Neladani Community Radio Station @ 90.8 FM

Contact Person: Dr L.Krishnamurthy

Broadcasting Language: Kannada and Hindi 

Genesis: The Community Radio Station Neladani, a Kannada word, meaning voice of the soil in English or Mitti ki Awaz in Hindi was started by Divyajyothi Vidya Kendra on 3rd September, 2011, by the reputed NGO  working in the field of performing arts, culture, and social work,  imparting livelihood skills and training for the rural masses. The organisation is involved in various welfare programmes and  humanitarian response programmes which are also reflected in Neladani’s framework of functioning. The radio provides voice to the voiceless, and strives to transform their lives. 

Thematic Focus: The primary focus is on education, youth and culture with particular emphasis on performing arts in the folk form. It also takes into consideration the dying musical instruments like Chowdike (one string instrument made of a tin and stock) flute and Shehnai (blown wind instrument). These are instruments which are endangered in the area,  and focuses on the revival of these instruments which is the reflection of the community.

Sustainable Development Goals: The SDGs that the CRS focusses on are:

SDG 3: Good Health & Wellbeing

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 5: Gender Equality 

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 16: Peace Justice and Strong Institution

Primetime Programmes: The community representatives in the Programmes Committee of the radio station take inputs from the locals on a variety of subjects to create programmes for agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, watershed programme, sericulture, food and nutrition, general health care, yoga, education, medicine, folk songs, children’s programmes, bhajans (Prarthana), etc. Some of these programmes are:

• Chinnara Loka – It is mainly a programme for the youth aiming for total development from improvement in health to growth in cultural spheres.
• Sukakara Jeevanakke Sundara Suthragalu- This is an interactive programme. Each day a topic is taken by the anchor to elicit responses from the listeners. Such careful curation of the content makes it popular among the listeners.
• Rangadangala (Social dramas)- It is a programme which gives guidance to life and also the attitude towards society. Themes like equality among individuals and moral values, this programme also highlights the right attitude towards animals and birds.

Innovations in format or any other way: There is innovation in many programmes in the form of collecting listener response through letters and live phone calls. The Radio Station has given importance to legal awareness and aired programmes which are essential to the society and for the rural people such as legal awareness about property rights, women’s issues like dowry harassment and abuse, divorce, desertion and inequality between women and men and freedom for women.

Core Team: The core team consists of 6 members who actively run the radio station. The team consists of a Programme Committee comprising 2 members, which works in tandem with the 2 Community Representatives. These representatives are picked annually from the listening community. The teams are assisted by the 2 technical staff members who take care of the technicalities involved in running the station

Major Projects Undertaken: Neladani has been working in sync with the both government authorities and the community members alike to carry out work aimed at betterment of the general public. These collaborations have resulted in better outreach and an increase of awareness among the locals regarding the issues plaguing the society.

Sustainable Strategies: Neladani Community Radio Station primarily sustains itself through investments made by the parent organisation. Its popularity among the masses and the initial set up made entirely by the assistance of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has enabled the station to function smoothly

Number of listeners and Potential Outreach: The radio station has approximately 30,000 active listeners in the vicinity of 8 to 10 kms. Its potential outreach is expected to expand over the coming years.

Major Concerns in the Community: The radio station has identified lack of awareness on legal issues, women’s issues, poverty, loss of cultural knowledge, etc. to be the social evils plaguing the society