Bihar radio man's station shut down
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 14:54:40 +0530
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)" <fred@bytesforall.org>
To: OneWorld South Asia Partnership <oneworldsa@dgroups.org>
Subject: [oneworldsa] Bihar radio
man's station shut down
Bihar radio man's station shut down
By Imran Khan, Indo-Asian News Service
Patna, March 27 (IANS) A popular rural radio station in Bihar has
turned silent after the authorities closed it down because its owner, a
poor and illiterate man, did not possess an operating licence.
The Radio Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1 channel, beaming from Mansoorpur
village in Vaishali district for the past three years, was closed down
Sunday for running illegally - to the disappointment of hundreds of
people who loved to tune into it.
"The Radio Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1 was closed for violating the Indian
Telegraphs Act," Sanjeev Hans, the Vaishali district magistrate, told
IANS over telephone Monday.
A formal police complaint has also been lodged against the owner,
Raghav Mahto, and the equipment seized, said Hans. A three-member team
of the union communications and IT ministry, which visited the village
Sunday, seized the radio equipment, said Hans.
"The team seized the antenna and other equipment used by Mahto to run
his radio station," he said.
The trouble for Raghav Radio started early this month when the district
administration directed local officials to submit a report on the
private radio station. The government sought a report on it after the
story of Mahto's successful radio station was splashed in the national
and international media.
The union communications ministry sought information on the station and
directed that action be taken if it was found to be running without a
licence.
But locals are upset over the closing down of the station. The
villagers said they would protest the action and demand that the
station be revived.
The 20-something Mahto had admitted to this correspondent earlier that
he was not aware that a licence was required till he was informed last
month that it was illegal to run a private radio station.
He said then that he did not have enough money for a licence fee. "I
don't even have the money for medical treatment of my
father who is suffering from cancer."
While the government considers him an offender for violating the rules,
for the people residing in and around Mansoorpur village he is a hero.
People prefer Radio Raghav to the national channels and Mahto is more
popular than the local legislator and MP.
The station was running like a community radio service providing local
news and views in the local dialect and entertainment for the villages
in Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Saran districts.
Apart from Hindi songs and news, it would provide information about
crimes in the area, programmes on AIDS awareness, polio eradication, on
literacy initiatives and news about missing people as well as local
functions and festivals. But free of cost.
Mahto, who has an electronics repair shop at Gudri Bazar near
Mansoorpur and loves tinkering with old equipment, had stumbled upon
his innovation by chance.
He said he would love to run his radio station again if he gets
government clearance or help from people. "If someone helps me I will
go for it again."
Indo-Asian News Service
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