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| It lends power to the feeble voices of marginalised groups |
Gurgaon Ki Awaaz
107.8 MHz, Gurgaon
It lends power to the feeble voices of marginalised groups. Gurgaon Ki Awaaz began its journey in 2009. The radio is an extension of the activities of The Restoring Force (TRF), an NGO that works on education and voluntary training. It's objective is to represent the unrepresented in radio. Be it the LGBTQ or the disabled community, Gurgaon ki Awaaz follows an inclusive approach. Some of the key programmes currently on air are Career Express (on livelihood), Chahat Chowk (on sexual and reproductive health), Family Time (on relationships), Udaan (psychological counselling) and Bavra Mausam (on adolescence). Another show Saara Aasmaan Hamara (on migration and culture) focuses on the financial constraints of insecure migrants.
Gurgaon ki Awaaz has specially designed programmes for its niche audiences across Gurgaon. There is a show specifically for drivers — Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, and also one exclusively on entrepreneurship — Apna Nazariya Apna Kaam. The community radio gives special emphasis on under-represented communities like the LGBTQ and the disabled. It is always eager to reach out to them. The radio station started its internet broadcasting from 2011 and listeners can tune in from anywhere in the world. "Many of our listeners have smartphones. Now, thanks to flexible and cheap internet packs, they continue to listen," mentions Aarti Jaiman, station director of Gurgaon Ki Awaaz.
Interestingly, their migration programmes have become quite popular, and for the past two years, the radio has been using its popularity in this regard to promote songs on migration and migrant singers. The radio station is currently airing a programme called Sacred Secular that plays only sufi bhakti music in India. It's an instant hit because the music comes straight from the archives and is not easily accessible to people otherwise. Health and wellness programmes are equally popular because now the economically weaker sections of Gurgaon can reach out to a doctor at literally no cost. Of its 22 hours of daily schedule, the radio station runs 16 hours of folk music in languages as varied as Maithili, Garhwali and Bhojpuri.
The Gurgaon Ki Awaaz team found drafting playlists to run the shows uninterrupted quite challenging due to lack of availability of folk numbers in recorded format. But it didn't give up, and reached out to bhajan mandalis, met individual singers, and even attended competitions to record songs.The community radio conducts live talk shows in the morning, because they want their listeners to be proactive and participate. Interestingly, they get calls from migrants the most. "Out of 100 callers, 20 are Haryanvi, and the rest are emigrant workers," discloses Jaiman.
When it comes to expanding and reaching out to a bigger audience base, Gurgaon ki Awaaz refuses to embrace change because community radio by definition is supposed to be hyperlocal (covering 1-15 km) "Our focus is deeper penetration instead of wider, so that new listeners don't miss out on programmes, Hamara Samvidhan and Kanoon Ki Baat, which were produced two years ago, and are currently on repeat broadcast," says Jaiman. Hamara Samvidhan and Kanoon Ki Baat offer legal assistance, answer audiences' legal queries, spread awareness on legal services available in the country. They throw light on the Indian Constitution and what it implies to the people. Kanoon Ki Baat is a 30-minute radio show.
The radio station cuts through gender and sexual identities. One such programme is Bawra Mausam, for which it has collaborated with CREA, a women's rights organisation based in New Delhi. The programme initially focused on adolescence and the major changes it brings to the body. Later, it branched out to bring the transgender community of Gurgaon under its cover. It's aim has been to make people empathise with the kinnars. Audience must understand that the kinnar community is just like any other with its challenges. In fact, it has to overcome additional blocks like stigma and isolation.
At the time of inception, Gurgaon Ki Awaaz was confused about the actual purpose of a community radio and what kind of a community radio it aspired to be. It doesn't have sound engineers or professionals to handle the technological aspects. Every team member is from the community. Gurgaon ki Awaaz gets donor funds for projects, their migration programmes are supported by UNESCO and livelihood programmes are funded by CSR initiatives. It often faces funds crunch, and resource generation becomes quite a task. "Payments have not always been on time, especially the government funding. We have not been able to make full use of private funding as well," stresses Jaiman.
She also shares that at times it becomes quite difficult to convince people about the utility of such a radio station or its ability to bring a change. Incidentally, Gurgaon Ki Awaz has a team of predominantly female members. The experienced members train people as and when required as the training comes in handy and need arises quite frequently. "Someone gets married and her journey comes to an end in the radio station. Some move on to another city, or switch jobs. Also, technology becoming outdated is another issue. Since we are low on funds and do not have tech experts, we have trouble keeping up with the latest technology. We usually are on the lookout for something as easy as using a mobile phone," says Jaiman.
alokeshgupta@gmail.com
