The Hindu Business Line : Community radio policy referred to GoM

Addressing newspersons, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy said, "The Cabinet today considered and referred the scheme for the second phase community radio to a GoM. This GoM will be different from the one on downlinking policies."

The Minister said the first phase of community radio, which started in 2002, had not taken off with about three to four educational institutions launching the service. In the new scheme, it is being proposed that community radio should not remain confined to colleges and deemed universities, but should also be opened for non-profit organisations and civil society organisations.

The I&B Ministry has also proposed that community radio should be allowed to generate revenue by permitting five minutes of commercial time in an hour of programming. "It was also proposed that the range of the community radio be increased from 5-10 km, at present, to 10-15 km so that it is beneficial to a greater number of people," Mr Reddy said. He added that the range cannot be increased further as it could then clash with FM radio.

The GoM, which is likely to have Mr Reddy, the Communications and IT Minister Mr Dayanidhi Maran, the Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar, among others, as members, would also examine the security issues concerning community radio. Mr Reddy said that Mr Pawar is keen to use community radio stations for creating awareness among the farmers and for providing agriculture extension services. While 50,000 frequencies are available, the Government is likely to offer about 4,000 frequencies, initially.

Also, it will provide a single window clearance facility for proposals from Government institutions and for others the clearance period would be three months, he added.

Mr Reddy said that unlike private FM radio broadcasting, a licence would not be required. But, an initial deposit fee of Rs 25,000 is being proposed. This is half the fee charged earlier.

On the status of the GoM on uplinking and downlinking policy, Mr Reddy said that it had submitted its report to the Ministry, which is awaiting Cabinet approval.

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