"TIMES NEWS NETWORK [SATURDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2002 01:59:04 AM] KURNOOL: India's first community radio has been launched at Orvakallu in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday. The woman members of the Mandal Ikya Sangham, who spent over Rs 25,000, to set up the radio station, named Mana Radio, formally launched the broadcast on Friday. The radio station is located in a small room in this village about 30 km from Kurnool town."

This was the first national media report following the formal launch of the station on October 2, commemorating the birthdate of Mahatma Gandhi. Despite this, right from the outset, the station was under threat from the government, which had not yet framed rules* under which such a village center could operate. A member of the implementation agency says, "There was actually a chap from the MIB that came to enquire about the station and to threaten. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, hoping we don't get arrested and the equipment seized. Signals are still crossed and not green, unfortunately."

Activists who had earlier attempted (and failed) to get central government permission for larger stations were also upset that this village microstation apparently had the blessings of the state government. "It is the World Bank lead cosmetic intervention by the Chandrababu Naidu government....World Bank gets a green signal...". This misconception was settled with the role of UNDP (not World Bank) in the nodal agency (which is aided administratively by the state government) being clarified.

A report in the international media, Gerald Brown's e-broadcastasia network, reported on the programme content, "The station's first own produced programs, included a play and a news bulletin and received good response from the villagers. Other contents include songs, talks on agriculture, animal husbandry and telling of local jokes. Mana Radio is [far] from being conventional radio as we know it, but it is home grown. Some 30 young men were also trained for three days in producing program material. Mana Radio broadcasts on 90 mhz FM reaching just 1 kilometer but will increase power shortly to reach 5 km. A local SERP official said Mana Radio would help promote a feeling of pride in the village community."

Although the station had been operational officially from October 2, 2002, formal guidelines governing the operation of 'community radio' were made public only around the middle of January, 2003. There are no provisions for stations run by villagers under these guidelines. Only recognised educational institutions (sponsored by either the relevant State education ministry or the Central human resources ministry) may apply, to start stations with a reach of approximately 5 km radius.

Shortly thereafter, on Tuesday, Feb 11, 2003, officials of the central government came to the village, seized the equipment and closed down the station. No reason was given in writing, with the concerned officer pleading that instructions had been sent from the Central ministry of telecommunications. The seized equipment is still sequestered at the local police station, and an appeal for release has not been fruitful.

A scattering of news reports have emerged following the shutdown. In the Hyderabad based Deccan Herald, a news item on Feb 13, 2003 reported, "According to the official who seized the transmitter on Tuesday, he received an advisory from the DoT's monitoring agency to seize the transmitter since it had not been licensed by the Wireless Planning Coordination wing as required under the law." Significantly, the Wireless Planning Coordination wing of the ministry of telecommunications is the last in a long list of agencies whose approval is necessary before broadcasting can be initiated. The WPC issues a licence for broadcasting only after all the others have given their approval.

This document says that such stations shall "focus on issues relating to education, health, environment, agriculture, rural and community development. The content must be confined to social, cultural and local issues and the format, subject, presentation and language must reflect and exude the local flavour and fragrance." Further, they shall not carry political content or commercials (advertising). There are more conditions regarding content which are fairly commonesensical in nature, regarding restriction of religious and social content. In fact, the station content production focused on local issues and was only produced in the local dialect, except for the messages given by state officials. It is highly unlikely that anyone had objections to the content.

Since Radiophony was consulted to help set up the station, we have ourselves written to the minister on April 16 2003. We received a reply dated 27 May 2003 from the joint Wireless Advisor of the Ministry of Communications and information Technology. It says, “you may kindly approach the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, with your proposal on community FM Radio Broadcast for Obtaining their Subsequently this Ministry may be approached, for radio frequency assignment, along with the “No Objection Certificate” obtained from the Ministry of I & B.”We replied, asking them to clarify how unlicensed wireless microphones and remote car locks are being sold openly in India, and Why the ministry is creating a roadblock to self empowerment of poor Indian villagers, to this, the Advisor replied on 28 July, 2003 that

“(i) Broadcasting is different from other usages of wireless. It is governed by the Broadcasting policy under the Ministry of information and Broadcasting, and
(ii) Use of certain wireless toys & gadgets under certain conditions are exempted from licensing requirements, in specified frequency bands.”
We have now asked for clarification of the specified frequency bands and where this information is published (especially since inexpensive wire less microphones freely use the public frequency band between 87.5 and 108 MHz, supposedly reserved for broadcast).

*As of July 2003, this situation continues. Government guidelines on 'community radio' broadcasting have been framed to permit setting up much larger radio stations, reaching areas of over 75 sq km, operating from recognised educational institutions. Village schools do not have the resources to initiate such ambitious ventures.