A first even before the first
One seldom has in one’s hands a book that comes at the right place
and at the right moment. This is one of those. Let me start with
some comments that have everything to do with the content-matter
of the book recently published by SAGE India.
Dangerous moving landscape
My overall impression when looking at Indian
television is that it has been hijacked by commercial
interests. TV networks have mushroomed in
recent years, but browsing through hundreds of
channels, one has the impression of looking at
mirror images of each other. General human values,
development concerns and/or Indian culture are
absent, unless we concede that Indian culture is
what has been modelled by Bollywood during the
past three decades, and not the millenary culture
that has been so influential in humanity. What
would Gandhiji say today?
While in Delhi last November, I attended the
National Press Day celebration organised by the
Press Council of India. The Honorable Speaker
Shri Somnath Chatterjee read a strong statement
comparing the media in India before and after
Independence; his remarks about mass media in
modern India were dramatic: “Some channels have
not scrupled at compromises with the truth”, media
is now a “profit-making venture”, “profit should
not be the sole criterion when it comes to news
and views”… He and other panellists mentioned
the lack of social responsibility in Indian mass
media, which has generally turned its back to social
development issues, in favour of sensationalism.
Mass media seems to be the only unregulated
sector in Indian society, left to the dictates of
“free enterprise,” which has replaced the soul of
“freedom of expression”.
Ironically, a new sector of media, community radio,
is the most regulated one so far, even if it is only
about to be born.
Regulating the right to communicate
The Indian Government has enacted in 2006 a
legislation that regulates the would-be community
radio sector. For a country that has scarce or
no regulation for commercial media, this is a
paradox, even if on the other hand it is also an
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acknowledgment that community media has a
place in society. Although the declared intention is
to support community media in view of its role in
social development, the restrictions imposed could
hamper – rather than promote - the establishment
of local media, which contributes to the well-being
of communities.
While countries such as South Africa, Canada,
Australia or Ireland, to name a few, place no
strict restrictions, the Indian legislation impedes
community radio stations to air news or to generate
significant income through advertising to achieve
sustainability. South Africa, for example, includes
among the purposes of community radio, “to ensure
plurality of news, views and information…” and
“encourages members of the community served
by it or persons associated with it or promoting
the interests of such community to participate
in the selection and provision of programmes to
be broadcast in the course of such broadcasting
service…”
In spite of its limitations, the legislation on
community radio in India was welcomed by the
independent radio movement world-wide, because
it recognises that community radio is a sector
distinct from commercial and public media.
It is foreseen that within the next three or four
years, hundreds (if not thousands) of community
radio stations will be granted licences to operate.
Hundreds have already applied and some of them,
such as Radio Sangam in Machnoor, Zaheerabad
(Andhra Pradesh), are ready to air, with all the
necessary equipment, transmitter, antenna,
staff and hundreds of hours of already produced
programming, on issues that are relevant to the
community.
So far, one year after the legislation was enacted
no community radio station has been awarded by
the Indian government with a license to operate.
Only campus radio stations from main universities
in the country are allowed so far; however they are
January 2008 | Radio Duniya
not strictly-speaking community radio stations for
development and lack the participatory processes
that are indispensable for decision making.

A first even before the first

All the important issues above, and many more

are tackled by the book “Other Voices – the
struggle for community radio in India”, a first and
innovative critical approach that is the result of
various years of research and analysis, authored
by Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik. Vinod
is a professor of communication and Dean at the
Sarojin Naidu School of Communication, University
of Hyderabad; whereas Kanchan is a Lecturer at
the same university and school.

The book includes a wealth of information,

distributed in chapters that cover the most
important issues related to community radio.
Although written mainly for India and the South
Asian region (using terms that are not used
elsewhere, such as crore or lakh), it includes a
useful chapter with comparative information and
analysis about legislation in South Africa, Ireland,
Canada, United States and Australia.

Community radio in India is analysed

comprehensively in the perspective of history and
development of public and commercial broadcasting
in the country, pre and post colonial times. However,
this is not just a well-informed academic exercise.
A full chapter is devoted to describing, comparing
and analysing four grassroots experiences of
would-be community radio in India, namely: a)
Alternative for India Development (AID) project
in Daltonganj (Jharkhand); b) Kutch Mahila Vikas
Sangathan (KMVS) project in Bhuj (Gujarat);
Voices project in Budhikote (Karnataka); and
d) Deccan Development Society (DDS) project in
Pastapur (Andhra Pradesh). The history of each
initiative, the constraints and the current degree of
development is portrayed. The authors did not just
read about them; they visited each site numerous
times for research purposes. This chapter of the
book only represents a fraction of the research;
however the conceptual framework of the whole
book has no doubt benefited from in-depth analysis
of those four pioneering projects. Each case study,
different as it may be, has a common thread:
the right to communicate for all people in India,
particularly the poorest of the poor.

Participatory development for social

change
At least half of the book focuses on the conceptual
analysis of community radio in relation with
important development issues. Participatory

www.radioduniya.in 49
communication is an essential hinge of the
authors’ reflections on the need to further develop
community radio in India. The authors have a
deep knowledge and understanding of the theory
that exists in the world related to the right to
communicate and participatory development, so
they are not short of appropriate references as they
grab the issues that are relevant to India. Their
analysis covers both national and international
key conferences and workshops that have allowed
the conceptual framework of participatory
communication for social change to develop and
become, as it is today, a cornerstone for economic,
social and political development.
“Revitalising Civil Society – Forging Counterpublics
with Community Radio” (Chapter 6), is particularly
important for the understanding of the various
roles of community radio in the globalised world.
In the midst of the powerful trend of non-regulated
media globalisation, the local alternative becomes
increasingly important in terms of “nurturing local
language and culture”, as it is for capacity duilding
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and “awakening abilities of self-expression”, and
also for “building solidarities”; in other words, for
contributing to the strengthening of social capital.
Issues of culture and identity are central to the
analysis.
The chapter that follows focuses on community
radio for empowerment, with particular attention
to the gender dimension. This is particularly vital in
India, where many of the grassroots communication
activities are led by women. Actually, three out of
the four initiatives that have been studied, are
carried-out by women-only collectives. Women
seems to bear the knowledge, the creativity and the
strength to carry out the most enduring challenges
in communication.
Because this book is the first on its genre and aims
to pave the way for the development of community
radio in India, it not only contains important
reflections and analysis on all the issues mentioned
above, but also includes a useful Appendix
section with a number of documents that are
key to understand the issue of community radio;
documents such as the “Supreme Court Judgment
on Airwaves” (1995), the “Bangalore Declaration
on Radio” (1996), the “Pastapur Initiative on
Community Radio Broadcasting” (2000), the
“Executive Summary of Recommendations for a
Policy on Community Radio Broadcasting in India”
(2004), and, naturally, the “Policy Guidelines
for setting up Community Radio Stations in
India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,
Government of India” (2006).
It may sound ironical that the first book on
community radio in India is published at a juncture
where no real community radio yet exists in the
country. However, the vision that the authors and
the publisher had in anticipating events is to be
praised. No one can now say that India ignores
the main issues concerning community radio, its
philosophy, its main characteristics, its contribution
to development and social change. From now on,
on the basis of this knowledge and the cumulated
experience at the grassroots level, the way is wide
open for the blossoming of community radio in
India, and thus, in Asia.
Alfonso Gumucio-Dagron
is a development communication
specialist and author. He is the
Managing Director for Programmes
at the Communication for Social
Change Consortium.
alfonso.gumucio@gmail.com
January 2008 | Radio Duniya