Charkha, Delhi : Newsletter for February - March 2006

Closure of a Radio Station

A local radio station run at Mansoorpur village, Bihar has gone off air, courtesy swift action of the local administration in Bihar. The radio station named ""Radio Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1 channel" was run by Raghav Mahto, a local electrician from his small shop. It was a source of joy for the local populace but unfortunately violated the law of the land. The annual license fee, according to government norms, for running such a radio station is around Rs 4 lakh per annum. Mahto, the sole earning member of his family, earns only around Rs 3000 per month from his shop.

Ironically, the radio station was forcibly closed by the district administration of Vaishali after national media splashed stories about its popularity and utility.

This incident has brought to the fore some important issues. First, the State continues to adopt an inflexible approach to incorporate grass root level initiatives in the developmental process.

Second, the national media has to do a fine balancing act while reporting on such issues. It also raises the question that whether the responsibility of national media is to only report such interesting stories or to take this process further by running campaigns on such issues. A double-column page one follow-up story may not be sufficient to revive Mahto’s radio station!

Third, the overwhelming response at the grass root level protesting the closure of this radio station has indicated that common people at grassroots level are not ready to be pushed against the wall by unimaginative administrative polices and legal procedures.

The incident is also an indication that the government has to do some out of box thinking to allow the optimum use of information and communication technology at the grass roots level.

Otherwise, attempts to bridge the growing digital divide between the affluent and the marginalized sections of society would not yield the desirable results.

We do hope to get continuous feedback from our readers about news reports and articles which are made available through Charkha’s English, Hindi and Urdu feature service. We also invite new writers to come and share this platform with us to realize our dreams of a new resurgent India by empowering marginalized sections of our society, especially in rural areas.

Arun Anand

Email - charkha@bol.net.in