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DELHI: One more Community Radio Station is to be set up soon in Kerala - at Mar
Athanasios College for Advanced Studies, Tiruvalla (MACFAST) to propagate its
innovative programmes. The
Information and Broadcasting Ministry has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement
for establishing, maintaining and operating the station that would be the 46th
in the country. After
recommendations of the Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances
from various ministries, the letter of intent had been issued to the Institute
. The
Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months, as
per the agreement. The Tiruvalla College has several innovative programmes, such
as CAP (Community awareness program), SALT (Social Awareness and Leadership Training)
programmes which are aimed at sensitising the student community about the needs
and requirements of the society. As
a step forward in its mission to serve the society more effectively, the Mar Athanasios
College for Advanced Studies is looking forward to setting up a community radio
station with the objective of focusing on issues relating to education, health,
environment, agriculture and rural community development and also to transform
young people and mould them into value driven, culturally enriched and professionally
competent change agents who would significantly contribute to improving their
immediate community, the state, the country and the world at large. The
Central Government in December 2006 had liberalised the Policy on Community Radio
by bringing in the civil society and voluntary organisations, agricultural universities,
ICAR institutions, Krishi Vigyan Kendras etc under its ambit. The
policy was liberalised to allow greater participation by the civil society on
issues of development and social change. Earlier, only educational institutions
were permitted to launch community radio channels.
In
the new guidelines, limited advertising and announcements
relating to local events, local businesses and services and
employment opportunities shall be allowed. The maximum duration
of such limited advertising will be restricted to five minutes
per hour of broadcast.
Also
Read:
Kerala
to have one more Community Radio Station
Community
radio station to come up at Tamil Nadu
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