Give Community Radio A Chance

When the news of 23-year old Raghav Mahto from Mansoorpur

village in Vaishali district of Bihar and his FM channel first broke out, it was

a euphoria of sorts. Not only did it revive the community radio issue, his

initiative also caught the fancy of those who have been advocating that with a

will and the ability to use ICT tools. Social transformation of an area as

backward as a typical village in Bihar or for that matter anywhere in India was

no more a pipe dream.

The station was running like a community radio station

providing local news and views in the local dialect and entertainment for the

villages in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, and Saran districts. Besides broadcasting

popular songs in Hindi and the local dialect, Raghav FM also provided

information about various health programs such as AIDS awareness and polio

eradication, on literacy initiatives and news about missing people, crime,

disaster, agriculture, as well as local functions and festivals.

However, the euphoria that saw many news channel rush its

reporters to get the 'exclusive' byte also led the Union Communications

ministry scurry for detailed information on the station, with a clear

instruction that action be taken if it was found to be running without a

license. Soon on March 26, 2006 Raghav FM, which had become immensely popular as

the community radio over the last three years, was shut down.

Raghav Mahto (right) with his friend Sambhu: While Raghav is the technology chord that was driving the FM in Mansoorpur, his friend was the modern day RJ. Together they doled out content for the local community of Mansoorpur and surrounding villages		Raghav FM Kit-Antenna: The technology and circuitry that Raghav used included some transistors, couple of low cost chips that was wrapped in a piece of cloth and plastics and kept in a small metallic box, tied on a bamboo atop the local hospital building. This small kit technically served as the dish antenna that was connected to the the Mic or cassette players enabling him to broadcast songs and messages clearly up to 16 kilometers range

While a formal police complaint was lodged against the

owner, Raghav Mahto, and the three-member team of the Union Communications and

IT ministry seized the radio equipment, he was let off with a warning not to run

the FM again without proper license.

The Legal Tangle



Experts in the community radio suggest that Raghav was lucky to get away

with a rap on his knuckles; he could have been jailed for three years and fined

under the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 or Wireless Telegraphy Act

1933. Add to this the fact that he was broadcasting local news and views and

playing Hindi songs and one could easily foresee a year's term in jail and

approximately Rs 15 lakh in royalty and IPR payments to rights-holding companies

for broadcasting recorded music and film songs for three years.

Interestingly, though many might rubbish the development as

too miniscule to even take note of the issue, is picking up amongst the various

stakeholders-NGOs in the ICT space, proponents of community radio, and many

e-Gov champions. And the debate ranges from technology versus empowerment, legal

versus necessity, or between 'insane' authority versus 'ignorant' Raghav

and his 'invention', taking law unto himself.

So much so that Prof Anil Gupta led National Innovation

Foundation has stepped in to assist Raghav and the episode is being discussed in

the LBS National Academy as a case study on how the administration should react

in such a situation. Besides, there has been a huge support from various

quarters-NRIs, affluent farmers and contractors, technology enthusiasts, and

NGOs-all of them willing to chip in and raise the annual license fee for a

radio station in Mansoorpur.

Fan Mails: Endorsements and requests from across the country asking Raghav to share the technology

The action taken by the Union Communications ministry and

the support that Raghav has so far got from various quarters, however, has

raised many pertinent issues in a country, which is moving ahead on the ICT

path, both as the technology solution provider for the world and also as the

country moving high on its tryst with e-Governance.

Legality vs Necessity



The challenges for Raghav FM or for that matter any FM radio at a community

level without license are umpteen-legal, financial, and technological, and of

course those related with livelihood and sustainability.

Besides, the legal issues have become critical with the Government

deciding to shut the Raghav FM.

However, many see Raghav FM fitting the community radio

network, though the concept is still buried in the government files with no

policy resolution and notification to this effect yet. The only exception to

community radio is its use being allowed mostly in campuses of educational

institutions and that too up to 50 watts only, with the height of the tower up

to 30 m from the ground level.

Nevertheless Raghav FM typically fits the bill as

'community radio for social transformation' and could have been experimented

for its technological reasons of being highly economical, in the campus

environment too. With the current community broadcasting criteria Raghav

didn't qualify for the same as no individual or community is permitted to own

a license and run a community radio. But TRAI recommendations for community

radio should make the likes of Raghav, a legitimate owner.

The e-Gov Issue



What Raghav 'invented', what purposes it served, and finally why was it

being labeled something as illegal are the moot queries for many-including

Raghav, the villagers of Mansoorpur and the other village level entrepreneurs

who have been inundating this young innovator with request for technology help

to set up similar services.

There is, however, a bigger question that is being asked by

many NGOs and civil society bodies. If running the typical radio apparatus for

almost three years created more benefits than any ill effects, then why should

it be curbed at all? Are rules and regulations biblical injunctions that they

cannot be changed to meet the larger societal goal, particularly if India is now

going full throttle ahead with it e-Gov initiative? Should the country continue

with its archaic laws and stifle the grassroots ICT interventions and

innovations?

CSC is the Key



While the fate of community radio policy still continues in hang in fire,

Raghav FM technology or likes can be acquired at a cost by the government and

they are made a compulsory extension of 100,000 Common Service Centers (CSCs)

that the Government of India is rolling out in the next two years.

The key to this lies in the fact that India is still

largely a country of people who are more dependent on verbal communication than

on information in print form. What this also means, is that for communication

and empowerment to go together, audio-visual medium should be adopted for rural

empowerment.

While the knowledge center equipped with the best of IT

paraphernalia would certainly be a boon, it has a limiting factor-it's

dependence on skilled manpower to achieve best effect and impact. On the other

hand we have Raghav's cheap FM technology available, which can be optimally

exploited to offer many of the services that the government proposes to deliver

through these CSCs.

Not that the concept does not pose threat, the security

threat being the prime amongst others. However, the issue can easily be handled

by making the Village Level Entrepreneur (VLEs) running the CSC responsible for

the content on the local FM Radio. Not only has Raghav FM showed the way to a

low cost solution, it has also given the proof of concept of a service of the

community, by the community, and for the community.

No wonder then, villagers wholeheartedly admitted they

started having vital information through contents in local language instead of

usual radio or TV broadcastings in Hindi and English. One of the key reasons why

Raghav FM had become popular among the women of Mansoorpur, is because it

informed about all health related issues that the illiterate village women

couldn't have accessed despite the posters that health service centers paste

on trees and walls across villages.

Since the roll out of CSCs are through a proper channel of

state level Service Center Agencies (SCAs) and VLEs, the accountability and

ownership is identified. What this means is that adding Raghav's cheap FM

technology into each of the CSCs would have least chance of being used for any

illegal activities.

Finally, there seems to be only two fates for Raghav and

his innovative idea to run community radio. If the Cabinet Council accepts the

proposal for the community radio, Raghav FM could not only be saved, but

hundreds of such community radios can change the educational, social, and

economic situation of the country. Grassroots governance shall be redefined

permanently.

Regenerating resources and knowledge in grassroots India

can be largely determined by community radio and mechanisms like that. In case

the Government is still not ready to open licensing for actual community radio

networks, it could well be the end of raw and rural talents like Raghav Mahto

and also community empowerment may hit a roadblock that shall take years to

overcome.

Shubhendu Parth

and Osama Manzar



mail@dqindia.com