Manish Kumar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Although community radios are around for over a decade, the Centre has paid little attention to ensure the three-tier radio broadcasting system flourishes with time.
Responding to an RTI application filed by Orissa POST, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) has indicated it failed to utilise the full corpus meant for the welfare of the community radios (CRs) in the country between 2015 and ’16.
The Union government had sanctioned Rs 2.7crore for the CRs but according to the ministry’s reply, `62,67,916 still remains unspent with the government. Of the `2.7crore, the ministry could utilise only `20,732,084 so far.
This comes against reports of some community radio shutting down due to lack of government support. For instance, a campus radio launched at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack has been out of operation now. Similar fate has been meted out to other CRs in the state and elsewhere in the country, many of whom are dying unnatural deaths thanks to government’s inadequate support. The RTI reply also points out that a large chunk of the funds is spent in organising events and conferences, a number of which remains confined to the national capital.
“A number of CRs are shut down as they do not have the experience of radio broadcasting. Many are not skilled enough to carry forward the business. Lack of real experience in radio broadcasting, unskilled manpower and lack of knowledge of funds management often take a toll and lead to closure of CRs,” said Subrat Kumar, an expert in radio broadcasting and the organiser of International Radio Festival.
Subrat also added, “The RTI reply suggests most of the funds are used in events which are of little use for the growth of CRs. The government should instead help CRs directly and not monetarily. Instead, it should initiate some skill development training and fund management orientation which can help them become self-dependent to run their stations.”
NA Shah Ansari, vice-president of Community Radio Association of India, said the Centre’s spending pattern evinces that it is not interested to boost community radio and probably considers huge investment in events is a sheer wastage of money.
Many raise questions about the funding pattern of I&B. “A sum of `30,000 is spent on each participating station which is used for travelling in air-conditioned trains staying in quality hotels during the annual CR conferences. This happens while many CRs at remote areas cry for funds and support from the government,” said a CR station head from Orissa.
