MUMBAI: Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Central India Institute of Science and Technology, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS will increase to sixty-seven in the country.

The focus of the Community Radio Station would be to encourage the community members to speak out their needs and ideas, to create knowledge content for students and to act as a medium for teachers to develop knowledge content relevant to their subjects. It will also ensure that the community is literate and enabled to absorb information through media including radio. Regular information on child health, pregnancy, local health issues and seasonal precautions for women’s related programmes will benefit the community.

The Ministry encourages setting up of community radio stations 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 group to take part in local self governance and overall socio economic and cultural development of the area. Community Radio Station also better informs the society about the developmental initiatives of government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.