With an objective to inform the participants about the Community Radio licensing procedure, DAVP empanelment and to empower the grassroots leaders to act as facilitators in their respective regions, Community Radio Facilitation Centre (CRFC) conducted a four day workshop at India Habitat Centre.

Addressing the participants, Inderjeet Grewal, Deputy Director, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, noted that the CR application procedure is very slow as about 400 applications are in loop due to various reasons. They are on the way to start a single window clearance.

He further appreciated the government’s financial support of Rs 100 cr for the applicants as well as the operational CR stations. He said that the funds can be used under three sections i.e. innovation grants, emergency ground and capacity building.

The highlight of the workshop was the filling up of Community Radio Applications as a group activity. The participants responded this activity as the most useful and informative part.

After the completion of the four-day event, participants supported the initiative and agreed to act as CRFC’s regional facilitators, support the centre in translation of queries recorded on the facilitation centre’s IVRS in the regional languages.

N Ramakrishnan, Executive Director, Ideosync Media Combine, took the queries of the participants on technical front. He also described the importance of correct geo-coordinates and different apps to find out the exact geo-coordinates.

While addressing the session ‘Interministerial Coordination & its Role, K S Rejimon, Director, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, informed the participants about the role of the different ministries in getting the licence cleared.

Jitender Sharma from Kisan Vani CR, Madhya Pradesh, shared his experiences with the interns about the kind of facilitation he has been providing to the other potential CR applicants. He also discussed various issues which include the queries and problems raised by the CR applicants, about the managements of the funds required to set up the Community Radio Station.

Author: Ruby Rani/ OneWorld