Radio Puneri Awaz @ 107.8 FM

Contact Person: RJ Tejaswini

Broadcasting Language: Marathi, Hindi, English 

Genesis: Radio Puneri Awaz was established in 2017 by the World Renewal Spiritual Trust (WRST). The community radio is based in Pune, Maharashtra and works for the development and welfare of the local community by giving them a platform to voice their concerns, and share their knowledge and experience with one another. The mission of Radio Puneri Awaz is to serve people of all ages and sections equally and make their lives better.  

Thematic Focus: The main focus areas of Radio Puneri Awaz lie in language, literature and culture, women empowerment, health, education, and youth. The CRS works on programmes based on these themes to empower and educate its target society. 

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

SDG 3: Good Health

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 5: Gender Equality

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Primetime Programmes: The primetime programmes that feature in Radio Puneri Awaz are Let’s Meditate, Gharonda, Nanhe Shehzad, Ek Mulakat, among many others, Let’s Meditate is a programme that focuses on mental health and emphasises its importance in today’s times. Gharonda is a women empowerment programme that promotes their self-confidence, upliftment, and importance in society. Nanhe Shehzad is a programme for children which focuses on skill development and education, while Ek Mulakat which aims to give a platform for community members to come forward and share their struggles, experience, concerns and opinions, and inspire others in the community. 

Innovations in format or any other way: Radio PuneriAwaz believes that a CRS can be a force of change in society and therefore does much more than broadcasting. It organises camps, events and interactive sessions with the community members. The CRS makes an effort to interact with people across all ages and register opinions and concerns on different matters. 

Core Team: The staff at Radio Puneri Awaz has ten members which include the Station Head, Production Manager, Social Media Manager, four sound staff and two coordinators. The CRS also promotes participation from community members in all aspects of running the radio station. 

Major Projects Undertaken: Radio Puneri Awaz has been a part of three funded, partner projects so far. The CRS has collaborated with Factshala for an awareness campaign on fake news and cybersafety. It also worked on Poshan ki Potli, which was an awareness campaign on nutrition for all ages, and also on campaigns promoting the International Day of Yoga.

Sustainable Strategies: Radio Puneri Awaz raises almost sixty percent of its annual budget through paid collaborative projects with other organisations, and another ten percent from advertisements. The remaining thirty percent of its annual budget is met by support from its parent organisation, WRST.

Number of listeners and Potential Outreach: The CRS covers at least forty villages in the region and has an active listener base of at least fifty thousand listeners. 

Major concerns in the Community: The major concerns in the community are mental health, education and healthcare. Climate change has also been a concern in recent times, as it has been around the world. Radio Puneri Awaz addresses these issues by organising events and awareness campaigns on these topics.