VWS Radio @ 90.8 FM

Contact Person:  Mr. Gurpreet Singh

Broadcast Languages: Punjabi, Hindi, and English

Genesis: Vivekananda World School established VWS Radio 90.8 on 6th November, 2022. The CRS was founded with the intention of guiding young people in the community and encouraging emerging artists by giving them a platform to showcase their abilities. The CRS began with only three team members and has since evolved into a larger, dedicated team. Through various intervention strategies, we continue to have a ground-breaking impact on our target community. 

Thematic Focus:  The CRS has primarily focused its intervention on supporting agriculture, providing children with quality education, and creating a platform for their holistic development, which includes the social, emotional, mental, and intellectual growth of the community members. The emphasis has also been placed on addressing various social issues, such as gender equality, peace and harmony, health, unemployment, culture, professional and economic growth, etc., during the programmes, thus creating general awareness among the listeners. 

Sustainable Development Goals: VWS Radio broadly focuses its work on the following SDGs:

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

SDG 3: Good Health and Well Being

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 5: Gender Equality

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities  

Primetime Programmes: Nitnem, Rehras, Mulakaat, Vichaar Charcha, Safar Saanjh, Zara Bachke Mod Tonne, Aradhna, and Agriculture are the primetime programmes of VWS Radio. Mulakaat, Vichar Charcha, Safar Saanj are infotainment programmes that are streamed twice a day and touch upon a variety of topics which include education, health, social issues etc. Aradhana is a programme of Bhakti Sangeet.  The primetime programmes at night are mostly musicals which include ghazals. Most programmes are curated as infotainment programmes. 

Innovations in format or any other way: Conventional broadcasting often falls short of meeting the needs of the local population. Therefore, VWS Radio understands the value of community engagement activities and on-ground intervention campaigns. To involve the community, the CRS works in partnership with numerous regional organisations.

Core Team: A robust staff of seven people works at VWS Radio, including the station director, station manager, a panel of three educators and experts, and two support staff. In addition to this, the CRS also creates content with inputs from the community members, providing them with a platform to share their talent and engage in skill-related discussion. The CRS also has a Facebook page where it updates the community members about its programmes and initiatives.

Major Projects Undertaken:  The majority of VWS Radio’s work is on internal projects that are created in collaboration with the Vivekananda World School. The community-focused initiatives put a strong emphasis on educating and entertaining people, and also raising general awareness. This approach has been used in the design of many well-known programmes and initiatives. The CRS also explores possibilities to work with other groups and regional organisations.

Sustainable Strategies: The parent company Vivekananda World School, which currently contributes about 80% of the CRS’ annual budget, also provides technical support to VWS Radio. The remaining 20% is raised through advertisements and donations from philanthropists. In addition to this, the CRS tries to raise funds by publishing handbooks on different topics. 

Number of listeners and Potential Outreach: Most of the areas surrounding Ferozepur are covered by VWS Radio’s broadcast range. According to information gathered from local authorities, the CRS could potentially reach at least 55,000 people. Every week, about 2,000 people tune in to the CRS Web Radio. 

Major concerns in the Community: The community is troubled by a number of major issues, including unemployment, a lack of knowledge about opportunities and government programmes, health problems, the need for better education, problems with livelihood, etc. VWS Radio continuously works to improve the lives of its target community through innovative and effective interventions.