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<DIV><SPAN><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff size=6>Smt. Ambika Soni to Inaugurate
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<DIV><SPAN><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff size=6>1st National Community Radio
Sammelan Today in India<BR></FONT></DIV></STRONG></SPAN>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT face=Verdana>Three Day Meeting to Bring Together 107 Functional
Community Radio Stations Meeting to Outline Roadmap for Community Radio Stations
in India </FONT></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD
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id=content><FONT face=Verdana>The 1st National Community Radio Sammelan for
operational Community Radio Stations of India is being organized by the Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting in Association with the Commonwealth Education
Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi from 7th to 9th April
2011. The Sammelan will be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister for
Information and Broadcasting Smt Ambika Soni. <BR><BR>The Sammelan will bring
together 107 functional Community Radio Stations from across the country, Policy
makers from various Government Departments like Health, Rural Development,
Information Technology, Science and Technology, Agriculture, Panchayati Raj,
CAPART etc. Several UN, National and other International organizations like
UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, One World Asia, AMARC, Community Radio Forum
etc. are also participating in the Sammelan. <BR><BR>The Ministry of Information
& Broadcasting is mandated to permit eligible organizations to run Community
Radio Stations as per the Policy Guidelines of 2006. Community Radio is an
extraordinary and invisible medium to give voice to the voiceless. It provides
an opportunity to the community to speak about issues concerning their lives. It
can also facilitate development by disseminating information regarding rural
development, agriculture, health, nutrition, education and Panchayati Raj issues
enabling social change through communication. <BR><BR>Community Radio is one of
the priority areas for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. So far 278
Letters of Intent (LOI) have been issued, 130 Grant of Permission Agreement
(GOPA) have been signed. 107 Community Radio Stations have been become
operational. Out of 107 stations 72 are run by Educational Institutions, 27 by
community based organizations and 8 by Krishi Vigyan Kendra/State Agriculture
Institutions. <BR><BR>Awareness generation is critical to achieve the desired
goal of Community Radio Policy brought out by this Ministry in the year 2006.
Ministry of I&B has been organizing Awareness Workshops all over the country
from 2007 onwards. Around 28 Workshops have been organized so far. In 2010-11
Ministry has organized 8 Workshops in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura,
Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra and Delhi. <BR><BR>The Ministry has also
organized Capacity Building Workshops for the operational Community Radio
Stations this year. These Workshops have proved to be useful not only to spread
awareness but also build capacities of the NGOs and other organizations to
operate Community Radio Stations in an effective way. <BR><BR>In three days
deliberations discussions would be held on issues concerning Policy changes in
the existing Community Radio Guidelines, quality of content being broadcast from
the Community Radio Stations, strategies to engage community in programme
production, funding and sustainability, encouraging and popularizing local
cultural talent etc. A Poster Exhibition has also been organized on the
sidelines of the Sammelan. <BR><BR>The consultation will bring together
community broadcasters and other key stakeholders such as non-governmental
organizations, media activists, academia and the policy makers to take stock of
the achievements of this burgeoning sector of radio broadcasting in India, and
explore ways to take this movement to the next level. The consultation seeks to
analyse, assess the current Community Radio Policy in achieving the goals of
disseminating information, strengthening grass-root democracy and fulfilling
social development objectives and discuss issues of financial & social
sustainability of Community Radio Stations. The discussions will help design
joint action strategies and define the role of organizations such as UNESCO,
CRF, CEMCA, various Government Departments and other partners in strengthening
the CR movement. <BR><BR>The outcome from the consultation is expected to focus
on : <BR><BR>• Enhancement of stakeholders’ coordination in their effort to make
community radio sustainable and more effective partner in development<BR><BR>•
Increasing scope of collaboration between organizations working on developmental
issues <BR><BR>• Furthering the use of new media and innovative/appropriate
technology in the community radio sector </FONT></SPAN></TD></TR></DIV>
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