This is big news. Congratulations to everyone in India who helped get this policy across the line. Let's hope the Hong Kong and Thai governments read this and come to their senses. Ellie. >>> "Suman Basnet" <[log in to unmask]> 19/10/2006 9:23 pm >>> Media Release Activists hail Decision by Group of Ministers Cabinet Urged to Okay Community Radio Policy New Delhi, October 13, 2006 The Community Radio Forum of India has hailed the Group of Ministers’ recommendation to clear the Community Radio Policy, drawn up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The new policy will now allow civil society organizations, NGOs and other non-profits to apply for Community Radio licenses making ‘citizens radio’ a reality. The Forum urged the Union Cabinet to accord the highest priority to approve and notify this policy and brings about democratization of India’s airwaves. Under the present community radio guidelines, only ‘well-established educational institutions’ are permitted to set up campus-based radio stations. Following the landmark Supreme Court judgment of 1995 * which declared that the ‘airwaves are public property, to be used for public good’ - members of the Community Radio Forum, international advocacy groups such as World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), other civil society organizations across the country and international development organizations including UNESCO and UNDP have, over the past six years, held several consultative meetings with the ministry to expand the eligibility criteria to include community based organizations. In May 2004, the I & B Ministry, in consultation with civil society representatives including the Forum, drew up a set of policy recommendations to allow communities to own and manage their own FM community radio stations. In August 2005 the Forum petitioned the Prime Minister (http://www.petitiononline.com/comradio/) to put an end to this discriminatory broadcast policy where corporate houses could buy FM frequencies but communities could not own and operate their own stations and were left with no other choice but to buy air-time from existing All India Radio stations. Members of the Forum have since then collected over 50,000 signatures on this petition. News programmes and advertisements are currently banned on campus radio. The new policy will not only open up community radio to NGOs, self-help groups and other community-based organizations, but will also allow them to become self-supporting through limited ad-revenue. On notification of this policy India will become the first country in South Asia to have a separate policy for community radio. The Community Radio Forum, which is an association of community radio broadcasters, activists and academics looks forward to a genuine democratization of the country’s airwaves when this policy comes into force. Stalin K. For, Community Radio Forum, India Contact: [log in to unmask] The Community Radio Forum, India 1. Stalin K., DRISHTI - Media, Arts & Human Rights, Ahmedabad 2. Preeti Soni, Radio Ujjas, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Bhuj 3. Ashish Sen, VOICES, Bangalore 4. Dr. Vinod Pavarala, Dean, School of Communication, Central University, Hyderabad 5. Nandita Roy, National Foundation of India, New Delhi 6. Shankar Ghose, Charkha, New Delhi 7. Frederick Noronha, Panaji, Goa 8. P V Sateesh, Deccan Development Society, Hyderabad 9. Dr. B P Sanjay, School of Communication, Central University, Hyderabad 10. Nitya Jacob, WriteShop, New Delhi 11. Basheerhamad Shadrach, New Delhi 12. Vickram Crishna, Radiophony, Mumbai 13. Nimmi Chauhan, DRISHTI - Media, Arts & Human Rights, Ahmedabad 14. Geeta Malhotra, OneWorld South Asia, New Delhi 15. Osama Manzar, Digital Empowerment Foundation, New Delhi 16. Venu Arora, Equal Access, New Delhi 17. L Ajith, Radio Alakal, Trivandrum 18. Ram Bhatt, VOICES, Bangalore 19. Gabar Singh, Umang Group 20. Nalini Abraham, Plan International 21. Anshu Sharma, SEEDS, New Delhi 22. Tom Thomas, Praxis India, New Delhi ____________________ Suman Basnet Regional Coordinator AMARC Asia Pacific Kathmandu, Nepal http://asiapacific.amarc.org Phone: +977 1 5554811 Fax: +977 1 5521714 _______________________________________________ Asiapacific-general mailing list [log in to unmask] http://lists.amarc.org/mailman/listinfo/asiapacific-general Education is only the beginning. Let's get on with it. Swinburne University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D NOTICE This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee. 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