Community Radio Station, Technology, Implementation & impactanalysis in India

By

Dr. H.O. Srivastava, President, World Development Foundationand former Addl. Director General, All India Radio &

Doordarshan

1 Overview1.1 Introduction

Starting a radio station has for many years been completely out of reach for the general public. Universities/ Colleges/ Institutes in India have won a rare opportunity to apply for an extremely valuable radio station for free.

The guidelines of the Ministry of Information & Broadcastingallows recognized Universities, colleges, residential schoolsand NGOs to set up ‘community radio’. These stations canbroadcast educational programmes, debates, social and culturalprogrammes. Limited commercial has been allowed. The mainobjective of granting the license is to impart the educationthrough FM Radio to the students living within the campus andalso in the adjoining areas. The radio station can also beused by the institutions / NGOs to develop the community. Asper existing Regulations, the community radio can be set uponly by recognized institutes/ colleges/ University/NGOs.There are a few other restrictions on the type of hardware tobe used as well as content to be broadcast.

1.2 Scope

The present report provides features of the community radio inIndia and the way to set up the same.

2 Features of CRS allowed by the Government

Government shall grant licenses to eligible applicants, free of cost. However, they shall have to pay spectrum fee to Wireless Planning and Coordination department of Ministry of communication.

Initially licenses shall be granted for a period of five years only. Government may extend the period of license at its discretion.

The composition of the programming of the Community RadioStations will be in terms of dissemination of information, lectures, debates and other formal and non-formal education for social cause. The programme shall follow AIR Code.

The community radio stations (CRS) shall be operated in FM (frequency modulation) mode. The power of FM Transmitters of CRS will be 100 Watts or less. In certaincases, the power can go upto 250 Watts (ERP). These RadioStations will be able to provide high quality Radio Service in a radial area of about 10-20 KM.

The tower which is used to mount the antenna on its top shall be of a maximum height of 30 meters.

There are other technical parameters set for various equipment used such as transmitter, tower, antenna etc. which are to be taken care by the implementing agency.

3 Type of Programmes allowed on CRS Educational programmes for benefit of students. Re-

enforcement of class lectures. Courseware. Programmes for School Children. Science Programmes. Students’ interactive programmes. Programmes for enhancing spoken and written English

Infotainment

Social awareness. Community development. Programme on upliftment of poor and challenged

Job/ career opportunities for students After 10 / 12 what? Programmes featuring on various courses in

Universities Job opportunities for various courses Interaction with HODs and students from various

departments Phone-in interaction Health programmes; hygiene, vaccination, Siddha medicine,

Naturopathy and Ayurveda Sports information General knowledge programmes. Science Quizzes Grooming Interview Etiquettes Telephone and Mobile Etiquettes Improving Vocabulary, Preparation for TOFEL Unadulterated talents of Child prodigies in Music Programmes highlighting consumer issues: Consumer Act,

rights and responsibilities Highlight on various aspects of management Wide coverage on

HRD Communication Motivation Marketing, Finance and so on

Programme on agriculture

4 Hardware / Software

A radio station has basically three components. These are

Studio, for live broadcasts or recording programme for later broadcasts

Transmitter, to convert the speech into a high frequency signal for transmission and

Tower with antenna. An antenna mounted on a high pole or a tower is used to send signal in a large area.

The first stage for starting a radio station is obtaining a suitable location. A room of about 400 sq. ft. area is to be identified in one of the existing buildings or specially buildfor the radio station. This room will have to be divided into two sections by a suitable partition with Observation window. The smaller partition is for the equipment meant for recordingand transmission. The slightly bigger portion becomes the studio. It will have a microphone, simple chairs and a table for the participants to sit and talk with. The Microphone can be installed on the table or fixed on an adjustable stand.

For proper maintenance of the equipments the room should beair-conditioned. Keeping in view the condition of power supplyin Indian environment, a UPS /Diesel generator is recommended.

Typical on-air studio system and automatic broadcast systemare shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 2. The Automated broadcast systemallows scheduling of playlist for auto operation of the radiostation.

Fig.1

Typical On-Air Studio Block Typical On-Air Studio Block DiagramDiagram

PSTN Line

Phone-In Console

Record / PlaybackWorkstation

ServerCassetteRecorder

Patch Panel

Microphones

On-Air Console

Monitoring System

Transmitter

Fig. 2. Scheduler of Radio Broadcasting System, Courtesy WDF India

4.1 Broadcast equipment

The owner of the radio station will decide how sophisticatedor elaborate equipments the radio station will have. It can besimple analog studio using cassette decks and CD players or asophisticated Hard Disk Based digital system. It is advisableto have twin FM transmitter in (1 + 1) mode. A PC basedrecording system and at least two CD / Cassette Decks forrecording and playback are desirable. For outdoor recordingsportable cassette players with recording facility, can beused. Microphone attachments instead of in-built microphonesnaturally give better clarity in recordings. For goodreception, a tower of 30 meter height is required. If a multi

storeyed building is available, a tower on the roof top can beused to mount the antenna.

This kind of hardware does not need extensive maintenance. Thetransmitter in the dual mode should work during its lifewithout any problem. All the equipment is under warrantee fora period of one year. A few volunteers may be providedthorough training to run and operate it. Similarly training isrequired for programme production and announcement etc.

4.2 Specific solutions

Every organization needs special solution.

5. Steps involved in implementation

Very briefly, the steps involved in executing a CRS project are as follows:

Filing application with Ministry Getting the license Preliminary system design and layout Signing MOU with Government Obtaining frequency from WPC• SACFA Clearance (This is required to be obtained from

WPC for locating the tower)• System specification and hardware requirement

determination• Selection of vendor and contractor• Procurement of equipment• Building• Tower• Power supply System• Ventilation & Air-conditioning System• Installation and commissioning• Training in Hardware and Programme Production• Operation and use

6. Impact Assessment & evaluation of the field deployment

For any programme, an honest evaluation of impact is essential. For this purpose, a Community Radio Station established by World Development Foundation, New Delhi at Birsa Agriculture University Ranchi, by grants issued by MediaLab Asia, Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India was selected.

Birsa Hariyali Ranchi (Jharkhand), IndiaAbout the CRS

Freq. 107.4 MHz, FMPower 100 WattCoverage About 15 KM

Inauguration by H.E. Governor of Jharkhand on 3rd March 2008

Capacity Building Program by World Development Foundation, atRanchi

Type of Broadcasts

Agriculture programmes, Sam Samaik (Group discussion)patrottar (Reply to Questions of Farmers) Grih Vatika(Gardening in Home) etc. the source of news isnewspaper, TV and cable news. The weather forecastand information to farmer is from Agro-met AdvisoryService of Department of Agricultural Physics andMeteorology, Birsa Agricultural University.

The programme consists of local songs sung by localsingers.

Market rate is by whole-sale markets, business menand linkages with SHG of different villages, NGOs,Piggery farm, Goat farm, nurseries, dairy farm, AIR,Doordarshan and different media houses andinstitutions. Interview of legal advisors, careercouncilors, bank officials, scientist experts, blockofficials, health educators, doctors, physiatrists

etc are relayed from time to line which are beingappreciated by the listeners.

A FEW SUCCESS STORIES (Reported by the DirectorExtension, BAU, Ranchi)

“Birsa Hariyali has changed many lives. Let’s visit someof them and share their experiences that how their lifechanged”

Ram Lagan: Pithoria

Let’s meet Shri Ram Lagan Mahli of PithoriaVillage (Ranchi). He is a farmer as well ascollects money for the local ‘Hat-Bazar’(market). Initially he was a simple traditionalfarmer with no particular ideas for hisdevelopment. He came in contact of their radiostaff during the visit to his village. He thenstarted listening to our programmers.

The update information about agriculturalpractices helped him a lot and through radio hecame in contact with the wholesalers and startedselling his produce mainly vegetables forminggroup from his local haat/bazaar (market). Thefeature on improved rearing animal broadcastthrough BHRS helped him and the detailinformation about B.A.U. Goat Farm encouraged himto keep goats encouraged him to adopt forimproved goat rearing and now a days apart fromother sources goat husbandry has become one ofhis major earning source and his life style isimproving day-by-day.

He is always in our contact and takes help fromthe University scientists. Radio staff his alsointerlinked him with some progressive farmers ofthe area and he is being benefited a lot.

Anita Devi, Boreya

Now let’s move to another village Boreya wherethe people use to listen to Birsa Hariyali Radioon a regular basis. The Radio Staff moved to thatvillage an entered in the life of Smt. AnitaDevi. She is a vegetable seller. She owns a smallholding in which she grows gets cauliflowercabbage, etc. as the main vegetables and hersource of income was confined to it. She had toperform all the activities herself which was verydifficult as she has three small children and herhusband was not sincere.

Apart from vegetable cultivation she wasinterested to start mushroom production afterlistening about mushroom from Birsa hariyaliRadio Station. She contacted the mushroomscientists of the University and after undergoinga short training she started mushroom production.

The radio staff talked to her and linked her withthe local market. She now produces vegetables aswell as mushrooms. Farm the income accruing fromthese ventures she manages the house and sendsher children to school as she can stay at homeand look after the house.

Khusbu, Nagri

In another village Nagri, a school girl Khushbustudying in class X also uses to listen to BirsaHariyali Radio Station.

Initially she used to help her parents inhousehold activities and used to go to school butafter hearing our programmes she started takingactive interest in the field in assisting herparents and asking them to follow the newinformation provided by us.

She insisted them to try the things ourscientists and progressive farmers told throughour programmes. Her queries came frequently to usand the result was better farming.

The best part was that she started taking keeninterest in her studies and even educating theothers. Time to time she uses to visit our RadioStation and give message to the other children toco-operate their parents and try the newinformation.

Nishad, Ormanjhi

Nishad Ahmad is a college student who afterlistening Birsa Hariyali Radio Station hasemerged as a talented figure.

He’s son of a small farmer who was only anordinary boy of Bukru till he came in ourcontact. We provided him a platform to sing as hehad good voice which made him known to otherpeople as well as it developed confidence in him.

We provided him information about the variousprogrammes where now he’s trying his luck. Heeven started helping his father in agriculturalworks. He even started helping his friend ImtiyazAhmad who is fatherless and has lot of burden onhim. They are our regular listeners beingbenefited by our programmes.

Balkishore Munda, Manatu, Ratu

Let’s move to Ratu Block where Balkishore Munda afarmer of Manatu has become a developed farmerafter he established a mange orchard aftergetting information from us. He has lot of landwhich was not good for crops and he utilized itfor pomology.

Tribhuwan Awasthi, Ranchi

One another person Tribhuwan Awasthi opened hisnursery on a plot he was not using before forcrops and now he is having a successful business.

Deepak Chourasia, Ranchi

Let’s meet another educated man whose life ischanged after listening Birsa Hariyali Radio.

A teacher, Deepak Chourasia consideredagriculture as uneducated persons’ affair butafter regularly listening to our radio his viewsand ideas started changing and he slowly movedtowards fields. Hogged with teaching he’s now agood farmer.

His fields which were barren or had fewer cropsnow are filled with crops.

Day by day we are having more and more listeners.Not only farmers but we have list many studentwho have opted for there careers after listeningus “

Source: Inputs provided by Dr. R. P. Singh ‘Ratan’,Director Extension, Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi,in the Workshop held by WDF on 15th and 16th Jan. 2009 inDelhi.7. ConclusionCommunity Radio Station has great potential for education and social development. It is easy to set up, operate and run it after training. It is most economical tool to reach the massesand have a quick communication. It can also be used in conjunction with Phone / Mobile and Internet system to make ittwo way interactive system.

Biodata of the author

Dr. H. O. Srivastava is the President of World developmentFoundation. He is Honorary Director of Technical Education &Research Institute, Ghazipur UP, Member of Governing Council,IIMT, Meerut, Broadcaster, consultant, Visiting professor andacademician. He is former Chief Engineer of All India Radioand Doordarshan. Earlier as Chief Engineer in DirectorateGeneral All India Radio, he has been responsible for expansionof broadcast system in the country.

He established IT Division of All India Radio, formulated andpiloted the proposal for establishment of BECIL, a publicsector undertaking of Min of I&B, established AIR Resources, awing for sharing infrastructure of All India Radio andDoordarshan with private broadcasters, among others. He workedfor the policy formulation of Community Radio Stations (CRSs)

and was pivotal in signing a number of MOUs for consultancyfor expansion of broadcasting in private sector. This includedMOU with IGNOU for educational broadcasts and helping Ministry ofAgriculture in establishing network for agriculture broadcastfor the farmers in the entire country using AIR / TV network.

Dr. Srivastava received the Master of Science (Electronics)degree from Gorakhpur University in 1967, Ph. D. Degree inChemistry from Poorvanchal University in 1996 and another Ph.D. degree in Information Systems from BITS Pilani in 1999. Hegot training in the Information Technology and Management inUK, USA, Japan and Norway. He worked as Commonwealth Expert in1991 and ITU Expert in 1992.

He has published one hundred fifty articles in national andinternational journals including IEEE transactions and hasauthored three books namely “Interactive Television Technologyand Markets” published by Artech House, Boston, USA in 2002and “Broadcast Technology: A Review” in 1999, “PrasaranTakniki: Aaj, Kal aur Aaj” in 2004.

Awards & Recognitions Life time achievement award for most significant

contribution in the field of Broadcasting by Institutionof Electronics & Telecommunication Engineers (India).

Asia Pacific Broadcasting award for the year 1984, 1985,1986, 1987, 1988 & 1990.

Commonwealth Expert in Malaysia in 1991. ITU Expert in Malaysia in 1992. ITU Delegate in Vietnam in 1995. International Who' Who 1998. Marquis Who's Who in the World 2001. Chairman IETE Delhi 2004-2006 Declared Ghazipur Gaurav 2009

His areas of interest are Information System, Digital storage,Multimedia Broadcasting and Broadcast application for socialissues. He is keenly associated with expansion of CRS andother means of new media for social cause.

Contact address:

Res:

325, Krishi Apt.Vikaspuri-D, New Delhi-110018 Phone: 9810523668Email: drhosrivastava@gmail.com

WDF OfficePlot 5, Sector 3, Dwarka ,Karuna Kunj, New Delhi-110075, Phone:011 25082764Email: wdfindia@yahoo.co.indrhosrivastava@gmail.com