The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoIB) issued 11 new Letter of Intents for Community Radio Stations on December 12, 2014.

The ministry recognizes Community Radio as a tool for the government to reach the people in an effective and interactive way.

The MoIB granted 41 LOIs in the year of 2014. Currently, there are 500 LoI holders in the country, out of which 91 organisations have cancelled their LOIs. About 108 cases for Frequency Allocation are pending with the Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing (WPC) of the Ministry of Communications and IT. The average duration of pendency of Community Radio Applications at WPC is about 2.5 years.

The ministry has taken various steps and actions to clear the pendency, as without Frequency Allocation none of the Community Radio application could be processed further.

In the recent list of Letter of Intents issued by MoIB, Krishi Vigyan Kendras received a total of 5 LOIs — 2 for Bihar, 2 for Haryana and 1 for Uttar Pradesh. The educational institutes received 2 LOIs and non profit organisations got 4 LOIs.

MoIB issued new LoIs to following organizations:

1. All India Society for Electronics & Computer Technology, Madhya Pradesh
2. Vanvasi Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bihar
3. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Baghra,Uttar Pradesh
4. Nilgiris Adivasi welfare Association, Tamil Nadu
5. Yuva Jagriti Samiti, Sukhma, Chhattisgarh
6. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kurukshetra, Haryana
7. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jhajjar, Haryana
8. Bajrang Yuva Sansthan, Sitamarhi, Bihar
9. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Katihar, Bihar
10. Mewar University, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan
11. Jagriti Garwal Janjagran Sanstha, Uttarakhand

Author: Nilofar, CRFC/ OneWorld