‘Noida Lok Manch’ launches its Community Radio in Noida

Radio Noida Ki Awaaz’ will cater to around 25 villages with an approximate population of 15,000.

‘Noida Lok Manch’, a nonprofit, based in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, launched the first Community Radio Station of the district on August 9, 2014. The Community Radio Station, ‘Radio Noida Ki Awaaz’ was inaugurated by a retired IAS officer Yogendra Narain and former central Cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar.

‘Radio Noida Ki Awaaz’, broadcasting on the frequency 91.2 Mhz, would be catering to the interests of specific ‘community’. It would primarily be broadcasting content which is not covered by mainline media and broadcasters. The content catering to the local audience would be popular and need-based.

Around 25 villages with an approximate population of 15,000 would be targeted by the Community Radio Station.

Mahesh Saksena, General Secretary, ‘Noida Lok Manch’, is of the opinion that Community Radio will be beneficial for the city and its surrounding areas. “The radio will raise issues pertaining to the grassroots level,” Saksena said.

‘Radio Noida Ki Awaaz’ is the first Community Radio Station to be launched in the Greater Noida area. The Community Radio Station would mainly focus on building awareness about government programmes for the unprivileged sections of the society on issues related to health, education, skill training and social justice.

‘Noida Lok Manch’ submitted their grant for setting up Community Radio application to the CR Cell at the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoIB) in April 2010. They received the Letter of Intent (LoI) from the MoIB in November 2012. After a long struggle with the cumbersome licensing procedure they received the final Wireless Operating License (WOL) from the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

Apart from Radio ‘Noida Ki Awaaz’, the other operational Community Radio Stations located in Noida are ‘Radio Noida’, ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Radio Amity’. According to the current scenario all the operational Community Radio Stations operational in the mentioned region are run by Educational Colleges or Institutions. ‘Radio Noida Ki Awaaz’ would be the first NGO run Community Radio Station of Noida city.

Author: Rupica Saxena Bisht, CRFC/ OneWorld