[HCDX] Community radio on wheel

[sakthi vel <ardicdxclub@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Community radio on wheel
SAJAN VENNIYOOR 

05 July 2006
UP in the hills of Kothmale, about 25 kilometres
southwest of Kandy in the central province of Sri
Lanka, a strange vehicle can be seen sputtering along
the dirt tracks of the villages. At first glance, it
is an autorickshaw or tuktuk, a familiar sight on the
roads of South Asia and as common on the streets of
Sri Lanka as sarongs. 

But this is no ordinary vehicle. This is eTukTuk, the
world's first radio-station and multimedia centre on
three wheels. 

In 1982, when the Mahaweli irrigation project
displaced thousands of villagers in central Sri Lanka,
the government eased their resettlement by setting up
several community radio projects in and around the new
villages. The Kothmale Community Radio (KCR) came up
in 1989 and went on to become something of a legend
where the other `community radio' stations soon ran
into rough weather 

On the walls of the somewhat run-down building that
houses the KCR and a multimedia centre, there are old,
faded photographs of a slim, curly-haired young man in
a sarong, deep in conversation with local people.
Sunil Wijesinghe, now the Station Controller of KCR,
is still the most unassuming of men, as likely to grab
a pickaxe as a microphone and turn his hand to
whatever odd job that needs to be done around the
station. 

The radio station, KCR 98.4 FM, which is part of the
cash-strapped Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, runs
on a shoestring budget. Sunil and his team keep things
going with a blend of ingenuity and good humour. The
studio is a marvel of improvisation. The mixer is of
venerable antiquity, as are the spool recorders. The
acoustic treatment on the walls seems to consist of
old foam-covered coir mattresses. 

The only pieces of modern broadcast equipment visible
were a Compact Disc player and a Personal Computer
donated by UNESCO. There is just one multi-purpose
studio, and programmes have to be recorded when the
station shuts down between transmissions. A second
booth - now a storage room is awaiting conversion into
a production studio. When? "As soon as funds are
available," says Sunil Wijesinghe, echoing a common
refrain in Kothmale. 

Next only to Sunil, Benjamin (`Mr. Ben') Grubb is one
of the minor marvels of Kothmale. Ben is a slim,
bespectacled Australian in his late twenties, whose
air of detached abstraction hides a sharp intellect
and a passion for all things technical. Ben Grubb came
to Sri Lanka as a tourist and "somehow ended up" at
Kothmale, where he is the Project Adviser and guiding
spirit behind the eTukTuk project. He handpicked the
heavy-duty battery, inverter, mixer, amplifier, cables
and all the other odds and ends that fit snugly into
the tuktuk. 

When the project runs out of funds - an all too common
occurrence - Ben reportedly dips into his own
resources to keep things ticking. "My girlfriend
supports me," he deadpans. 

The eTukTuk was unveiled in Colombo during the World
Press Freedom Day conference in May this year. The
bright blue three-wheeler with its Heath Robinson
interior was an instant hit. A few days later, the
AMARC (World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters) round table discussion on `Community
Radio and its Social Impact' was covered live by the
eTukTuk in Colombo. 

"With this eTukTuk, it seems to me you've got a great
vehicle both in the physical and the symbolic sense,
to go out to the communities and the neighbourhoods
and to let people speak through their community radio
station," said Steve Buckley, president of AMARC. "I
think that this is a trend that is going to catch on."


The vehicle is an Indian-built Bajaj RE 4-stroke
autorickshaw, powerful enough to climb the steep hills
of Kothmale while carrying what is, in effect, a
complete radio station and multimedia centre, and a
couple of operators as well. Ben said the
three-wheeler was stripped down and rebuilt to his
specifications by local mechanics, with special racks
for the equipment. The roof rack - sturdy enough to
support Ben's weight - holds two speakers. 

BEN GRUBB 
BEN SHOWS DALIT children from Weliganga the converted
autorickshaw, complete with laptop, inverter,
amplifier, mixer, a CDMA phone, scanner, camera and
battery-operated printer 

There is a shelf for the laptop, and space to mount a
CDMA (code division multiple access) phone, scanner,
camera and battery-operated printer. Even in the
remotest villages of Kothmale, with the eTukTuk one
can access the Internet, scan and upload documents,
download files, print them and take digital
photographs. A portable 1000-watt generator produces
enough electricity to recharge the main battery and
keep the equipment running for hours. 

When I reached Kothmale on May 10, the eTukTuk was in
its lair - a converted kitchen in the KCR building -
having completed the 150-odd km from Colombo to
Kothmale. But there was work to be done - a field
broadcast was scheduled that evening, the eTukTuk's
first community OB (Outdoor Broadcast) event in
Kothmale, at Weliganga village. 

Weliganga (`river-flats') clings to a hillside a few
kilometres downhill from KCR. As the eTukTuk rolled
into a small clearing with a dilapidated shed at its
far end, a light monsoon rain began to fall. Within
minutes the crew fired up the transmitter and laptop,
and cables snaked across the wet grass. 

The transmitter is a vintage 50-watt FM exciter, a
clunky beast that goes back to the early days of the
KCR and is too big to fit anywhere except on the
rooftop rack. (This is an obvious worry for the
Kothmale station, particularly during the monsoon, and
they are raising the funds to buy a sleeker model that
will fit inside the eTukTuk). I watched bemused as an
18-foot antenna mast was put together swiftly from
three lengths of galvanised iron pipe clamped
end-to-end. 

Sunil Shanta, the KCR's relief announcer, launched
into a practised spiel that was fed into the twin
speakers mounted on the eTukTuk's roof. Soon, the
clearing and the shed filled with an expectant crowd -
mostly women and children - some carrying plastic
chairs and mats. 

Weliganga is a Dalit village, a hamlet of drum makers
and subsistence farmers, generally shunned by their
better off neighbours. Sunil Wijesinghe said that only
a few days earlier, a local monk had stormed into his
office, outraged by the contents of a recent
programme. Apparently, the radio station had aired the
comments of Weliganga's villagers, who said they were
not allowed entry into the local temple. Even their
children, said the villagers, had to travel long
distances to study as they were discriminated against
in the local school. 

With monsoon clouds rolling overhead and the shed's
roof leaking like a sieve, the show got under way.
Achala, a class IX student, launched into a Sinhala
prayer song. Livelier numbers followed, and soon the
shed was filled with singing, clapping and dancing
youngsters, with three drummers maintaining a steady
beat. 

Ben Grubb dashed into the eTukTuk to check on the
equipment, but Buddhika Sampath, the KCR's content
creation specialist, shooed him away and took over the
audio recording. Inside the shed, Sunil Shanta, the
programme presenter, worked the crowd and kept up a
steady banter. 

The rain had died down to a sporadic drizzle. It was
half past six and too dark to see, but the unlit shed
was still alive with song, drumbeats and girlish
laughter. Reluctantly, Sunil wound up the proceedings
and the eTukTuk splashed its way back to the station
on the muddy hill roads, driven by Nishanta, the
strapping volunteer driver. 

That night at Sunil Wijesinghe's house, it is time for
a reality check. Earlier that week in Colombo, I had
heard frequent criticism that the Kothmale community
radio experiment had outlived its usefulness. There
were constant jibes, not least of all from former
Kothmale staff, that the `community radio' station had
very little community involvement, since it was
effectively owned and run by the Sri Lanka
Broadcasting Corporation. 

Community support: SAJAN VENNIYOOR 
Achala, a Class IX student, begins the radio broadcast
in Weliganga with a Sinhala prayer song. 

It is true that KCR's success is offset by the
comparative failure of other community radio stations
that were set up in the region at the same time. But,
as Sunil pointed out, it was precisely the support of
the community that set Kothmale apart, and accounted
for its success. "This evening at Weliganga," he
asked, "did you feel that the community was not
involved?" 

Nevertheless, Kothmale is an exception. Sri Lanka is
not the only country in South Asia without a proper
community radio policy. In Colombo, I had bumped into
A.H.M. Bazlur Rahman of BNNRC (Bangladesh NGOs Network
for Radio & Communication) at an international ICT
conference. Bazlur and I performed a familiar ritual.
"What's the latest on your CR policy?" I asked. Bazlur
Rahman shrugged eloquently: "Many promises, no
policy." "Same in India," I said, as we pondered the
mysteries of broadcast regulation in the subcontinent.


India's community radio policy has been in the
pipeline for so long that it seems to have congealed.
A draft policy was sent for Cabinet approval on
October 6, 2005, and then referred to a Group of
Ministers. Seven months on, the GoM has yet to meet
and decide on the new policy, which promises to open
up the airwaves to community groups. 

In Kothmale, Sunil was a worried man. Ben's finances
are somewhat precarious and he will need to return to
Australia to replenish his bank balance. "Please tell
him to stay," Sunil urged agitatedly. Ben does not
want to leave Kothmale either, but he has little
choice. Buddhika, Sunil Shanta and Nishanta were in
animated conversation, and occasionally sought my
opinion on broadcasting by tuktuk. I tried to find
parallels between the massive OB vans of All India
Radio - lumbering juggernauts of broadcast technology
- and the nimble little tuktuk, but soon give up. 

Clearly, the eTukTuk is one of a kind. One can only
hope - as Steve Buckley prophesies - that the trend
will catch on and that swarms of eTukTuks will boldly
go where no broadcaster has gone before. 

Sajan Venniyoor is a long-time radio broadcaster and
activist for community radio. 
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Source: Frontline &
http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/135958/1/1893
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jaisakthivel,
Chennai
 



		
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