Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday announced that 118 new Community Radio Stations (CRS) are in the process of being set-up.
The approved list of applicants having been granted Letter of Intent for setting up CRS includes 16 from Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts, six from most LWE affected districts, 25 from coastal districts, 17 from Aspirational Districts, three from North-East and two from Jammu and Kashmir, the statement said.
Applications from NGOs, Educational Institutions – both private and public, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been granted approvals. It is expected that these Community Radio Stations will become operational within the next six months, it said.
Community Radio Stations act as essential communication channels for enhancing last mile of outreach of government. Plans are underway to ensure expansion of the community radio network to each district of the country, it added.
Community Radios are small (low power) FM radio stations with a coverage area of around 10-15 Km radius, depending on the geography of the area. CRS play a significant role in dissemination of agriculture related information, government schemes for people’s welfare, weather forecast etc., the statement said.
