Community Radio as a Tool for Rural Developme...

Community Radio as a Tool for Rural Development: A Study of Two Community Radio Stations of Himachal Pradesh

Author Name : Dr. Shashi Kant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar Sharma

ABSTRACT

In order to make any developmental programme successful, people’s participation and involvement are a must. This can be achieved through communication and for effective communication use of mass media is inevitable. To mobilise their people for development purposes, the government of any country needs effective mass media. Effective media can reachthe grassroots level for information dissemination.Since independence,India has achieved enormous success in several arenas; however, but there still are certain areas which require concerted focus, and rural development is one of them. A large chunk of the population living the rural areas is still backward.Every year the governmentspends a huge amount in the name of rural development but the desired results still elude. The main reason for this is non-involvementof the people and their ignorance about the policies framed for their weal and welfare. The present paper emphasizes on the importance of community media, especially community radio, for information dissemination with a view to involving people in the development process.It mainly aimsatanalysing the role of community radio in rural development and examines the participatory approach of two community radio stations in Himachal Pradesh. The paper adopts a case study research approach to investigating the two community radio stations of Himachal Pradesh, Hamara MSPICM 90.4 FM Solan (HP) and CRS Kuthar 90.8, Theog, Shimla.  The case study has used in-depth interviews with the stakeholders and community radio listeners to collect information regarding community participation, broadcasting content, etc. It has been observed that community radio stations are important medium of communication in these areas via successfully promoting participation, agriculture transformation, making behavioural changes,becoming voice for voiceless and providing discussion forums for local communities on various issues. This medium has proved to be an effective tool for improving the living standard of the people, making positive behavioral changes, and fulfilling the gap between the government and community.

Keywords: Community Radio, Rural Development, Information Dissemination, participation, Community Radio