies to facilitate and share knowledge on agriculture and
rural development. Digital Green: e-Agriculture.org has also tied up with Microsoft Research for their project called Digital Green. Digital Green is an agricultural training and advisory system that seeks to help rural farmers by disseminating targeted information through digital videos. So far, the Digital Green’s Video Repository has 120 downloadable videos. Photo sharing: e-Agriculture.org uses Flickr, an online image and video hosting website to share images related to agricultural innovations, best practices and information dissemination
Conclusion The e-Agriculture.org is a platform for the e-Agriculture community, a virtual meeting and sharing place, where users can share experiences, opinions and good practices related to agriculture. The online platform includes policymakers, rural service providers, development practitioners, farmers, researchers and ICT specialists. The website uses several web2.0 tools to provide interactive, up to date and relevant information to the community. To increase its reach, the website is available not just in English, but also in French and Spanish languages. The availability of the wealth of information in major languages and the use of web2.0 tools have jointly created a platform that can take the lead in the information revolution eventually benefitting agriculture and rural development. Being a communitydriven initiative, much of this depends on the existing and future members of this website to carry forward the revolution and to bring together like-minded and enterprising people from around the world to work together. Compiled by Ritu Srivastava (ritu@csdms.in) and Subir Dey (subir@csdms.in)
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netgov Speak: Lead up to IGF 2008
Part VI: What are the advantages and disadvantages of migrating to IPv6? The Internet Protocol, or IP is one of the pillars which supports the Internet. It is over 20 years old. It is a network-laer protocol for the Internet. In 1991, the IPv4 as the original version was called, was up for review as it had outlived its desing. The Next Generation IP, called IPng or IPv6 (version 6) was the result of a long drawn process and took almost three years to shape up. The new version is designed to solve the problems that existed with IPv4. The differences between the two versions are in five main areas: Addressing and routing, Security, Network Address Translation, Administrative workload, and Support for Mobile Devices. The IPv6 has been designed to enabled a structured and possible migration and transition plan. IPv4 uses 32bit addresses, and with the growth of the Internet, IPv6 addresses move up to 128-bits. This means that the IP addresses will be longer, but the numbers will not get so scarce as the IPv4 has become. This will ensure that every IP device can have a unique address, whether its behind a firewall or not.
IPv4 and IPv6 Internet Protocol version 4
*bit = binary digit
Internet Protocol version 6
32-bit* number
128-bit* number
Dotted Decimal Notation:
Hexadecimal Notation:
192.0.2.0
2001:DB8::/32
4 billion network
16 billion-billion network
addresses
addresses
www.nixi.in
In Collaboration with:
Advantages of the move to IPv6
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The move to IPv6 will improve total connectivity, reliability and flexibility besides re-establishing transparency and end-to-end traffic across the Internet. It will also hopefully reduce the size and complexity of the global routing tables. It will also be possible to autoconfigure the systems . Thus network managers and administrators jobs will get a lot more easier. Another major goal of the IPv6 is to speed up the network, both from a performance and from a deployment point of view. It embodies the lessons learned at trying to build high speed routers for IPv4 by changing the header of the IP packet to be more regular and streamline the work of routers moving packets across the Internet backbone.
This transition will mean that high-bandwidth multimedia can become seamless and streaming both audio and video content across the world will become an easy task. Multi-casting, a compulsory feature of IPv6, will become possible and easy. This essentially means that transmission of the single datagram to multiple recievers will be possible, although such possibilities also exist in the current IPv4 system, these are optional and not every router and host system supports them. A very interesting feature of the IPv6 or goal is VPNs or virtual private networks. IPv6 builds in new IP Secuirty protocols; ESP (encapsulated security protocol) and AH (authentication header) as core featues. Thus IPv6 is expected to be capable of setting up far more secure and easier networks to build and deploy.
The migration plans stir up a hot debate “In the international debates, developing countries should have a voice. I am happy to be able to represent this voice in the NRO (Number Resource Organisation) as an elected member from India on the NRO, from APNIC, one of the Regional Internet Registry, ” says Naresh Ajwani, Secretary of ISPAI and a director of NIXI. The transition involves costs. Paul Wilson, Director General of APNIC identifies some of the challenges: “A major challenge is the lack of business case for IPv6, because there is no immediate return on investment by ISPs in IPv6 deployment. IPv6 is designed to be a ‘plug-in replacement’ for IPv4 which means that there is no immediate difference to the Internet user, and hence no user demand. Without user demand this is no demand from ISPs, and thus little demand on equipment vendors for commercial grade IPv6 infrastructure products. As IPv4 address space is consumed over the next 2-3 years, this is expected to change rapidly, as service providers begin to plan and roll out services.” According to Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist at APNIC presenting the Internet Industry view at the recently held OECD conference in Seoul, “At present, only a small percentage of the Internet infrastructure supports IPv6. Significant investment in the infrastructure of the network is required to enable the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. The cost of migrating the Internet infrastructure to IPv6 is significant when considering the global scope of the task, but the cost of not making this investment will end i4d | October 2008
up being far higher. And, ultimately, it’s the end user population who will have to bear this cost. The longer this investment in IPv6 deployment is deferred the greater the risk of costly fractures in the fabric of the network, and additional costs being incurred.” This meeting also claimed that 85% of the IPv4 numbers are already consumed.
The Advantage-Disadvantage debate is on! There are advantages and disadvantages of the move from IPv4 to IPv6. Some people believe, that there is a hype being created about the need to compulsorily move to IPv6. “ I believe for several decades, IPv4 and IPv6 will continue to co-exist, as they have since 1999. The developing countries cannot bear the costs of the transition. Though Asia has seen a vast growth in the numbers of IP being used, its important to learn transparently where are the 4 billion IP numbers in use” according to Naresh Ajwani. According to some other estimates there is still one billion or so numbers available on the IPv4 platform. The question to ask about transition is: Who picks up the cost? Internet, as originally conceived, must be the biggest leveller of the world. There is need to develop infrastructure, applications or software, to support both versions. Smooth transition is still a big challenge. The fact that IPv6 will allow individual consumer goods like mobiles, fridges microwaves, etc. to have their own IP, will not make the Personal Computers a redundant device. Vijay Kapur, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India states, “Given our aspiration of using the Internet to be the engine of bring eGovernment to our billion strong population the address space that IPv6 makes available natively will be of crucial importance as we go about building our national network infrastructure. Also, as ‘connectedness’ becomes a way of life with the ability to connect becoming an integral part of a new generation of devices and household gadget, IPv6 is going to be a crucial enable for a whole new set of business and consumer scenarios. While the IPv4 address space is diminishing rapidly it hasn’t yet become visible as the crisis it is becoming and so escapes attention. As it turns out, emerging economies like Africa, that have no legacy, seem to be taking the lead here. China, with it’s larger Internet user-base is already feeling the pinch and so seems to be reacting a little more rapidly than us. From a people perspective I believe we have the requisite technical skills and resources. From a technology perspective, most of the new generation of software and network devices support IPv6. Microsoft has built in native support for IPv6 in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. However, the cost of migration does seem to be a very real barrier. So, in effect, our legacy base of equipment, which fortunately is not as large as that of the developed economies, sheer inertia and cost, may turnout to be out biggest challenges. We can’t survive forever on NAT! I believe India has what it takes to be a global leader in IPv6 adoption and that we should just put our backs to it and get on with it! It will need concerted effort from all the stakeholders though and it would be great if the Government and Industry work together to catalyse this.” In India, the TRAI (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India) in August 2005 had issued a position paper to seek stakeholder feedback on the transition from IPv4 to IPv6. October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
The significance of its transition in e-Governance applications be mandated, and to ensure that procurement systems are put in place keeping the issues that this transition involves. NIXI is identified as the national test bed for IPv6, including guaranteeing a better quality of service to the clients/ end-users. ERNET has also set up a pilot testbed for IPv6 infrastructure transition. Organisations like Sify in the private sector have already begun their technological readiness to IPv6. According to Jitendra Shah, IPv4 and IPv6 are expected to coexist for several years or decades and since IPv6 is not compatible to IPv4, there will be need to have dual IP stacks and need to be tunnelled through routers.
Some global examples and challenges faced In the United States, by June 2008, all federal installations were to be migrated to IPv6 as per the plans made by US government. Yet the transition to IPv6 “capable” represents great new challenges for most network operators and security teams. In fact, some agencies have delayed their migration plans due to lack of necessary IPv6 compliant security devices. The following use cases profile key IPv6 challenges: • IPv6 “Self-Propagating” Features Can Create Unknown Tunnels and Rogue Routing: With IPv6’s self propagating features, IPv6 communications can occur with little configuration and without intent or oversight. Automatic tunnels that bypass controls and rogue routing can contribute to this likelihood. Network administrators must have the ability to detect both when tunnels are used as well as what actual connections/routes and destinations occur. • Time and Effort Intensive Transition Management: Organizations may struggle to maintain availability of services while networks, hosts, servers and applications all migrate independently to IPv6. In addition, monitoring two parallel, interwoven networks will be a challenge for many network operations teams. • Some new security risks, which are critical, associated with IPv6 include: • Difficulty in Enforcing Security Policy on IPv6 Flows • Limitations of Traditional Active Scanning • Increased Misconfigurations In the Philippines, with support for a research study provided by International Development Research Centre, the National College of Public Administration and Governance, from the University of Philippines with UK’s IDPM University of Manchester conducted a study in November 2003 on evaluating the impact of universal access models, strategies and policies in ICTs on poor communities in Philippines and and also explored the potential of IPv6 migration. In preparation for the recently concluded Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government deployed IPv6 throughout the city of Beijing, and this ensured that fast access to Internet was available. The IPv6 migration issues and debate is far from over. It will be an important issue being discussed at the upcoming Internet Governance Forum to be held in Hyderabad from December 3-6, 2008. For more details on the issues and agenda of the conference, please log on to www.intgovforum.org
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CASE STUDY: HOLY CROSS COMMUNITY RADIO, TRICHY, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
Serving communities: The Holy way The backdrop
Community Radio, a truly people’s radio, perceives listeners not only as receivers and consumers but also as active citizens and creative producers of media content
Dr P Govindaraju Professor and Head, Department of Communication, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli. M Kalavathy Research Fellow, Department of Communication, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli
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The power of community radio lies in its participatory nature, as both its content and technology are people-oriented. Community broadcasting provides news, information, cultural content and entertainment to communities defined by geographical location or common interest. The diversity of programme content available through community broadcasting, broadens the media choices available to listeners and customers. In India, it almost took a decade for the Government to allow community radio institutions to function at the community level. However, even before the cabinet approval in November 2006, individuals, groups, civil society organisations and nongovernmental organisations were involved in running community radio institutions within the prescribed legal framework. The instances of Namma Dhwani, SEWA Radio, Helwel Vani and many others reveal an inherent trend of the community to come together and make their voices heard. The Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan was an initiative in Bhuj, Gujarat that used the medium-wave broadcast channel of All India Radio (AIR). As far as the ongoing initiatives are concerened, the Pastapur initiative of the Deccan Development Society of Andhra Pradesh is one that uses the rich oral tradition of the community, and is managed entirely by Dalit women. Alternative for India Development (AID), Bihar, which has a radio initiative in Daltonganj, in the Palamau District of Jharkhand, uses purchased air-time from a local AIR channel. Namma Dhwani, the VOICES initiative in Budikote, Karnataka, cablecasts programmes, made by the community members themselves, right into their homes. Some of the most recent community radio initiatives include,
Charkha’s Pechuwali Man Ker Swar in Ranchi, SEWA’s ‘Rudi no Radio’ in Gujarat and Agragamee’s ‘Ujjala’ in Jeypore, Orissa. Institutions like One World South Asia, The Population Foundation of India are also involved in establishing several community radio networks in India, especially in states like Orissa, Bihar and Rajasthan.
Holy Cross Community Radio Holy Cross Community Radio was launched on 26th December 2006 as a new initiative of Holy Cross College, Trichy. In the initial phases of establishment, Holy Cross Community Radio was available on 90.4 MHz frequency and the channel had eight hours of transmission (including repeat transmission) a day. It reached in and around ten kilometers of Holy Cross College. The target audience of this radio initiative were the women from Dharmanathapuram and Jeevanagar areas, which are the major slum areas in Trichy. One of Holy Cross’s favourite programmes ‘Pudhiya Jananam’ was initiated on 19 th June 2007. Pudhiya Jananam, meaning new birth, buttresses community awareness through interactive programmes on health, hygiene and other factors of daily importance. Pudhiya Jananam, also called as ‘Science for Women’s Health and Nutrition’, is supported by the Rashtriya Vigyan Evam Prodyogiki Sanchar Parishad (RVPSP), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and implemented by Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).
A case study conducted by Holy Cross The article is a compilation of a case study that focused on the reach and access of the Holy Cross campus radio to women i4d | October 2008
in Trichy and its role in the community development of the local slums. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methods for the collection of data. The study is based on a survey that was carried out with the help of an interview schedule. Apart from this, two focus group discussions with the women of Dharmanathapuram and Jeeva Nagar area were also executed. Simple percentage and cross tabulation methods were used to interpret and analyse data.
Methodology The study was carried out during the month of May 2008. The universe/population of the case study were the women from Dharmanathapuram and Jeeva Nagar area. Out of a total population (of the two slum areas) of more than 1000, 170 respondents were chosen as the sample. The study was based on a survey research method using a purposive random sampling technique to select respondents. An interview schedule was prepared and administered personally at the residence of the respondents. The households were selected by using simple random sampling method i.e., the nth number respondent from each street. In case of the non-availability of nth number respondent, the researchers approached the next house hold. In order to make the case study more relevant and contextual, two focus group discussions were adopted. The focus group comprised of women respondents from the study area. Separate focus group discussions were held at Jeevanagar and Dharmanathapuram. In each group there were twelve women respondents. The specific aspects taken up for these discussions included the frequency of listening to Holy Cross community radio, the type of programmes preferred by the respondents, usefulness of this programmes, the frequency of participating in radio programmes, the likes and dislikes about a programme, additional programme requirements, the impact of the Holy Cross community radio etc,. The facts that emerged from the discussions were recorded, the verbatim of which was later transcribed to be added to the findings of the study.
Survey findings The data revealed that 27% of the respondents participated in the Holy October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
preferred the phone in programme and one respondent wanted to know more about beauty tips. Table 1 shows that the majority of the respondents (50.6%) listened to radio in the morning, 24.7 % of the respondents listened to radio all day long, 11.8 % of the respondents listened in the morning, afternoon and evening. 4.1% of them listened to radio during the evening hours and another 4.1 % of them listened during the night hours. 2.4% of them listened to the radio during afternoon and another 1.8 Cross community radio programmes. According to some women, Holy Cross’s radio programmes increased their self confidence, generated awareness about pollution, health and hygiene and helped in their personality development. 38% of them felt that ‘Pudiya Jananam’ was the favourite radio programme. Findings of the study reveal that most of the families living in the two slum areas live under narrow circumstances. They look forward to hearing more about skillbased programmes to overcome their financial difficulties. According to Figure 1, majority (65%) of the respondents listened to Holy Cross community radio (37% of the respondents in Jeevanagar and 28% of the respondents
Table 1. Respondents’ radio listening schedule Time of Radio listening Frequency
Percentage
Morning
86
50.6
Afternoon
4
2.4
Evening
7
4.1
Night
8
4.7
All-time
42
24.7
Morning, Afternoon and Evening
20
11.8
3
1.8
170
100
Morning, Afternoon and Night Total
present of them to listened to radio during the morning, afternoon and night. According to Table 2, most of the respondents (38.3%) felt that ‘Pudiya Jananam’ is the favourite radio programme in Holy Cross community radio. 17.1% of the respondents wished to listen to both ‘Pudiya Jananam’ and ‘Intraiya Special’. 6.5% of them desired to hear ‘musical’ programme and 3.5% respondents liked ‘Intraiya Special’ only. 34.7% of them did not listen to Holy Cross community radio. Figure 3 manifests that 27% of the respondents (18 respondents from Jeevanagar and 28 respondents from
in Dharmanathapuram). 35% (13% of the respondents in Jeevanagar and 28% of the respondents in Dharmanathapuram) of the respondents did not listen to Holy Cross community radio Table 2. Respondents’ favorite community radio programmes as they preferred other radio Favorite programmes in broadcasting services to Holy community radio Frequency Percentage Cross community radio. 34.7 59 Do not listen community radio Figure 2 delineates that 60% Music 6.5 11 of the respondents opted for Pudhiya Jananam 38.3 65 radio programmes that aired Intraiya special 3.5 6 songs, 39% of the respondents 17.1 29 Pudhiya jananam & Intraiya special did not have any programme 100 170 Total preference, one respondent
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Dharmanathapuram) participated in the Holy Cross community radio programmes
and 73% of the respondents did not participate in the same (67 respondents in Jeevanagar and 57 respondents in Dharmanathapuram). 25% of the respondents participated in Pudia Jananam programme and 2% of the respondents participated in the Interview programme. (See Figure: 4) Table 3 indicates that 34.7% of the respondents did not listen to Holy Cross community radio. About 32% of the
respondents agreed to the statement ‘Holy Cross community radio created awareness about the pollution prevailed in their area’. 5.9% of the respondents strongly agreed to it. While 12.9% of the respondents refused the factor and 1.8% of the respondents strongly disagreed to the same. 12.4% of them remained neutral. About 44 % of the respondents accepted that the Holy Cross community radio created awareness on epidemics and child health in their area and 5.9% of them strongly accepted it. 12.9% of the respondents stayed neutral, while 2.4% of them showed their disagreement in the factor and only one respondent among them (.6%) strongly disagreed to the factor. About 22% of the respondents agreed that the Holy Cross community radio
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created awareness on Table 3. Respondents’ favorite community radio programmes AIDS/Cancer among Awareness Awareness of Changes of Awareness the women in those Area developments of epidemics of AIDS/ pollution Human rights slum areas and 4.7% and awareness of (%) in their and child Cancer / Women’s of them strongly the respondents area health (%) (%) Laws (%) agreed to it. 21.2% Don’t listen 34.7 34.7 34.7 34.7 of the respondents community radio maintained neutrality Strongly Agree 5.9 4.7 5.9 3.5 on the issue. 14.7% Agree 43.5 21.8 32.4 7.1 of the respondents Neutral 12.9 21.2 21.2 12.4 disagreed to it and Disagree 2.4 14.7 12.9 15.3 2.9% of them showed Strongly 1.8 .6 2.9 18.2 their disagreement Disagree towards the factor. Total 100.0 100.0 100 100.0 About 18% of the respondents strongly refused that Holy stated, “I have participated about 20 Cross community radio has created times in Holy Cross community radio awareness about Human rights/Women’s programmes, such as story telling for kids, Laws among women. 15.3% of the Beauty tips, and cookery tips. I prepared respondents disagreed to it, 21.2% of the script and delivered it on my own. I the respondents stayed neutral and 7.1% could handle the microphone efficiently.” of them agreed to it. Only 3.5% of the respondents strongly to the proposition Conclusion Most of the respondents, according strongly. to the study, opinionated that Holy Focus group discussion Cross community radio initiative has The Focus Group discussion revealed fostered local participation and awareness that Holy Cross radio sensitised many generation. 44% of them accepted that people living in the two communities the radio programmes created awareness of Jeevanagar and Dharmanathapuram on epidemics and child health care in slum areas, about nutrition, health and their area, 22% of them agreed that the sanitation issues. Though during the radio programmes created awareness on discussion, a few members of Jeevanagar AIDS/Cancer. Results of the survey and expressed that the radio signal they received fall out of the discussion also reveal that was of low clarity, and there was some some people living in the two communities disturbances in the frequency, yet people of Jeevanagar and Dharmanathapuram from Dharmanathapuram felt that the slum areas face resource constraints that community radio was more informative debar them from engaging themselves and they get a clear idea about what is in any form of community initiatives AIDS, health and hygiene and how to keep whatsoever. their surroundings clean etc. Justine (29), Dharmanathapuram, References: Background paper on community radio in India. during the focus group discussion said, • UNESCO New Delhi. Avilable at <http://www. “I have participated four times in Radio unesco.org/webworld > Kazi, Syed S. (2007) Sustaining community radio Programming. I narrated some science • initiatives in India: Challenges at the Grassroots. fiction stories and gave some tips for eINDIA. Available at < http.www.google.co.in > maintaining skin during summer. After • Kumar, Nehul Jagdish. (2007) A new revolution in communication. eINDIA. Available at < http.www. presenting programmes in Holy Cross google.co.in > FM, we shared our experience with family • Luthra, H.R. (1986) Indian Broadcasting. Publications and relatives, but they could not believe Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi. it. We gathered them all and made them • Tabing, Louie. (2002) How to do community radio. listen to the programmes. All of them were UNESCO New Delhi. Avilable at < http://www. surprised to hear our voice in air and they unesco.org/webworld > Thangaraj, K. et al. (2007) The perspectives, the congratulated us. We felt very happy at that • problems and the prograss of rural community radio. time. It motivated them and they came eINDIA. Available at < http.www.google.co.in > forward to present programmes.” Geetha • The Milan Declaration on Communication and Human Rights (1998) (39), Jeevanagar, during the discussion i4d | October 2008
RENDEZVOUS CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY RADIO, 29-30 SEPTEMBER, 2008, IGNOU, NEW DELHI
Airing the voices of the voiceless Community Radio (CR) is a powerful tool that involves the grassroots community in local level decision-making, awareness generation campaigns and community participation programmes and practices. Unfortunately though, because of certain operational constraints, CR in India and in most developing countries, is in a state of infancy. In order to highlight the current status of Community Radio in India, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, hosted a conference on Community Radio between 29th and 30th September 2008.
The inaugural session V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU, inaugurated the conference. Ba n d a n a Mu k h o p a d h y a y, Se n i o r Consultant (Community Radio), delivered the welcome address in which she referred to the need to develop a comprehensive methodology for information dissemination through CR. O P Kejariwal, Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission, stated that there have been substantial developments in the field of radio including CR. Kejariwal referred to radio rice – a term used (in many parts of Southern India) to connote varieties of rice that were popularised through radio. R Sreedher, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), focused on the need for training especially technical training and training in the use of digital networks in CR. Sreedher identified four major reasons behind the operational failure of CR stations in India, viz, media illiteracy, lack of awareness, lack of training and lack of professionals. CR initiatives, to be more effective, need: training on developing content, marketing training, training on field research, training on networking/ October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
team-building and developing volunteers. Suman Basnet, South Asian Director, AMARC, portrayed CR as a bottom-up public broadcasting service and mentioned some of the early policy initiatives on CR, like the Quebec Assembly in 1983, to illustrate the need of effective policies to support the proliferation of CR stations in India.
Addressing education and information issues Sohanvir Chaudhary, Professor, School of Education, IGNOU, chaired the first session. M Rajendran, Professor, M S University of Baroda, said that CR helps in democratising the access to information and media. CR, according to Rajendran, performs certain educative, informative and creative actions apart from encouraging expression and participation. Community Radio, focuses mainly on development content while campus radio focuses on educational content. C B Sharma, Professor, School of Education, IGNOU, cited examples from the states of Bihar, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, where radio was used to raise awareness among primary school teachers. N A Shah Ansari, Representative, Young India, Konanrk, Orissa, emphasised on the role of CR in bringing social change and transformation.
B S Panwar, Professor, MS Panwar Institute of Communication and Management, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, illustrated a pilot study (January 2006 - March 2007), based on a grassroot development project, on 15 remote villages. The study involved five community reporters who along with the community people helped to develop 52 diverse programmes on health, education, environment, etc. All these programmes were broadcast from All India Radio (AIR), Shimla CR channel ‘Ek Duniya Ek Awaz’.
Need of training in CR Binod C Agarwal, Director, Taleem Foundation, articulated the need to create a structural and institutional framework to enhance sustainability of CR in India. Sanjay Chandekar, Station-in-charge, CR, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, intimated some of the recent developmental initiatives (like programmes on organic farming) of FTII. Padma Kuber, Director, Manvikas Samajik Sanstha CR, quoted her experiences in sharing education and entertainment information through CR. Padma mentioned about a business incubator requirement in CR. K Thangaraj, Director, Kongu Community Radio, suggested that CR programmes, should focus more on a) government
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schemes b) funding and loans c) hospital facilities d) first aid e) disaster management f ) local events g) community initiatives h) instant messages i) announcements and j) youth programmes. Kripa Shankar Srivastava, Ayodhya Lal Kalyan Niketan, Bihar and Bala Lakhendra, Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, also stressed on the need of training in the generation of content and advertisements. Ashish Sen, Founder-Member, Community Radio Forum, the session chair, wrapped up the session by saying that more research studies are required in the field of CR. While deliberating on the training needs, Ashish also indicated the need of creating an independent CR facilitation agency that might take care of all resource and training issues.
The legal dimensions Krishnadeva Rao, Director, School of Law, IGNOU expressed the need to render legal training to the community people. Seema Mishra, Senior Consultant, MARG, New Delhi, maintained that broadcast of radio programmes on legal awareness will enhance awareness among community people. Dharmesh Sharma, Additional District Judge cum Secretary, Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee, while speaking on the role of legal services authorities at different levels (national, state and district) in bridging legal gaps and differences, held that focus should be given more on procedural aspects.
Agriculture and rural development B S Hansra, Director, School of Agriculture, IGNOU, chaired the fourth session of
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the conference. According to Hansra, application of CR leads to value-addition in agriculture. L V Hirevenakanagoudar, Professor, Dharwad University, shared his experiences on Krishi Community Radio Station (KCRS) which, since its official launch in May 2007, has been able to broadcast 1576 hours of relevant programmes on agriculture, rural development and associated issues. R M Prasad, Professor, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, talked in details about the scope of CR in agriculture. He considered CR more as a social process and less as a sector. He also mentioned about eight Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of the digital economy viz; connectivity, content, community, commerce, capacity, culture, capital and cooperation. P V K Sasidhar, Principal Scientist and Head, Central Avian Research Institute (CARI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh, spoke how radio was used to disseminate agriculture and animal husbandry-related information in one of CARIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier projects. K Vijayraghavan, Professor, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, while focusing on the participatory role of CR in agricultural development stated that CR improves linkages between agricultural research and farmers. Vijayraghavan stressed on the need of documentation and validation of indigenous technologies and local knowledge networking. CR, according to Vijayraghavan, provides for development information, protects bio-diversity and promotes balanced food consumption patterns.
Airing health and nutrition issues T R Kem, Director, Consortium for Education and Communication (CEC), University Grants Commission (UGC), chaired the fifth session, which was on the role of CR in airing health and nutrition issues. K T Arasu, Director, Alternative for India Development (AID), shared some of his ground experiences that he came across during establishing the first CR station in Palamau district of Jharkhand in August 2001. The radio channel, called Chala Ho Gaon Mein (Let us go to village), has, since its inception in 2001, broadcast more than 550 episodes on health, nutrition, sanitation, etc. Shashwati Goshwami, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of
Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi, speaking in the session, said that CR or any other radio services in that matter, has not been able to generate public awareness on health, particularly in the North-eastern region of India. Hemlata, Deputy Director, National Centre for Disability Studies (NCDS), IGNOU, while mentioning the position of disabled people in India, cited education, rehabilitation, inclusion and communication to be the major needs of the disabled people.
Social responsibilities and goals Surekha Suberwal, Regional Communication Advisor, UNDP chaired the last session of the conference. Nisha Narayanan, Project Head, SFM, expressed the need to create a common ground for radio and to develop a policy on the basis of content and listenership. Nisha also maintained that there is a need to develop socially relevant programming. Narayana M Bhatt, Programme Executive, AIR, Karwar, Karnataka, shared some of the success stories with radio in general and community-oriented radio in particular. Speaking on the programme content, he added that , most of the programmes were either on existing market rates or on seed treatment of on agriculture. The content for the programmes were also tailored in accordance with the local needs and were broadcast in local languages.
Conclusion The conference ended with a valedictory address by Sajan Venniyoor who underscored the importance of Community Radio and even other forms of radio services like campus radio, public radio, etc. in spreading awareness, addressing development needs and creating a platform for the voiceless. Observing the slow pace of growth of CR in India, Sajan expressed concern about how to run a CR station more effectively under the aegis of the existing CR policy in India. All participants in the summit unanimously accepted the effectiveness of CR in local-level capacity building and enhancing community participation. C G Naidu, Nodal Officer, School of Journalism and New Media, IGNOU, concluded the event with a note of thanks. Rajat Banerjee, rajat@csdms.in i4d | October 2008
IGNOU Certificate Programme on Community Radio
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), in partnership with Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, launched a Certificate Programme on Community Radio on 29th September, 2008. Commencing from January 2009, students with a 10+2 School Leaving Certificate are eligible to enrol themselves for the
6-month course which aims to reach out to all individuals who wish to learn the art and craft of community radio broadcasts. The curriculum of the programme is divided into theory and practical components which includes a 10-day mandatory internship with a Community Radio Station which will help the students to not only see learn the crafts of community interaction for radio broadcasts but also give them an opportunity to see how a Community Radio Station is managed. Emphasising on the importance of internship included in the programme, Professor V N Rajasekharan Pillai said, “During the internship the students will get to see the functioning of a full-fledged community radio station. They will learn to understand a community from the point of view of a radio station which is sustained by community participation.” “Community radio follows India’s age-old tradition of oral learning and combines tradition with technology by using the FM transmission mode for low-range reach of the broadcasts. In fact, in many ways community radio is what an open university aspires to achieve, that is, to teach without the rigours of classroom and without the discipline of time-bound structure”, Prof Pillai added.
CEMCA offers 150 Scholarships for the IGNOU Certificate Programme on Community Radio The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia has announced that it will provide 150 selected students enrolling in the first year of the course with scholarships worth INR 4000 each. CEMCA is an educational resource organisation with a mission, and is also the regional arm of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Among CEMCA’s many achievements, perhaps the most crucial is in offering the Commonwealth a prototype of successful regional co-operation. Almost as old as its parent organisation, CEMCA was conceived of a catalyst for the use of electronic media in distance education in Commonwealth Asia. Under the umbrella of COL’s Commonwealth Educational Media Resources Programme (CEMREP), Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka, CEMREP presented educational media resource profiles to education experts at a 1993 meeting in Singapore. A decision to establish a regional database of educational media resources resulted in another meeting in Malaysia later that year, where the COL task force developed a firm outline for CEMCA. Still needing a home for the facility, COL solicited proposals from major Asian education organisations; the Open University of Sri Lanka and India’s Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) each had exemplary portfolios, but in October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
Dr Sreedher announces 150 scholarships for the IGNOU Certificate Programme
the end, it was decided to accept IGNOU’s offer. CEMCA was officially born at its host institution in 1994; in 1998 it came of age when an agreement between COL and the Indian government gave CEMCA the full rights and privileges of an international agency. CEMCA’s mandate is to provide consultancy and technical infrastructure for audio-visual production and programming, training in electronic media for education, and a locus for networking efforts. To form a broad policy and to evaluate CEMCA’s work, a director and a technical and administrative team networks with an advisory council of representatives from major regional open learning institutions.
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RENDEZVOUS NATIONAL SEMINAR ON COMMUNITY RADIO, IGCNI, 13-14 SEPTEMBER, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
Broadcasting for the grassroots Introduction Radio, the most affordable and accessible medium of mass communication is no doubt a viable weapon of public opinion in any democracy, especially in a developing country like India. Between 2002 and 2006, Community Radio in India had been equated with campus radio, run mainly by the educational institutions as an extension of the curriculum. But with the introduction of new Community Radio policy in 2006, which embodied the Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) as initiators of Community Radio; the reach and dimension of this platform has broadened immensely. The need of the hour is, therefore, to create awareness among people about the immense potential of Community Radio.
The CJMC initiative The Centre for Journalism and Mass Communication (CJMC), Visva Bharati, in collaboration with Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI), New Delhi, Centre for Media Research and
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Development Studies (CMRDS), Kolkata and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), New Delhi organised a ‘National Seminar on Community Radio’ between the 13th - 14th September, 2008 in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. The seminar was especially organised at Visva Bharati, Santiniketan keeping in mind the relevance and effectiveness of Community Radio in and around the rural areas of Santiniketan and Sriniketan. Community Radio activists, Academicians, communication experts, students (mainly from the Journalism & Mass Communication background), representative from rural CSO’s and NGO’s of the neighbouring areas and local representatives of different media organisations attended the seminar. Manas Roy, Professor-in-Charge and Head, CJMC, Visva Bharati and Rajat Kanta Ray, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor were the two key people who convened the twoday seminar. Other distinguished guests included Rajeswar Dayal, Senior Media Advisor, FES; Mrs Nandini Sahai, Director, MICCI; Mani Mukut Mitra, Registrar, Visva Bharati; Pratip Roy, Deputy Director (Programme), Doordarshan (DD), Kolkata; Snehasis Sur, Hony Secretary, CMRDS; Asesh Bandopadhay, GM, WEBEL Mediatronics; Subir Ghosh, Media Analyst; Swapan Mallick, Director, Satyajit Ray Fi l m & Te l e v i s i o n Institute (SRFTI), Ko l k a t a ; Ni l a n j a n a Gupta, Director, School of Media, Communication and Culture, Jadavpur University (JU); Sumit Banerjee, Deputy
Director, Roopkala Kendro; Syed Kausar Jamal, Programme Head, All India Radio (AIR), Santiniketan; Indrani Chakrabarti, Executive Producer, Radio Mirchi, Kolkata; A.K. Padhi, Dy. Director General, AIR & DD; Amit Chakroborty, Head, World Space Radio and Chanchal Bhattacharya, Gyan Vani.
The inaugural session The inaugural session started with chanting of Vedic Hymn. Manas Roy in his welcome note introduced the subject, reflecting on its tremendous impact on the masses. Rajat Kanta Ray, Vice Chancellor, Visva Bharati, did the formal introduction with lighting the lamps and releasing the seminar publication. Rajeshwar Dayal discussed the role of the Community Radio as related with democratisation of society. Nandini Sahai defined Community Radio as the local form of Public Service Broadcasting. She also evaluated the prospects and challenges of Community Radio. Both Mani Mukut Mitra and Rajat Kanta Ray imparted fresh perspectives to the programme by their thoughtful and attractive addresses, aimed at students.
Introducing community radio Pratip Roy chaired the session and the speakers in the session were Snehasis Sur and Asesh Bandopadhay. Snehasis thanked the representatives of the local village communities for attending the seminar. He explained various aspects of Community Radio through his presentation. He further explained the concept of narrowcasting. He also added that information is the key to development of the society and radio, especially Community Radio has the potential to promote development at the grassroots level. Asesh Bandopadhay explained the technical aspects of i4d | October 2008
Community Radio. He showed how a Community Radio Station functions. He also clarified different procedural formalities of setting up a CRS.
Community vs campus radio The topic of the second technical session was ‘Community Radio & Campus Radio’. Subir Ghosh, Media Analyst, chaired the session. He began by saying that many remote areas of Latin America have already started Community Radio and he wished to see the same in India. Swapan Mallik, Director, SRFTI who runs the second CR station of the state said that earlier Community Radio was not accessible to all but now it has come to the forefront. SRFTI, he quoted, initiated Community Radio with very limited resources but eventually got support from the Government. Nilanjana Gupta, Director, School of Media, Communication and Culture, Jadavpur University (JU), who runs the first Community Radio station of the state made the seminar more interesting by informing the audience about JU’s Community Radio. To make JU’s CR initiative more financially viable and sustainable, she said, they are bound to broadcast commercials as per government norms and their total earning for the month of May 2008 was INR 25,220. Chanchal Bhattacharya, who enlightened the audience about the inaugural day of Gyan Vani and informed that with their consistent efforts, Gyan Vani had reached to the masses. It is the first educational radio channel and their programmes are mostly based on societal development. The session ended with an informal quiz conducted by Subir Ghosh, where the students of Visva Bharati answered few questions.
Airing voices of the public The topic of the third Technical Session was ‘Radio in Different Platforms’. Biplab Loha Choudhury, Reader, CJMC, Visva Bharati chaired the session. Other dignitaries present were Sumit Banerjee, Syed Kausar Jamal and Indrani Chakrabarti. Biplab, in his opening remark, discussed about the conflict between AM and FM channels. Speaking on the occasion, Sumit Banerjee, highlighted the relevance of Community Radio despite the fact that October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
AIR covers 98% area of the country. AIR alone can’t satisfy and provide a platform for expression in a culturally and linguistically diverse country like India. In this regard Community Radio can play a vital role and can genuinely be termed as the ‘voice of the voiceless’.
Need of Local Radio Station While addressing the seminar, Jamal highlighted the role of Local Radio Station (LRS) of AIR in giving voice to the marginalised. He asserted that the AIR established LRS at various places as the two-tier system - national and regional, was not enough to serve the whole country. So in 1984, AIR set up its first LRS in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. He added that with setting up of LRS, AIR came down from broadcasting to narrowcasting, which is also the purpose of Community Radio. Indrani Chakrabarti highlighted the role of private FM channels in reviving radio listening habit among the urban youth, especially for career opportunities to youngsters.
The students’ session This session was devoted to presentations by the students of CJMC on Community Radio. Mausumi Bhattacharya CJMC Lecturer, chaired the session. The session provided the students a platform for expression of their ideas. The students voiced their own opinions, illuminating different aspects of radio. The subjects were as diverse as the journey of radio and the debate regarding its ownership to the upcoming career of Radio Jockeys. Some students had suggestions for the industry’s/ sector’s improvement. Lastly, an evaluating speech by two students of CJMC on the two-day seminar was made.
Concluding the seminar The valedictory session started with traditional felicitation extended to the two speakers AK Padhi, Director General, AIR & DD, and Amit Chakraborty, Head, World Space Radio and the Chairman Manas Roy of CJMC. AK Padhi gave a brief description of Indian broadcasting scenario with the concept of private FM radio. He further stressed on the three features of public service broadcaster
i.e. ‘Ennoblement, Empowerment and Enactment’. Community Radio, he said, is Public Service Broadcasting for the grassroots level. Amit, focused on the concept of ‘Satellite Radio’, how satellite radio works and pointed to its advantages and disadvantages. He appealed for community involvement for further success of satellite radio and Community Radio. The seminar concluded with a vote of thanks from Deputy Registrar (Faculty) and in-charge Public Relations, Visva Bharati, Amitava Choudhury. Finally the
‘Ashram Sangeet’ marked the closure of the two-day seminar.
Recommendations Besides calling for setting up of a CR station in Viswa Bharati, and putting to use the existing AIR studio of Sangeet Bhawan as infrastructure, the conference came up with the following additional recommendations: • The huge network of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in West Bengal should be encouraged to set up Community Radio and use this medium for development. • As West Bengal has huge coastal areas, CR should be encouraged in these areas for communicating with the fishermen at the sea. • The possibilities of making linkages between Common Service Centre (CSC) and Community Radio may be explored. • Large and capable NGO’s should be identified and sensitised to set up CRS. • The Government of West Bengal should be sensitised to take a more active role in facilitating the setting up of CRSs at the grassroots level.
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Bytes for All... Bangladesh National Telecentre Colloquium, 2008 Bangladesh Telecentre Network is to hold its First National Telecentre Colloquium 2008 between 7-8 November 2008 at the premises of Rural Development Academy (RDA), Bogra, Bangladesh. The event will see a gathering of around 200 telecentre practitioners across the country and main focus will be given to understand the existing challenges in telecentre operation and way to overcome those challenges.
example of how teaching and learning, and the sharing of useful knowledge, happens at a Free/Libre and Open Source Software network. Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmEDVCOZhMI
Using ICT, Bangladesh style Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID) is a private sector initiative to promote the use of ICT as a tool for development. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/12669
http://www.mission2011.net.bd
Kashmir’s mobile phone chroniclers
The Hindu, on patents
As the Kashmir valley erupted into protests last month after a row over transfer of land in the region snowballed into a movement for freedom from India, armies of mobile-phone toting youngsters began trawling the city to record the events. A row over land has snowballed into a nationalist upsurge. The images and recordings of those momentous events have been swapped between friends, or put up on popular video sharing sites. One of those, YouTube, spits out nearly 250 results when a search is done for “Srinagar protest” and many of these clips have been put up by youngsters from the valley.
On the occasion of ‘International day against software patents’ , The Hindu has extensively covered the issues of software patents and software freedom. There are four articles below -- two of them explore software patents (view from FOSS community, industry, academia). Two other articles cover software freedom (a generic article on software freedom and another on the absence of FOSS in school curricula). http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461910300.htm http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461920300.htm http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461930300.htm http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/24/stories/2008092461820300.htm
Posta Uganda opens more telecentres Posta Uganda, one of the country’s last remaining parastatals, is set to partner with a local telecom firm in a new mobile money transfer service along the lines of Kenya’s M-Pesa. Under M-Pesa, subscribers of telecommunication giant Safaricom are able to send and receive money using their cellphones. Posta Uganda will also set up telecentres in at least 20 of its outlets courtesy of a $300,000 grant from the World Bank through the Uganda Communications Commission. (Thanks to ESTHER NAKAZZI (?) (http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business//2560/472844/-/6jgm08z/-/index.html) http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/12676
Colombia, India, Free Software Tania Perez Bustos is a PhD student from Colombia doing fieldwork in India. Her research is on the educational and gender dimension of experiences like FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) that aim to popularize technology. In a video interview, she talked about her work, and her encounter with India, Colombia, and the need for links between these disparate and distant regions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7618092.stm
Ugo Vallauri of the University of London: The Landscape of e-agriculture in the Kenyan context “e-Agriculture is an emerging field in the intersection of agricultural informatics, agricultural development and entrepreneurship, referring to agricultural services, technology dissemination, and information exchanged or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies. More specifically, it involves the conceptualisation, design, development, evaluation and application of new (innovative) ways to use existing or emerging information and communication technologies (ICT)”. http://ictlogy.net
China takes lead in GNU/Linux education Since the Chinese government began supporting domestic open source communities in 2005, hundreds of thousands of young people in the world’s most populous country have become a part of the open source world. http://tinyurl.com/3ptuvr
Bangla, FLOSS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDHZcSnzqi0
Download a bunch of Open Source Software related articles written in Bangla.
Learning, teaching, learning... Free Software
http://tinyurl.com/3lwfmc
At the August 2008 GNU/LUG (GNU/Linux Users’ Group) meet in Miramar, Goa, participants share knowledge and ideas about Stellarium, the astronomical free software product. An
Cell banking only for card holders: RBI
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While the guidelines will enable lenders such as State Bank of India (SBI) and Axis Bank to go ahead with their launch of i4d | October 2008
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Bytes for All... mobile-banking services, the central bank has decided to restrict the services only to holders of debit and credit cards. The card user base in the country is 80 million, with 55 million debit card users and 25 million credit card users. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Banking_Finance_/ Banking/Cell_banking_only_for_card_holders_RBI/rssarticleshow/3504645.cms http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/09/20/stories/ 2008092051410600.htm
PG diploma in IT in agriculture Express News Service reports from Hyderabad, that the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) has launched a one-year post graduate diploma in information technology management in agriculture. Candidates who have finished their graduation or postgraduation with agriculture science as major subject are eligible for the course. Online forms can be obtained by sending an email to pgditma@naarm. ernet.in http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/12649
India is over-hyped as an innovation hub Bangalore: India is perhaps holding a better position among major IT exporting nations presently, but as far as the innovation of new products is concerned, the country is far behind the other largest IT destinations, reports IDG news service. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/46775
US keen on replicating BangaloreOne model Citizens of Bangalore getting facilities at their fingertips have now become coveted models for the rest of the world. The Karnataka government’s e-Governance initiative titled ‘Bangalore One’ (B1) -- citizen service centres -- has turned out to be the latest force of gravity for the country’s IT capital. Not just civic agencies of other states, even students and officials from foreign countries are making a beeline to Bangalore to check out the operational efficiency of the B1 project, which is propelled by the information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) concept. http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=316511
SMS and Web 2.0 for Mumbai Early Warning/Response Project “I’m on my way back from a particularly fruitful and productive mission to Mumbai. As noted in my earlier blog, the purpose of the mission was to explore possibilities for partnership and collaboration vis-à-vis ‘upgrading’ Mumbai city’s disaster early warning/response system. We chose to focus first on the Monsoons (which necessarily includes an important public health component)”. http://irevolution.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/sms-and-web-20-for-mumbai-earlywarningresponse-project/ October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
Create your own e-Learning The Learning Content Development System (LCDS) is a free tool that enables you to create high quality, interactive, online courses. Virtually anyone can publish e-Learning courses by completing the easy-to-use LCDS forms that seamlessly generate highly customised content, inter activities, quizzes, games, and assessments - as well as animations, demos, and other multimedia. http://www.unescobkk.org/
Switch on the pumpset through your mobile Now, mobiles can take control over the pumpsets from anywhere in the world through a phone call. The device called as ‘Nano Ganesh’ will be priced between INR 560 and INR 1700 was commercially launched on 23rd September in Pune. The device helps a farmer to switch on/off the pumpset through a call made by a mobile or a land line phone or even a PCO phone from anywhere in the world. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/46779
‘Internet filtering is growing by the minute...’ Partha Sarkar in conversation with Robert Faris of ONI initiative. This August (2008), Partha visited the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University (http://cyber.law. harvard.edu/) where he met Robert Faris, Research Fellow of Open Net Initiative (ONI). Based on the outcome of this research in about 40 countries, ONI initiative has also published a book ‘Access Denied’. Listen to the conversation at: http://www.bytesforall.net/?q=node/245
Software Freedom Day 2008 Knowledge for life not for trade, with this slogan observation of Software Freedom Day begins at Noakhali on Saturday. Noakhali Open Source Group organised various events in association with Participatory Research & Action Network-PRAN, Gandhi Ashram Trust, NRDS and evillage. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/12630 http://www.pran-bd.org
SOLPC Software Software of the MIT-launched One Laptop Per Child can be tried out on any computer. There are instructions for Red Hat and Ubuntu GNU/Linux packages, for Live CDs and for running Sugar in emulation on other operating systems. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar
Bytes for All: www.bytesforall.org or www.bytesforall.net Bytes for All Readers Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers To subscribe: bytesforall_readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Bytes for All Discussion summary compiled by: Frederick Noronha, India, fred@bytesforall.org
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Books received Other Voices - The Struggle for Commuity Radio in India Authors: Vinod Paravala and Kanchan K. Malik ISBN: 9780761936022 Publisher: Sage Publications, 2007 Pages: 318 The book ‘Other Voices - The struggle for Community Radio in India’, arguably the first book on CR in India, narrates the evolution of broadcasting mechanisms and policies and their subsequent bearing on CR initiatives and concerns. CR initiatives in India have been studied in light of the role of broadcasting (in the development process), role of gender and the role of globalised media. The book resonates the sound of the ‘other voices’ and is endowed with insights and comparisons. The book provides for a global perspective of CR and draws references and comparisons between the status of CR in India and that of other countries - including the developed and developing ones. The book is divided into eight chapters viz. Introduction, Legislating for Community Radio, Mixed Signals, Facilitating Community Radio in India, Narrowcasting Development, Revitalising Civil Society, Community Radio for Empowerment and Conclusion. The book consists of an appendix section that embodies various policy decisions on CR, initiatives, judgments and declarations. Authors in the book, define community radio as a medium that facilitates access, public participation in production and decisionmaking and community management. Community Radio, according to the authors, works as a cultural broadcast mechanism that adapts to reflect the interests and needs of the community it serves and offers people of the marginalised sectors an opportunity to express themselves socially, politically and culturally. The book is endowed with case studies on four CR projects undertaken by Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in four states of India viz. Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, that help establish the extent to which CR contributes to enhancing access and building sustainable development networks. The book recommends a unique policy for CR in India on the basis of the existing CR framework as also on the basis of a comparative analysis of CR details like licensing procedures, ownership and management, regulation and monitoring etc. of Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Canada and United States. ‘Other Voices’ is written lucidly and may well be an excellent guide both for neophytes and for advanced learners of community radio.
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Understanding Development Communication Edited by: Jacob Srampickal and Arul Aram ISBN: 8174952691 Publisher: Media House, Delhi, 2007 Pages: 475 Effective communication and sharing of information resources can really empower and expedite vivid forms of information interchange. The term ‘development communication’ has been in vogue since the 70’s of the 20th century and has been used to designate a process of transmitting and communicating new knowledge related to rural environments. Development communication refers to the planned use of strategies and processes or communication at achieving development. There are several areas of development communication like health communication, agricultural communication, environmental communication etc. The book incorporates both an institutional and a functional perspective of developmental communication and defines development communication as an attempt to inform people, create awareness, educate and enlighten people so that people can better their lives in every possible ways. The book is a compilation of articles, essays and case studies. The book has four sections viz. Understanding Devcom (Section A), Communication and National Development (Section B), Participatory Communication and Alternative Media in Development (Section C) and Development Journalism and New Media (Section D). Walter C. Ihejirika’s article ‘An Experience of Community Radio as a Tool for Development in Africa’, published in Section C, illustrates how Community Radio (CR) initiatives in Africa (like Bush Radio in South Africa) are enhancing community participation among disadvantaged groups. The book tries to delineate the subtle differences between mass media and participatory media. According to development communication professionals, mass media, though extensive, fails to support overall development. Whereas, participatory media, has the potential to create awareness and foster development by allowing participant involvement and engagement in various developmental processes. Though the book bears important perspectives on communication especially development communication, some of the articles have iteration of content. The book contains certain typological errors. i4d | October 2008
Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Africa
Japan
21-30 October 2008 World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-08) Johannesburg, South Africa
24-28 August 2009 The 3rd International Symposium on the Environmental Physiology of Ectotherms and Plants Tsukuba
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/wtsa-08/
10-12 January 2009 6th Conference on e-Learning Applications Cairo, Egypt http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/conferences/ elearning/Pages/default.aspx
Australia 5-7 November 2008 Broadband World Australia 2008 Sydney http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/broadbw/
20-25 March 2010 World Congress of Internal Medicine Melbourne, VIC http://www.wcim2010.com.au
Europe 26-27 November 2008 Internet Marketing Conference Stockholm, Sweden http://www.internetmarketingconference.com
13-15 March 2009 4th Global Conference: Cybercultures - Exploring Critical Issues Salzburg, Austria http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/Cyber/ cybercultures/c4/cfp.htm
http://www.nias.affrc.go.jp/anhydrobiosis/isepep3/ index.html
Jordan 22-24 April 2009 Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning, IMCL2009 Amman, Jordan http://www.imcl-conference.org
Malaysia 23-25 November 2008 International Conference on Open Source Software in Healthcare Penang http://bpio.amdi.usm.edu.my/incossh2008/Home/ tabid/874/language/en-US/Default.aspx
29-30 November 2008 6th International Conference on Gender Studies (SAMA6) Penang
15-17 December 2008 International Conference on Environment 2008 (ICENV 2008) Penang http://chemical.eng.usm.my/ICENV2008
Pakistan 11-13 November 2008 Energy for Sustainable Development Karachi http://www.dawoodcollege.edu.pk/conference.html
Singapore 16-18 February 2009 Open Source Singapore-Pacific-Asia Conference & Expo 2009 (OSSPAC) http://www.osspac.com
30 March - 3 April 2009 12th Annual Asia Power & Energy Congress Raffles City Convention Centre http://www.terrapinn.com/2009/asiapower
Thailand 14-16 January 2009 12th Bangkok International Symposium on HIV Medicine Bangkok http://www.hivnat.org/
20-23 May 2009 World Renewable Energy Congress 2009Asia Region (WREC), Bankok http://www.thai-exhibition.com/entech
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2-13 December 2008 2nd International Conference on Science and Technology (ICSTIEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;O8) Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang www.icstie.com
United Arab Emirates 9-10 November 2008 Bank Tech Middle East Congress Dubai http://www.banktechmideast.com
India
17-19 April 2009 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on ICTD2009, Doha, Qatar
3-6 December 2008 Internet Governance Forum Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu
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25-27 March 2009 Gender and Education Association International Conference London
http://www.intgovforum.org
11-13 December 2008 Renewable Energy Asia 2008 New Delhi
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20-25 March 2009 Green Energy Summit 2008 Bangalore, Karnataka http://www.greenenergysummit.com October 2008 | www.i4donline.net
11-13 November 2008 KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
29-31 March 2009 Governance of New Technologies: The Transformation of Medicine, IT and IP University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/conference.asp
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IN-FACT
Mapping Community Radios in India
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