The Revised Policy Guidelines for Setting up Community Radio Stations in India were issued by Anurag Singh Thakur, the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Youth Affairs & Sports on February 13, 2024 on the occasion of the World Radio Day. These guidelines were released during the event, ‘Regional Community Radio Sammelan (South)’, held at Anna University (Chennai) and marked 20 years of community radio in India. The event was attended by over 100 representative of community radio stations (CRSs) located in the southern states and union territories as well as other community media experts.
Meaning of Community Radio Stations
In radio broadcasting, there is a significant third tier, known as Community Radio, the other two being Public Service Radio and Commercial Radio. The low power CRSs are designed for and by local communities. Due to their integrated approach, they can encourage the participation of people in various development programmes. These stations broadcast programmes relevant to the local communities, and thus directly and intimately interact with the local communities.
The main objective of the CRSs is to broadcast information in regional languages and dialects. It enables communities to listen to broadcast issues related to agriculture, health, nutrition, and education in local voices, which facilitates community empowerment. In these stations, the employees raise local specific issues and discuss them using local idioms. Community radio is an emerging concept through which unheard voices of the community can be known to others. It also acts as a storehouse of local cultural heritage and folk music. This is a common platform for local artists to demonstrate their talents and skills to the local communities. At present, around 481 CRSs are there in India. Out of these, more than 133 CRSs have started functioning for over the past two years.
Some Highlights of the Revised Guidelines
Some of the revised guidelines are summarised as follows:
Basic principles In order to run a CRS, an organisation must comply with the following principles:
Apart from being an explicitly ‘non-profit’ organisation, it should have given minimum three years of service to the local community, with proven record.
The organisation should design its operative CRS in such a way that it provides service to the local community within its scope or coverage area.
Its management and ownership structure should reflect the local community to be served by the CRS.
It must be registered under the relevant act and at the time of application, it should be three years old.
NITI Aayog’s portal ‘NGO Darpan’ should be used to get the registration of NGOs, public charitable trusts, etc., and the applicant should have its Unique ID along with application.
Eligibility criteria Organisations eligible to apply for Community Radio licences include Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions, state agriculture universities (SAUs), autonomous bodies, registered societies, krishi vigyan kendras, civil society organisations, voluntary organisations, public charitable trusts, not-for-profit organisations set up by self-help groups (SHGs), and not-for-profit farmer producer organisations (FPOs). Educational institutions are also eligible for the same. These must fulfil the basic principles mentioned above.
However, the ineligible entities for setting up CRS are religious institutions, individuals, organisations banned by the Union and state governments, organisations for profit, and political parties and organisations or people affiliated to them.
Selection process and processing of applications The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) will notify a portal on which the applicants can apply online. They will be required to submit Rs 2,500 as a processing fee. Further, the concerned authorities shall process these applications in a systematic manner by an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary of the MIB.
If applicants are private organisations/institutions, they need to receive clearance from the ministries of home affairs and defence. In these guidelines, proper time schedule for receiving the clearances is specified.
The MIB will assess applications within one month, addressing any deficiencies or forwarding them for further clearance. Other ministries have three months to respond; if they do not, the IMC will make a decision. The Letter of Intent (LOI) is valid for one year, with a possible three-month extension upon request.
The LOI holder must sign a Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) with the MIB and provide a bank guarantee of Rs 25,000 for ten years, enabling them to apply for a wireless operating license (WOL) after paying the necessary fees. The CSR must be operational within one year of the LOI issuance or six months post-GOPA signing. Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Failure to adhere to the outlined timelines may result in cancellation of the LOI/GOPA and forfeiture of the bank guarantee.
This structured approach aims to streamline the establishment of community radio services while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
Conditions for grant of permission agreement The GOPA for CRSs in India has several key provisions. The initial GOPA period is ten years, and extensions are granted for five years based on an application and verification of adherence to the terms of permission. The application for extension must be submitted one year before the existing GOPA expires, and the GOPA of existing CRS will remain valid as per the agreement signed with the licensee. The ministry may seek reports on continuous CRS operation from local Akashvani Kendra or a deputed person/officer during the GOPA period. The GOPA and permission letter are non-transferable, and no permission fee is levied, but the permission holder must pay spectrum usage fees to the Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) wing of the Ministry of Communications. If a permission holder shuts down broadcasting for more than three months after commencing operations, their permission is liable to be cancelled. An eligible organisation may set up a maximum of six CRSs in different districts, provided the previous CRS has been operating continuously for at least one year when applying for subsequent CRS; only one CRS per district is allowed to the organisation; and local community participation and locally relevant content are ensured for each CRS. An organisation seeking multiple CRS may be required to submit an undertaking confirming locally prepared programmes. Permission holders must submit compliance reports on GOPA conditions as and when sought by the MIB in the prescribed format.
Content regulation and monitoring The programmes to be broadcast through CRS should be relevant to the community, such as educational, health, developmental, environmental, community development, agricultural, social welfare, and cultural programmes. A minimum of 50 per cent of the content must be created with the involvement of local community, with at least half of that content dedicated to women’s empowerment. The themes should extend beyond topics such as nutrition, breast feeding, pregnancy, recipes, and beauty. These programmes should represent the needs and interests of the community. Local language and dialect should be used in these programmes. The content to be broadcast on CRS shall be determined by an advisory and content committee formed by the licensee. This committee should consist of local community members, and half of them should be women. Besides, the CRS is permitted to broadcast the following:
- Live sports events
- Traffic and weather information
- Information regarding local cultural festivals and events
- Information on examinations, admissions, results, job opportunities, and career counselling
- Information related to natural calamities, high alerts, and civic amenities, like water supply and electricity
Further, the programmes to be broadcast should not include offensive content, criticism against friendly countries, criticism against religious communities, content that provokes violence and anti-national sentiments among the masses, content that promotes superstitions, degrades children and women, etc.
Revocation of permission agreement/imposition of penalty If the CRS violates the content regulations, the government may suo moto or considering the complaints inform the Inter-Ministerial Committees on Programme and Advertising Codes about the matter. These committees then recommend suitable penalties, which include the suspension of permission temporarily for a period of one (in case of first violation) to three (in case of second violation) months. However, in case of temporary suspension, as per the GOPA, the permission holder is supposed to fulfil its obligations while the suspension period is ongoing.
For other violations, permission may be revoked. In such a case, the permission holder cannot apply for a fresh permission, for a period of five years from the date of revocation. This penalty does not affect any legal actions under applicable laws, including the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933, as amended from time to time.
Transmitter power and range It is expected that CRS would work within a range of 5–10 km. This requires a transmitter with 100 W effective radiated power (ERP). However, if the applicant organisation proves that a larger area is needed by its CRS, a transmitter with a higher power, i.e., up to 250 W ERP, can be permitted by the government. But this needs approval of different government ministries. Further, a CRS can have an antenna of up to 30 metres height above the ground level. But the minimum height of such an antenna should be 15 metres above the ground level. This is important to safeguard the general public from radiofrequency (RF) radiation.
Funding and sustenance Funds can be borrowed from multilateral aid agencies by the applicant organisations. In case these organisations wish to set up CRS using foreign funds, they are supposed to obtain the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976 clearance. Besides, only the programmes sponsored by central and state governments and other organisations that broadcast content of public interest can be transmitted, while other sponsored programmes cannot. As far as announcements regarding local events and job opportunities, and advertisements regarding local businesses and services are concerned, they should be limited. Such advertisements should be broadcast for 12 minutes per hour only.
All the operational and capital expenditure of the CRS shall be covered by the income produced from advertisements and announcements. With the advanced written permission of the MIB, the additional income after fulfilling the financial requirements of the CRS can be used for the primary activities of the organisation, such as for education purposes if it is an educational institute.
Other Conditions
The primary goal of Community Radio broadcasting is to serve the local community by involving its members in programme production, focusing on the geographical area covered by the permission holder’s service. Each applicant must define the specific community they intend to serve, and the CRS must operate on a free-to-air basis. While the permission holder must adhere to the guidelines and the GOPA, they must also comply with any future regulations established by a regulatory authority. The permission holder is required to provide information to the government at specified intervals and maintain recordings of broadcasts for the past three months; failure to do so may result in revocation of the permission. Government representatives have the right to inspect broadcast facilities and gather necessary information. The government can revoke or suspend permissions in the interest of national security or during emergencies. Any foreign personnel involved in the CRS must obtain prior security clearance from the Government of India. The government reserves the right to modify terms and conditions as needed for public interest or security. Additionally, the permission holder must broadcast special messages as directed by the government during emergencies and submit audited annual accounts detailing income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities related to the CRS. The permission agreement may include additional conditions as determined by the government, which will also monitor advertisement ceilings, especially in areas with private FM stations.
Conclusion
Overall, CRS, being a cheaper medium, provides the best way to communicate with the community. Besides, it is a platform where different welfare schemes enforced by the government can be advertised for the knowledge of the local communities. CRS will now have more participation by women, which will facilitate women empowerment. Thus, these revised guidelines shall boost the growth of the community radio sector.
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