MUMBAI: Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement on 25 February, 2009 for establishing, maintaining and operating a community radio station at Sironj Tehsil, Vidisha District, Madhya Pradesh with Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), a Delhi based NGO.

Letter of Intent had been issued to the Organisation after screening by a screening committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The community radio station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement.

This brings the count of total community radio stations sanctioned by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to 107 which include 34 NGOs, 45 Educational Institutions, 9 State Agricultural Institutions and 19 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

Sironj Tehsil is a part of Malwa region having black cotton soil plains. It is famous for its Calicos and Muslin. As per 2001 census, Sironj has a population of 42,100 with 53% males & 47% females. Sironj has a literacy rate of 55%, lower than the national average of 59.5% with male literacy 62% and female literacy 47%.

Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP), New Delhi is a professional, “not for profit” organisation with a wide network of agriculture & allied sector professionals in India and the SAARC countries. It has 15,000 members, including 1500 Agri-Experts, about 1700 Disseminators, 900 Partner NGOs, more than 1000 Researchers, and a large number of Agriculture Journalists amongst others.

The Ministry encourages setting up the community radio station as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.