Towards an equitable policy on Community Radio

Courtesy:  www.thehindu.com

VINOD PAVARALA, RAM BHATUpdated: September 9, 2014 19:26 IST 

elecom Regulatory Authority of India's recent recommendation to deny news broadcasting rights to community radio amounts to denial of freedom of speech.

India is host to about 170 community radio stations spread across the length and breadth of the country. The movement for community broadcasting had its roots in the late 1990s when activists and community members worked together to leverage a crucial 1995 Supreme Court judgment declaring airwaves to be public property. After a decade of sustained advocacy, the government opened up community broadcasting to educational institutions in 2003-04. Two years later, on November 16, 2006, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting released guidelines on community radio – opening up the airwaves to non-profit organizations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, in addition to educational institutions.

Read More At:  http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/community-radio-in-need-of-an-equitable-policy/article6394352.ece