(a) the number of organisations which have been issued Letters of Intent and Grant of Permission Agreements whose Community Radio Stations are not yet functional;
(b) the major reasons for the non-commencement of broadcasting operations from these stations;
(c) whether inter-ministerial clearances delay the process of receiving a grant of permission and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the ministry is taking steps to make the process of applying for a licence easier, and
(e) if so, the details thereof? |
| ANSWER |
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (COL RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE (Retd.))
(a) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued 398 Letters of Intent (LOI) to set up Community Radio Stations. Out of them, 211 organisations have signed Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA) after obtaining frequency allocation and Standing Advisory Committee For Frequency Allocation (SACFA) clearances from the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing of Ministry of Communication & Information Technology. 32 GOPA holders have yet to operationalised their stations.
(b) As per the policy guidelines for setting up of Community Radio Stations in India, GOPA holders are required to set up and operationalised the station within three months of signing of GOPA subject to receipt of Wireless Operating Licence(WOL) from WPC Wing. Besides obtaining WOL, permission holders are also required to mobilize financial and other resources to set up the station and commence their operations.
(c) As per policy guidelines, LOI can be issued subject to receiving clearances from Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing of Ministry of Communication &IT, as the case may be. The Ministries concerned are required to communicate their clearances within three months of receipt of the application. The case is then referred to an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for a decision for issue of LOI.
(d) & (e) The Ministry has put in place an online Community Radio Management Information System (CRMIS), www.cronlineindia.net, to help applicant to apply online. For the benefit of the applicants, a filled in model application is also available on CRMIS. Various guidelines issued by the Government on Community Radio are also available on the home page of the site. The Ministry is also organizing awareness workshops across the country to sensitize the public about the policy and create awareness about issues relating to permission process, operation & maintenance of Community Radio Station. |
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