The campus radio station of the Jamia Millia Islamia, one of India's oldest universities, provides a platform for the community to showcase its talent, while volunteers of Apna Radio go into the field and work in the slums, raising awareness on health and hygiene.
The News Bureau
India is just a year away from celebrating a decade of campus radio's existence, and the campus radio station of the Jamia Millia Islamia, one o
A middle-aged Muslim housewife, Saba Raes, has her hands full seven days a week with household chores and her children. But she makes it a point to take an hour out every Monday to record Hamd-o-Naat, a series of hymns in praise of Allah, for Radio Jamia.
It may be recalled that the government had issued guidelines in 2003 for educational institutions to set up campus radio's and Anna University in Tamil Nadu was the first off the block in February 2004.
Today there are nearly a 100 campus radios in the country, but the actual number could be higher since there are no details about these in the northeast beyond Guwahati, according to a recent report. The radio transmission is done through a four-way process.
The audio from the microphone is transferred to the audio mixing console. From there, it goes to an amplifier. From the
It costs Rs.15 lakh and typically operates out of a room that can seat three to four people and the attendant equipment. Its range is 8-10 km and can even go up to 15 km. Radio Jamia kicked off the process in the capital in 2004, followed by Apna Radio of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and DUCR of Delhi University. Radio Jamia is today a platform for many like Saba Raes to fulfil their desires and interests.
“We organise workshops for the community members. We teach them about the functionality and the basic working mechanism and then they go on air with all the creative liberty given to them,” GR Syed, professor-in-charge of Radio Jamia, told a news agency.
There are programmes in Urdu, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Punjabi and even Bengali. While Radio Jamia provides a platform for the community to showcase its talent, volunteers of Apna Radio go into the field and work in the slums, raising awareness on health and hygiene.
“We send students to the area around IIMC where they teach the people about the working of community radio and in return the students get to know about practical experiences of the people,” Apna Radio head Raghav Chari told the media. The campus radios have proved to be very effective in solving the community's problems.