The Hindu Business Line : Organisation to represent community radio soon

CRF is expected to serve as a platform to further the growth of community radio movement in the country. It hopes to help establish better links between communities, radio broadcasters, the Government, funding agencies and other broadcast media.

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Thiruvananthapuram Jan. 31 India will soon have an organisation to represent community radio broadcasters and others associated with the community radio movement.

Likely to be called as the Community Radio Forum-India (CRF), the organisation will be formally launched at a meeting to be held in New Delhi on Thursday, said a radio expert who is part of the team working to set up the CRF.

The organisation is expected to evolve into an open, collective and representative agency for the community radio movement in India, he added. It is also expected to help establish better links between communities, radio broadcasters, the Government, funding agencies and other broadcast media. The CRF could also help communities and organisations that are setting up their own community radio stations.

Radio Growth

According to the Community Radio Policy announced by the Government of India in November 2006, community-based groups and non-governmental organisations can set up and run low-powered FM radio stations.

Thus, the CRF is expected to serve as a platform to further the growth of the community radio movement in the country.

The one-day meeting in New Delhi on Thursday is expected to discuss various issues related to setting up the CRF, including its role, structure and activities. Current and potential community broadcasters, academics, Government officials, representatives of funding agencies and non-governmental organisations are among those scheduled to attend the meeting to be held at the India International Centre.

Meanwhile, UNESCO, Plan International, CARE India and OneWorld South Asia are jointly hosting another forum on `Community radio: Innovation, low-cost solutions and access' in New Delhi on Friday.

The forum, which is being organised as part of the broadcast exhibition `BES Expo 2007', will be accompanied by a three-day exhibition on low-cost technology solutions for community radio.