I agree. I tried opening the pdf. As usual the WPC website is as transparent as the department itself! It simply refuses to open, although the url seems to be the right one! I ask, who is the WPC accountable to? Only the CBI and the CAG as Sajan suggests? warm regards vasuki belavadi
++++++++++++++++ On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 3:56 PM, Arti Jaiman <[email protected]> wrote: > Very well written. We really ought to post our appreciation on the online > article. > > Regards > > Arti > > Arti Jaiman > > Station Director : Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik Radio Station 107.8 MHz FM > email: [email protected] > website: www.trfindia.org > > Gurgaon Ki Awaaz is the first and only civil-society-led community radio > station in the National Capital Region of Delhi. Since 2009, we have been > broadcasting 22X7, in Hindi and Haryanvi, with a team of community > reporters who generate community content with community participation. > > > --- On *Mon, 14/5/12, sajan venniyoor <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: sajan venniyoor <[email protected]> > Subject: [cr-india] "Knocking the air out of a community's lungs" > To: "CR India" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, 14 May, 2012, 11:16 AM > > > One of the better stories on the spectrum fee hike for community radio and > how it impacts small CR stations across India. Thanks to Rajendra Negi for > this > link<http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2012/may/130512-Knocking-the-air-out-of-a-community-lungs.htm> > . > > As always, MoCIT was unavailable for comment. They don't speak much to CRF > either, preferring to speak only to the CBI and very occasionally the CAG > and CVC. I was particularly delighted by the JS(B)'s comment that the > Telecom Ministry "had apparently put up some consultation papers about the > hike on their website. No one checked the website during that period, and > because they saw no comments, they went ahead and announced it." As Vickram > would say, all this has happened before, at some point in the future: > > "But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning office > for the last nine month." > > "Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see them, > yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call > attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anybody or > anything." > > "But the plans were on display ..." > > "On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them." > > "That's the display department." > > "With a torch." > > "Ah, well the lights had probably gone." > > "So had the stairs." > > "But look, you found the notice didn't you?" > > (from "*Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*" by Douglas Adams) > > > > We 'found' our notice when Radio Madhuban, up in Mt. Abu, got their annual > spectrum fee invoice from the wireless planning & coordinating wing (WPC) > of the Dept. of Telecom this April. The WPC's original order dated 22 > March giving the formula for calculating 'royalty charges on assignments of > frequencies' can be found here <http://www.wpc.dot.gov.in/static/a4.pdf>. > > Sajan > > *Knocking the air out of a community's > lungs<http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2012/may/130512-Knocking-the-air-out-of-a-community-lungs.htm> > * > Mid-Day, May 13, 2012, Kareena N Gianani > > *Last month, the Ministry of Communications of Information and Technology > hiked the annual spectrum fee for radio by over 300 per cent without any > formal consultation with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. How > will a two month-old community radio in the country's remote hills continue > its radical work and still pay up? Kareena N Gianani listens in and finds > smothered voices that fear wipeout* > > > All appears calm high up in Chamba, a village in the Tehri Garhwal > district in Uttarakhand. But 34 year-old Rajendra Negi, director of the > region’s community radio, Henvalvani, is bracing himself against brutal > expletives by locals at his recording studio — which, he says, is just a > fancy term for the cramped room with a single, large table holding > recording equipment. > > Word has spread in the valley that their two-month old community radio > might shut down soon. In March, the Ministry of Communications and > Information Technology (MOCIT) hiked the annual spectrum usage charge from > Rs 19,700 to Rs 91,000, an amount humble set ups like Henvalvani cannot > possibly gather, says a defeated Negi. > > “We just found our voice, after a five year-long battle with the > government to get a licence for community radio,” says Negi. Henvalvani is > yet to officially get the licence and all transmission is “test prasaran”. > N Ramakrishnan, director at Ideosync Media Combine, a media and development > NGO, helped set up Henvalvani. Locals from 500 villages around Chamba, who > tune in to Henvalvani for four hours every day, however, don’t care about > these technicalities. The antenna — slung on a welded pipe outside the > recording studio — and the man slouching over the answering machine have > changed their lives. > > *Giving the Garhwali a voice* > > In 2001, when Negi studied in Class 12, he started a youth group that had > “had enough of what the media called news but which had no place for what > was really relevant to their people.” “We could hear the politicians’ > voices, but could they ever hear ours? We don’t even get national papers up > here and there is no Garhwali channel on Doordarshan either,” he says. > That’s when, armed with tape recorders, he, along with a group of five went > into people’s homes and recorded their songs and folktales and sat in with > the panchayats to record issues in Garhwali — a language under threat of > extinction, according to the UNESCO — which were then broadcast at local > gatherings. > > And it changed their lives. Since its inception, the hour-long live > calling slot at Henvalvani has received more than 4,953 calls from locals > from villages Negi didn’t even know existed in Uttarakhand. Recently, one > Banali called Negi to complain about how the local school was run by only > one teacher for 25 years. A few days later, the school got a new teacher. > Last month, someone called to complain about the sweepers’ strike. “People > in this region are very particular about hygiene and the local had just > sighted one polythene bag on the road when he called us. > > Before I could even approach the authorities, I got another call from him > 15 minutes later, telling me that the area was being cleaned.” From home > remedies (which are not synonymous with “tantra-mantra”, says Negi) to > organic farming techniques, the channel gives everyone a voice. Talented > Garhwali singers have made their first recordings on Henvalvani and > migrated to cities after bagging plum singing offers. A woman named > Godambari Devi, who was beaten up by the Patwari police (local policemen) > for exposing her brother-in-law’s illegal alcohol trade, spoke on > Henvalvani and got justice, says Negi. “It takes exactly one day to reach > the closest village here, but Henvalvani has travelled where no local has > yet.” > > Today, 16 reporters work with Henvalvani, which just about manages to make > Rs 20,000 through local advertisements. Some local women who work in farms > and do odd jobs and make Rs 150 a day themselves, unfailingly donate Re 1 > to their beloved community radio. “Should I now ask them to raise almost Rs > 1 lakh every year like this?” demands Negi. > > Last week, locals in Chamba started a signature campaign to oppose the > hike and plan to involve listeners from all the 500 villages who tune in to > Henvalvani. It will take weeks, even months, but the locals are livid...” > says Negi. “Yeh toh government ne ek dande se hamare haath hi kaat diye > (the government has cut off our hands with one blow).” > > *Different wavelengths* > > Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Supriya Sahu, joint secretary, Ministry of > Information and Broadcasting, was busy in meetings with the MOCIT and > community radio directors from across the nation. “This move will adversely > impact the community radio and kill the voices of those who are already > marginalised,” she says. > > “I have written to the MOCIT (Ministry of Communication & Information > Technology) , who had apparently put up some consultation papers about the > hike on their website. No one checked the website during that period, and > because they saw no comments, they went ahead and announced it.” The > backlash, however, is too strong and Sahu says she is positive that the > ministry will consider a rollback. The MOCIT was unavailable for comment. > > *Radio is home* > > “They better”, says Algore Narsamma in halting Hindi over a telephone call > from Zaheerabad. The remote village in Andhra Pradesh “did not even exist > for the state” until a group of Dalit women started their community radio, > Radio Sangham in 2009. The 26 year-old reporter at the community radio > changes two buses and travels for three hours every day to reach the studio > and generate over 60 hours of content every month that costs the station > under Rs 10,000. An NGO called Deccan Development Society (DDS) in AP > helped set up Radio Sangham, which broadcasts in the little-known Telugu > dialect locals lightly refer to as ‘Zaheerabadi’. > > Over the telephone, Narsamma is silent. She is mentally translating her > indignation in Zaheerabadi into Hindi, and finally says, “It has been a > month but I haven’t told the women about the hike, yet. They’ll take to the > streets because we know we cannot generate the amount.” Narsamma has grown > up with the community radio. Even before they got their licence, the Dalit > women generated content and gave it to the DDS, who paid them for their > efforts. The radio has wiped out humiliating memories of Narsamma’s > childhood — her parents being ridiculed as ‘untouchables’, the so-called > ‘high caste’ Hindus blocking access to the sole borewell in the area, and > constant hunger. > > The first time Narsamma held a tape recorder in her hand during training, > she pressed the wrong buttons every time, often forgot to hit the record > button, and frequently came back with blank tapes. “But it was also the > first time I felt free — even if it meant making mistakes,” she says. > Women’s rights, gender violence, agricultural education, legal problems and > issues of cultural identity are closest to her heart, and she designs the > programmes accordingly. She often takes her two children to the radio > station, and if running late, she gets her soiled clothes to wash them > outside the station itself. “I call legal experts from nearby towns on the > show. This has helped reduce domestic violence-related incidents here. Our > listeners don’t have to aimlessly go to courts anymore — they know their > rights before they file a case.” > > *Vision violated* > > In 2004, before the policy governing community radio came into effect (in > 2006) TRAI had recommended that community radio providers must not be > charged any licencing or spectrum fee, since the whole point of the > exercise is to make the media accessible to people who don’t usually have a > say in their own matters. The move also goes against the 1995 Supreme Court > judgement, which stated that radio waves must be owned by the people, for > the people. K Stalin, president of the Community Radio Forum says the move > is ridiculous. > > “Is the government trying to make money from this spectrum allocation, > too? This is commodification of air waves. Will the government now apply > the rules of the market to something that belongs to the community in the > first place?” Community radio in Mumbai, too, feels stifled and helpless. > Nitin Makasare, a 35 year-old who works at Jago Mumbai, a Khar-based > community radio service, which received its licence in 2010, says he does > not see his station running for more than six-12 months if the hike is not > reversed. “The city will lose out on music, civic issue broadcasting, a > platform for BMC school kids who don’t usually find platforms…but does the > government really care?” > > *How radio changed a region* > > In Kachchh, two month-old Radio Ujjas is already a name to reckon with. > Started by a group of women who worked with the Kutch Mahila Vikas > Sangathan (KMVS), the radio has listeners in 24 villages, and has helped > women in matters of property, and agricultural issues. “This is our right. > Why should we pay such a ridiculous amount for it?” asks Bharti Ahir, the > 36 year-old senior member of the KMVS and reporter at Radio Ujjas. > > More than a decade ago, when her mother literally pushed the painfully shy > girl out of home, asking her to “do something with her life” and write for > the KMVS magazine, also called Ujjas, Ahir landed up at a bus stop near the > magazine’s office. “I was so terrified that I had decided I would return > home if the editor of the magazine didn’t pick me up from the bus stop.” > > Ahir didn’t have to return, and today, she helps the girls from her > community by training them in media and social development. She is the only > woman from her village, in at least three decades, who has managed to get a > BA degree. Ahir, who never even came out of her room when they had guests > over, now confidently “completes paperwork and formalities at airports to > travel all across the country,” she says. “If we lose Radio Ujjas, all our > work will be wiped out in a day. We will be thrown backward by decades.” > > > http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2012/may/130512-Knocking-the-air-out-of-a-community-lungs.htm > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to > www.crforum.in > > > Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to > www.crforum.in > -- *VASUKI BELAVADI* Associate Professor & Faculty Fellow, Unesco Chair on Community Media<http://snscomm.uohyd.ernet.in/uccommedia/> , Department of Communication <http://snscomm.uohyd.ernet.in/comm/>, University of Hyderabad <http://www.uohyd.ac.in/>, Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500046, Andhra Pradesh, India Phone (Off): +91 40 23135505, Email: [email protected] / Extensions <http://blog.vasukibelavadi.com>/ Website<http://www.vasukibelavadi.com> / Bol Hyderabad 90.4 fm <http://snscomm.uohyd.ernet.in/bolhyd/>
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