Law campaign
Community Radio-- an effective advocacy tool
Examining the operation policy
AHM Abdul Hai
In terms of availability, immediacy and reaching ability, the role of radio as a means of communication is undeniable. Community Radio Stations (CRS) may be established and operated in the oral languages of these marginalised communities as well as their full participation and management ensured which will reflect their hopes and aspirations, knowledge, resource and culture and combine modern knowledge and technologies. Under these circumstances it is imperative for the marginalised communities and ethnic groups of our country to have their (own) Community Radio.
 Definition
A 'community' is considered to be a group of people who share common characteristics and / or interests such as sharing a single geographical location i.e. a specific town, village, or neighbourhood; sharing of economic and social life through trade, marketing, exchange of goods and services. Community Radio should be owned by a particular community, usually through a trust, foundation, or association. Its aim is to serve and benefit that community. It is, in effect, a form of public-service broadcasting, but it serves a community rather than the whole nation. It is a medium that gives a voice to the voiceless, serves as mouthpiece of the marginalised and is central to communication and democratic processes within societies. Community Radio is a broadcasting system established by the efforts of a specific community, operated by the community for the purpose of the community's welfare.
Eligibility criteria for the establishment and operation of community radio station (CRS)
Internationally recognised and accepted fundamental principles of community radio will also be followed in Bangladesh. Government research institutions and development organisations, which satisfy the conditions listed below, shall be considered eligible to apply for Community Radio establishment and operation. It should be explicitly constituted as a 'non-profit' organisation. The institution/organisation should have a proven record of providing service on poverty alleviation or media & ICT sector to local community for at least five years. The organization should be a legal entity or registered from NGO Affairs Bureau. The community to be served by the CRS should be well specified and defined. The program contents should cover educational, social, gender, economic, environmental and cultural fields relevant to the needs of that particular community. It should not go beyond the community's cultural and historical heritage. Preference should be given to rural communities during the pilot phase. The focus must be for communities deprived of the reach of mainstream media outlets.
Individuals and partnership firms, political parties and their affiliate organisations including students' wings, trade unions, etc, organisations and companies both local and foreign where profits are distributed to the owners/shareholders, international NGOs and foreign channels and Government-banned organisations shall not be eligible to run a Community Radio.
Licencing process
Government shall call for application from eligible organisations and institutions in prescribed format to provide approval. The Ministry of Information shall form a regulatory committee and a technical sub-committee for the assessment of applications and selection of eligible applicants. Opinion shall be received from the Home Ministry on applicant Organisation or institutions selected by technical sub committee and regulatory committee. Before granting approval the Ministry of Information shall accept a “Probability of Attaining Frequency” report from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Only one license shall be granted to any institution/organisation during the pilot broadcasting phase. The applicant shall set up CRS within 1 (one) year of receiving approval. Existing laws and regulations must be maintained for the importation and replacement of any radio equipment for this purpose. Associated organisations and institutions shall fulfil the conditions of BTRC in this regard. Broadcasting activities shall begin only after obtaining the final approval/licence. Initially licence will be provided for a two-year period starting from date of approval as an experimental project.
Proven record of community development work for at least five years in the area and a broad outline of the type of programme to be broadcast should be prepared and submitted to the licencing authority. Indication of the level of community's participation in management structure of the proposed station and its programme preparation and broadcasting shall be spelt out in writing. The criteria will also include the sources of funding for the Radio Station. If donor fund is obtained, necessary approval of the NGO Affairs Bureau as per existing law shall have to be obtained. Priority will be given to the applicants managed by and/or looking to serve the disadvantaged and backward sections of the population.
License fee
Reasonable licence and spectrum fees have been fixed by the government considering the fact that Community Radio is a development initiative and non-profit entity. Initially licence fee for each station has been decided to be Tk 20,000.00 [286 US $] and seizable deposit is Tk. 1,00,000 [1429 US $].
Technical structure
Each CRS will cover a range of 17 km. from its centre. Maximum limit for transmitter power could be 100 watts. The permitted power could be decided on the basis of the licensee's area of work and/or geographical dispersion of the target audience.
The permission holder shall ensure that nothing is included in the programme broadcast which offends decency, criticizes other countries or endangers the friendly relations of Bangladesh with other countries, attacks any religion, community or ethnic group or creates animosity between communities or tries to promote sectarian views which may lead to communal disharmony, contains anything obscene, defamatory or false information against person(s), groups or institutions or is partisan in nature, is likely to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or which promotes anti-national feelings/attitudes, contains anything amounting to contempt of court, contains aspersions against the dignity of the State and, Government, encourages superstition, degrades women, children, human in disabilities, encourages the use of drugs including alcohol, narcotics and tobacco, stereotypes, vilifies or perpetuates hatred against anyone or any group, tries to exploit religious sentiments or susceptibilities, undermines religious views and beliefs of those belonging to any particular religion or religious denomination.
Other terms & conditions
Each licenced station will have a Management Committee with active and inclusive participation of the target community members. An advisory committee will be formed for each station with the participation of local level government representatives such as Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Additional Deputy Commissioner (where the station is located at a district headquarter), Police officers of the level of Assistant Superintendent and appropriate level representatives from Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, Forests and Environment, Health, concerned Regional Director of local public radio station and NGOs working in the relevant field etc. The licensee will ensure capacity building for and within the community through training as required. The licence will be granted for an initial period of two years and it shall not be transferable. Based on performance of the licensee, it can be renewed for such periods as the government may decide.
Permission may be provided on pilot basis to share programmes among different CRS if the programmes consist of locally relevant content. Programmes of Bangladesh Betar (Radio) would be relayed or re-broadcast in the CRS as and when these are of national importance or of relevance to the people of the area. Special programmes such as address of the president, prime minister, national days celebrations, weather bulletin and community based programs have to be broadcast through community radio. The programme contents of the community radio will focus on agriculture, both adult and children education, gender, environment, social welfare, current market prices, rural and community development, baby care, maternity health care, family planning (radio bulletin), income generation etc.
Through participatory process a specific program should set its spotlight on local information, events and notifications, local culture, identity, and local language. The format, subject, presentation and language of programs must reflect the local culture. Local development news will be permitted. Nonetheless, any kind of political broadcasts will be strictly prohibited.
Advertisements related to development services will be permitted while community radio programme broadcasting is based on the following conditions. The commercials should be related to development services relevant and limited to the specified area. CRS will ensure that the sponsors of programmes do not influence the content or the style of individual programmes or the overall programming of the station and its code of conduct. Existing government regulations shall be followed for commercials.
The government or its authorised representative shall have the right to inspect or monitor the broadcast including other Community Radio Station set up facilities of the licensees and collect information in connection with public and community interests. The licensee should provide quarterly report to the Ministry of Information. The government will have the right to take over the entire CRS service and network possessed by the licensee or revoke/terminate/suspend/punish the license in the interest of national security or in the event of national emergency/war or low intensity conflict or in any similar type of situations. The government shall have the power to direct the licensee to broadcast any special message as may be considered desirable to meet any contingency arising out of natural emergency or public interest or natural disaster and the like.
The permission holders shall be required to submit their audited annual accounts and annual report to the government. The govt. may take initiatives to create a Community Radio Development Fund as supplement for the community broadcaster's own resources, capacity building, improvement in quality of technology, research & evaluation purpose, etc. Tower established for community radio operation shall not be given for the use to private telephone operators. organisations/institutions establishing CRS shall arrange for overall security of the station with armed Ansars by its own funding and the in-charge of concerned police station shall submit a monthly report to the government stating if any anti-state broadcasting have been carried out.
Monitoring of broadcasting
Every month a copy of CD containing the recordings of broadcast programmes of CRS will be provided to the local authority prescribed by the government. The advisory committee will provide suggestions based on the strengths and weaknesses of the CRS broadcasting. The advisory committee will encourage the participation of upazila level government officials in the community radio programmes. The advisory committee will encourage producing development advertisements / government advertisements through community radio. The committee will provide necessary counseling service to improve the quality of programmes. Central Monitoring Committee formed by Ministry of Information shall supervise the overall operation related to Community Radio and shall inform the Ministry on a regular basis.
Strength of the policy
The present government certainly deserves appreciation for approving a separate and exclusive Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy -- 2008, which will accelerate democratic process and development of the unheard and marginalised people. Moreover, broadcasting local development news and advertisements related to development services along with other 'infotainment' programmes is permitted through community radio. The acceptance of the internationally recognised and accepted fundamental principles of community radio in Bangladesh is positively observed. The most significant aspect of the policy is that all community radio stations will be owned and run by the proper representatives of the concerned community as an advisory committee and another management committee are mandatory with the real participation of the community people.
Policy constraint
Considering the perspective of the non-profit development organisations working in rural and at grassroots level, the amount of the seizable deposit worth BDT 1,00,000 seems to be a huge burden to them. If not free, the deposit could be reduced remarkably so that the rural development organisations could come ahead to install CRS pacing with time. Alternately, the licensing authority can ask a bank guarantee of a certain amount of money as seizable deposit preserved in the account of the intended applicant organisation. There is another involvement of a large amount of money for frequency fee to be paid to BTRC. Considering all these practical difficulties, the broadcasting equipment to be imported could be exempted from tax at least for the two years of piloting period. It will promote and facilitate the expedition of community radio in the country.
The writer is a journalist and consultant of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), available at [email protected] full policy is available at www.moi.gov.bd
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