Community radio stations in a fix over govt. bid to monitor content

Just months before the Information and Broadcasting Ministry reached out to civil society-operated community radio stations to gain greater control over content, by directing them to mail their content daily through an order dated April 30, the former Secretary Bimal Julka had already prepared the ground for it.

On January 29, Mr. Julka wrote: “At present, about 180 community radio stations are operational in different parts of the country. At this moment, this Ministry has no mechanism to monitor the contents of these community radio stations. Therefore there is a need to be vigilant about the possibility of misuse of CRS by anti-social elements.”

Following this letter, the Home Ministry shot off a directive to all Chief Secretaries of States, highlighting the importance of monitoring content. A letter dated, February 19, 2015 states, “State governments may arrange to monitor the contents of the programme broadcast by these community radio stations located in their respective regions and sensitise all district administrations in this regard.”

In April came the order that created a furore. Following the publication of that order in The Hindu, Mr. Julka clarified that it was passed without his knowledge and it was not the intention of the government to act as the censor for community radio operators.

That order read: “You are requested to provide recordings of all programmes broadcast on daily basis from the date of receipt of this letter along with the logbook and the Q sheet. Please provide the recordings in MP3 format.”

Now, an order from the Odisha government, dated December 1, calls Collectors to form a monitoring committee consisting of the sub-collectors, the sub-divisional police officer, representative of Doordarshan, All India Radio and two more members to monitor contents of community radio stations.

The letter, a copy of which is with The Hindu, could well set the trend for the rest of the country.

The recent notification from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has put community radio operators in a fix as it orders them to submit to security clearance from the Home Ministry if they want their licences to be renewed, a process which will take months. Most of the operators do not have a clue about the legal status of their broadcast stations in the interim.

The November 26 notification from the I&B Ministry under the subject, fresh security clearance for the renewal of Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) for the next five years to establish, maintain and operate community radio station, directs operators to furnish details/information of their governing body members and trustees. The licences are given for five years. The licences for FM on the other hand, are valid for 15 years.

‘It shows distrust’

Vinod Pavarala, professor and UNESCO chair on Community Media, Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad said: “Why the government is subjecting community radio operators to this scrutiny reveals their distrust. Unfortunately, the MIB seems to have moved away from its avowed facilitation role and got caught in a security mindset.”

According to the figures available with the Ministry, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of CRSs with 27, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 23. Maharashtra has 17, Madhya Pradesh 15, and Karnataka 14 stations. Uttarakhand, Haryana and Odisha have nine each; Kerala and Rajasthan eight each; Delhi and Gujarat six each; Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Telangana five each; Assam, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Punjab, and West Bengal three each; Himachal Pradesh has two and Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand have one each.

There are only three in the North-East and one in Jammu and Kashmir. And though the scheme was launched nearly 13 years ago, it was only in 2006 the ambit of CRS was widened to include non-governmental and community-based organisations.