Vellore’s first community radio 90.8 FM was inaugurated by AISMK president R Sarathkumar at a function held at the VIT university on Thursday.

Nicknamed ‘VIT Panbalai 90.8’ with a tagline of ‘engage, evolve, empower,’ the radio broadcast is expected to have a reach of 15 km radius in and around the university campus to benefit the local residents. To begin with, the broadcast will be restricted to three hours of infotainment programmes everyday and gradually increased in the following months.

VIT chancellor G Viswanathan noted that the licence for the radio was obtained last year. “We want the programmes to benefit the neighbourhood community, especially youngsters,” he said. The content for the programmes will be produced by VIT students from the club VIT Teamspeak, that has been formed for this.

Besides entertainment, there will be more for learning. “The government should also allow universities to operate community television channels on the lines of foreign countries,” he appealed.

The university has set up an exclusive acoustically treated studio with facilities for recording, talkback, transmission control booths, editing section and post-production centre, at an estimated cost of Rs 40 lakh, said Dr K Chidambaram, director of the community radio scheme.

“We would like to make this a good platform for our students to improve their communication skills and provide better understanding of current affairs by producing as well as participating in programmes that would include interaction with local residents for their empowerment,” he added.

Sarathkumar, in his inaugural address said, “I expect the radio to guide the rural masses to promote agriculture and the joint family culture. Narrating his struggles and failures, he advised youngsters not despair at failures and face challenges without fear. “Discover the values in you and get involved in democratic system and try to clean it up,” he advised them. He took part in an interview conducted by the students which was broadcast live, and appealed to them to play a vital role in politics, which he said was ‘an extension of social service’.

Sarathkumar also inaugurated a professionally-built multimedia and animation studio at the School of Information Technology (SITE) and Engineering at a cost of ` 75 lakh, to benefit the students of bachelor-level course in the field.

Source The Indian Express