[nukkad] FW: [nukkad] Lobbying for community radio

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CR is in use in a number of countries and has been proven to
be very effective. I hope the CR enthusiasts can convince the bigwigs 
as well as the public of the importance of CR in India and actually 
implement it. 

Regards,
- 'shal


Radio waves are powerful means of instant communication.  Just as CR can be
a tool for empowerment of the rural folk, it can also be a tool for
deepening the fissures in society and in the Indian scenario, that is more
likely to happen.

Since our society is fractured on religious and caste lines, one immediate
effect of opening up CR will be "Caste Radio".  NGOs engaged in good work
will be slow to take advantage of community radio for want of adequate
resources but dominant caste and religious groups are very likely to exploit
the facility to consolidate and entrench. 

Before unleashing such a powerful tool, the society must be mature to use
it. Given the fissures in our society, I am not sure that we should be in a
hurry to implement CR.  There several other things a sincere NGO can lobby
for. Why not lobby, for example, for compulsory basic education for all
children under 15?  That should be a much more effective tool for
empowerment of the rural folk. 

I don't mean to say that both are mutually exclusive. CR may, in fact, be
quite helpful in education and creating social awareness, if handled
prudently. Since our ability at self-regulation is doubtful, I think CR can
wait while we try lobbying for old-fashioned basic education. 

V.K.Venugopal



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