Bhubaneswar: At a time when Covid-19 restrictions are in force making it tougher for the mainstream media like newspapers to reach out to people in remote areas, community radio stations seem to be doing it by reaching out to the last man standing.
Radio Swayamshakti, a community radio station at Khariar in Nuapada district, has been broadcasting programmes in Kosali language, a local dialect of Odia to help the local population.
“We use mostly Kosali to help the Kosali speakers. However, we also mix Odia as many government officers are not used to the dialect and they speak Odia. We keep the local community informed with the latest local happenings and developments in their own language, dialect. This is the beauty of community radios,” said Biswajit Padhi, Station CEO of Radio Swayamshakti.
This radio station serves the local population with a reach of around 50 km and covers four blocks of Nuapada, two of Bolangir and one of Kalahandi district.
The story of Radio Bulbul from Bhadrak is also admirable. This community radio station has been broadcasting in Odia as well as Hindi. Hindi language has been used to cater to the needs of a few communities from the area and others.
“Our radio station proved a vital point of authentic information during lockdown. We often roped in the district Collector and other government officials who used our medium to reach out to the public and informed them about important government announcements besides our own programmes,” said Sk Md Niyaz, Director, Radio Bulbul, Bhadrak.
Sisir Das, Station Head of Radio Surabhi from Daspalla (Nayagarh) said that community radio stations could be a vital alternative to reach out to the people during natural and other disasters.
“It is a hyper-local mode of broadcasting where we try to reach out to the population in our locality in the language they speak. Such stations can play a key role in disaster management by empowering them with authentic and useful information when other communication channels are compromised,” he said.
NA Shah Ansari, Station Head of Radio Namaskar, Konark, cited examples on how their productions were used by the vigilant citizens to put a curb on the unhealthy practices of the villagers who did not pay heed to lockdown rules earlier.
“We kept on broadcasting important information relating to Covid-19 in the last few months. Many of the frontline workers and villagers found it a good source to gather information. In many villages in Puri district we are able to make dedicated listeners groups,” he said.
Manish Kumar, OP