Listening to the programmes being aired from the station, our thoughts centred on the journey which began with DA taking a bold decision to start community broadcast for the tribal marginalised communities of the region. To analyse the need and to get a sense of the programmes needed by the communities, the first step was narrowcasting to groups of villagers what was called as Listener’s Clubs. The response was positive. This exercise was fortunately complemented by the change in policy announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in November 2007. DA analysed the situation and, after several rounds of brainstorming, decided to apply for a community radio license. The road was unseen and the journey long. The first step was to decide upon the appropriate location to set up the radio station. TARAgram, the appropriate technology centre for DA, was selected as the best possible option considering the government policy and accessibility for people from the target villages. On March 25, 2007, DA applied for the initial level of clearance called Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Ministry of Information and Broadcast. The timeline set by the Ministry for this clearance was of six months and in this period DA made its first radio footprints in the target communities.

The first task was to select the villages for potential programming and volunteers. Using the GIS mapping tool, a buffer region of ten kilometers was marked with names of the villages and the demographic details marked. On the basis of this map, the closest villages falling within five kilometers - Azadpura, Sitapur, Basoba, Gundrai, Chandravan and Orchha, amongst others - were selected for the primary level of interventions through the radio. The others in the buffer zone of radio coverage were kept in the secondary level of interventions. A communication need assessment survey was also conducted in the region in association with the B R Ambedkar Department of Social Work, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. The research was also conducted in these seven villages to understand the communication needs of the community and to document the responses that could be used in making impactful and relevant programmes for the communities. The research also helped in finding the appropriate time of broadcast, the name of the station, type of programming and the issues that the communities wanted to address. DA’s efforts in this field made the process a participatory one with extensive involvement of the community.

In August 2007, the Ministry of I&B called DA representatives to present the case in front of the Screening Committee for granting LOI headed by the Joint Secretary, Broadcast. Then came the wave of the joy with DA obtaining the LOI in November 2007. Soon after, according to the policy statement, DA applied for obtaining a SACFA clearance to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The process was slow and the technical SACFA form made it even slower. Finally, on the last day of the year, DA successfully submitted the SACFA clearance form to the Ministry, with its fingers crossed, to get an approval and frequency in the region.

Meanwhile, the work of community mobilisation in the seven villages was on in full swing. DA’s Communication team, in association with the Social Action Group, started pitching into the villages to spread the message about the proposed community radio, its process, purpose and outcomes. The response came with high level of enthusiasm shown by the community members, especially women, to participate and own the process of programming and by taking an oath to make the project called Radio Bundelkhand a success.

The other important task was to establish a radio studio in a region where the temperature rises to 50° C in summers and drops to 5° C in winters. The location of the station within the large TARAgram was itself a challenge. In this situation, DA decided to establish not only a radio studio but also premises with facilities for promotion of performing arts, video and all other cultural actives, a place where the villagers can showcase their arts and establish an appropriate media resource centre for the deprived communities of the region.

In March 2008, the Ministry of Communications and IT granted DA the SACFA clearance with 90.4 FM frequency. With all the clearance sanctioned, DA went to the Ministry of I&B for signing the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) and inched even closer to the final clearance in establishing the community radio station. With the GOPA document in hand, DA applied for the final round of the application, i.e., to obtain a Wireless Operation License (WOL). Here, DA took a bold decision which would forever change the history of radio broadcast in India. DA applied for WOL and stated that it would use an indigenous, low-cost transmitter system manufactured by Nomad India Networks. This was a hitherto untrodden path, as no one had applied a transmitter system and broken the duopoly established by the two established big players in the transmitter system market. But, with constant follow-ups and explanations, finally on July 31, 2008, the Ministry of Communications and IT granted WOL to Development Alternatives. This day is now registered in bold letters in the Indian community broadcasting. DA received many phone calls and e-mails from well wishers and strategic partners. This day established DA’s potential to walk on an unseen path and achieve success.

In the meantime, the studio for broadcast was almost ready and the communities were mobilised to take up the challenge of programming in local dialect and of local interests. It is one of the finest studios in the locality with excellent acoustics, the best possible radio broadcasting equipment and also the best possible field recording equipment. The studio was designed in a manner to give maximum working space to the villagers with all comforts possible as DA believes that the rural communities deserve the best of everything.

With every successful step, there were new challenges emerging. To establish a low-cost antenna system with a low coat mast, GI pipes were narrowed down. Also, to establish an appropriate place at a higher elevation, the TARAgram hostel building was selected and it was decided that a mast of around 50 feet would have to be constructed above the building so as to maintain the limit of 30 meters above the ground, as enforced in the policy norm.

On August 14, 2008, a team was selected from DA’s fabrication unit to perform the difficult task of mounting the antenna mast. As it was raining, it was difficult to climb above the building which has a sloping roof. There were three 20-feet-long GI pipes with different diameters which were to be mounted over one another. This task may sound easy but was anything but. The four brave community solders lifted each pipe, weighting approximately 60 kgs, above their shoulders and mounted the antenna system above the mast. The wind was a symbol of the struggle that these people were facing in performing the desired task. Finally, by midnight, the antenna system was mounted on the lowest costing steel mast ever made in the world and braced by the brave hands of the community members.

We were all set to celebrate the occasion and started the transmission system by played the song Sare Jahan Se Accha, Hindustan Hamara, penned by the legendary poet Mohammad Iqbal. Although we did play the song, but in our extreme busy schedule, we forgot to keep a radio receiving set with us. Then started a radio hunt in the villages to test the signals, which was finally found in a cellular phone. The next morning was symbolic; it was India’s Independence Day and Radio Bundelkhand was all set to broadcast. The entire day, we fine tuned several aspects related to transmission and the studio and in the evening we celebrated the occasion on the bank of River Betwa, listening to Radio Bundelkhand.

Our collective nostalgia brought a smile to our faces as the train started moving from Jhansi station. With every passing meter the signals kept fading, but the rocking spirit of the village anchors in their passionate voices was registered forever in our minds. The newly launched radio for the people will surely create a niche for itself among the mushrooming commercial FM channels in the region. With sunset, sleep again overpowered us but with an altogether new dream and a new vision, a dream called Radio Bundelkhand. q

Arpan Saxena
saxena.arpan@gmail.com