Call it by any name – community radio, rural radio, cooperative radio or development radio – radio has played a significant role in providing entertainment and information to people across the country. The programmes of the national or regional stations may not adequately cater for the needs of rural communities. That is why community radio stations were initiated, to reach out to local people and bring them information that was relevant and useful to them. Community radio became a means to educate rural dwellers on development issues, especially pertinent to them.
In Odisha, NA Shah Ansari launched the first community radio ‘Radio Namaskar’ in Konark on February 12, 2010. He explained what prompted him to set up a community radio station: “I have been drawn towards the radio since childhood. When I was a kid, there was no electricity in our house. Moreover, every household did not have a television. Radio used to play a pivotal role in disseminating news. It was the only source of entertainment and information. I applied for the post of radio artiste at Akashvani Kendra twice but did not get the job. One day, I happened to see a central government advertisement seeking applications to set up community radios. I applied without wasting any time and got the approval to set up Odisha’s first community radio, Radio Namaskar, in Konark in 2010.”
Hailing from Ansar village in Konark, Ansari was determined to work for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society since his schooldays. “I had vowed to heal the bitter wounds of society caused by social inequality and injustice and it prompted me to join the National Service Scheme which helped me hone my leadership qualities. I represented NSS at the International Youth Festival, Japan. Later, I was associated with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (an autonomous youth wing of the Government of India) and actively organised several youth development events across the country. As a student, I founded an organisation called Young India, which undertook several initiatives for the promotion of volunteerism and youth empowerment. I received the National Youth Award for being the best volunteer working for the development and welfare of youth.”
Ansari, who is a recipient of the best volunteer award from Utkal University, State NSS Award and Indira Gandhi NSS Award, described the features and role of Radio Namaskar. “Available at 90.4 MHz FM, we cover all villages in four blocks (Gop, Nimapada, Kakatpur and Astarang) of Konark in Puri district. Most of our listeners are farmers, fishermen and other resource poor people. The station is managed by the local community members. There are eight full-time workers who are from the community. They joined as volunteers and are now leading the entire broadcasting and content generation unit. Radio Namaskar has not recruited any professional staff. About 80 per cent of the programmes are made by the community, which have been divided into 72 listener groups thus making group listening a common practice. Community members are encouraged to use mobile phones extensively to make the programmes interactive.”
Ansari added: “There is no voice audition for participation in any programme. Our listener groups suggest programme ideas. More than 80 per cent of the programmes of Radio Namaskar are recorded in the field. The listeners’ groups finalise the content plan and the recordings are done by radio volunteers. The Radio Management Committee, comprising representatives of listener groups of different villages, finalises the content for broadcasting. We have not received any funding support or sponsored programmes for Radio Namaskar.”
Radio Namaskar has received the National Community Radio Awards from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting twice. It has also received many prestigious awards like the South Asia Manthan Award, mBillionth South Asia Award and LAADLI Award for its work towards improving the quality of life among the rural people.
Radio Namaskar broadcasts eight hours a day and covers almost all developmental topics such as school- and education-related issues, women’s rights, agriculture, and so on. It also provides information on government schemes. Since the programmes are by the community, there are some that are complaint-based and critical of the government. As a result, local authorities have become alert and responsive and are delivering benefits that they never used to earlier.
According to Ansari, ‘Chasa Basa Katha,’ ‘Jana Soochana,’ ‘Hala Chal,’ and ‘Ajira Nari’ are among the popular programmes. “‘Yuba Barta,’ a youth based programme focusing on careers, sports, voluntarism and active citizenship, also has a good listenership. That apart, programmes like ‘Chala Gaon Ku Jiba,’ an interactive programme on village problems and ‘Angya Namaskar’ in which noted personalities are interviewed on different topics too are popular. ‘Chala School ku Jiba’ seeks to reduce dropouts in schools. ‘Janata Darbar’ is another well-received programme where a common man can raise his voice against social injustice or any other problem.”
He added, “We want to see villages becoming sustainable, participatory, non‐violent, self‐ruled, self‐sufficient, peaceful and eco‐friendly, free from exploitation and inequality and discrimination, and emphasising peace and love.”
Radio Namaskar’s achievements
For several years, nobody applied for work under India’s rural job guarantee scheme from the area now covered by Radio Namaskar. After the radio station created awareness about government schemes, 123 families applied on demand from the local administration and 120 farmers received job cards.
‘Education for All,’ the motto of Sarvasikhya Aviyan, was a dream in the village named Tailo in Kakatpur block of Puri district. There was no primary school or anganwadi in the village. Though there was a school some two kilometres away, it was difficult for the children to go there. As most of the villagers were daily wagers and unable to send their children far for study, they had been demanding a school in their village. Out of the 266 children of 44 families, 51 children were of school-going age out of which 25 children were not enrolled in any school or anganwadi while the rest of the children were not going to school due to the distance factor. This information was repeatedly broadcast by Radio Namaskar. Finally, the administration set up a new school which has been functional from May 24, 2010.
Swarna, a seven-year-old, got admission at Brajabandhu nodal primary school after Radio Namaskar intervened in her case. As her mother had failed to submit her birth certificate and reveal the father’s name, Swarna was refused admission. Thanks to Radio Namaskar, the Block Resource Cluster Coordinator (BRCC) of Gop block agreed to Swarna’s admission at Brajabandhu Nodal primary school, Kusupur. In a similar case, Meetarani Mallick, daughter of Jatadhari Mallick of Anasara village was refused admission despite repeated pleas to the headmaster by her parents as they could not produce her birth certificate. After the news was broadcast on Radio Namaskar with reference to RTE Act, BRCC inquired into the matter and directed the headmaster not to deprive Meeta of schooling.
Thanks to ‘Chala School Ku Jiba (Let us go to school)’ campaign launched by Radio Namaskar, 165 schools were declared zero dropout zone in this locality. Young India adopted 15 villages as intensive villages for this purpose. To everyone’s surprise, all the dropout students of 15 villages returned to school. The concerned government authority declared these villages as zero dropout zone.
A scam under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) came to light thanks to Radio Namaskar. After finding that the dal provided under the ICDS scheme for pregnant women and children was insect infested, a team of women reached Radio Namaskar with sample packets of infested dal. The Radio Namaskar team sent the dal to the office of Prime Minister and Chief Minister the same day. A packet of dal was also sent for laboratory testing by the Prime Minister’s Office following which it came to light that 71 per cent of the dal was insect infested and unfit for human consumption. The Centre directed the state government to take immediate action, and Vigilance exposed the scam of more than Rs 2,000 crore. The Odisha government had to change its procurement and supply policy.
Feathers in his cap
Forty-two year old Ansari has imparted knowledge on voluntarism, active citizenship governance and rights to students of several national and international universities like HAGI International University in Japan, University of Milano–Bicocca in Italy, University of Queensland in Australia, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Utkal University, Utkal University of Culture, Assam Don Bosco University, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Andhra University, Delhi University, Central University at Hyderabad and many more. He has received many awards, including:
National Youth Award
Indira Gandhi NSS Award
International Community Participation Award from YOMO CIC, UK
State NSS Award
Best NSS Volunteer Award
RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP