Funferal

More on India’s new community radio policy

There’s continued reaction to (and coverage of) the news of India’s new community radio policy, with many noting the significance of this development:

In South Asia, Nepal is the only country where such radios have flourished. In India, citizens’ groups have long argued for a ‘third layer’ of broadcasters, apart from the state-run and commercial FM networks.

However, there’s also some disquiet over some of the conditions that have been imposed:

IIT-educated New Delhi engineer Arun Mehta, whose company radiophony.com offers circuits to create ultra low-powered FM transmitters for a few hundred rupees … commented, in an online discussion forum: “No news or current affairs (under the new policy)? (Delhi-based varsity) Jamia’s community radio has a surfeit of Urdu poetry, because without news and current affairs, they don’t have much else (to broadcast).”