THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the floods, community radio stations in Kerala have proved their worth yet again during the pandemic by playing a key role in the dissemination of credible information to around 35 lakh listeners belonging to vulnerable communities in the state. Ever since the first case was reported in the state, the 12 community stations swung into action and came to the aid of the authorities and the local population. Several lakhs of people residing in tribal hamlets, rural and remote places in the state tune into community stations every day in the state to get authentic information on the lockdown restriction and the prevention of the virus.
The community stations didn’t have to think twice to suspend their routine line ups -- they started airing informative, interactive programmes on the pandemic to keep communities informed. Radio Mattoli 90.4 FM -- a community radio station located in Wayanad -- ensures the dissemination of crucial information on the pandemic to the marginalised communities in the district. Station director of Radio Mattoli, Father Bijo Thomas, said that the majority of the indigenous tribes and farmers in the remote parts of the district don’t have any access to mainstream media. According to him, ever since the declaration of the lockdown, the number of listeners has increased. The station, which was launched around 11 years ago, receives an average of around 50 to 100 calls per day from locals.
“We broadcast some of our programmes in different tribal dialects too. Ever since the lockdown, we were able to bring in around 40 guests from various government departments including the District Collector, district medical officer and other officials working on the frontline to our discussion. We have live phone-in programmes where our listeners can call and directly speak to the experts,” said Bijo.
Radio Media Village 90.8 FM, another community radio station based in Changanassery, has been a solace to lakhs of the local population in the high range areas including Munnar, Idukki, Vagamon, Sabarimala, Erumeli and Pathanamthitta. Programme head of Radio Media Village, Vipin Raj, said that they immediately switched over to awareness programmes on coronavirus following the outbreak. “We have around eight lakh listeners. The response we receive is immense and even many non-resident Malayalis listen to our station online. We even aired the bytes of several people stranded abroad,” said Vipin.
Capacity-building classes
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) jointly with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has conducted capacity building classes for community radios in the state.
State project officer of KSDMA, Joe John George, said that community radios are the unsung heroes during the lockdown. “We have already initiated steps to strengthen the role of community radios during times of disasters like this. Their contribution during the floods was also commendable,” said Joe.
He said that discussions are on with the authorities to recommend an emergency frequency for Kerala to air information strictly related to emergencies and natural disasters. “Also, five applications have been submitted to the IPRD Ministry from the state for getting the license to start new community radio stations. But the ministry is yet to grant the license,” he said.
“We have around 50,000 regular listeners. Community radios were the only accessible medium during the floods. But now this is a different kind of disaster and we are getting a good number of calls asking about the lockdown norms and other restrictions imposed by the authorities,” said Saji Kumar, Radio DC 90.4 FM, a community radio based in the state capital.
The following are recommendations by UNESCO International Programme for the Development of
Communication (IPDC) for the integration of community radio into the Kerala State Disaster Management planning and response process
Community radio stations in Kerala