Question : COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING (SHRI MANISH TEWARI)

(a) & (b) Grant of permissions to set up Community Radio Stations (CRSs) is a continuous process. So far, 24 permissions have been given by the Ministry to set up CRSs in the North-East Region. State-wise details are as follows :

i)	Arunachal Pradesh	-	01
ii)	Assam	-	16
iii)	Manipur	-	04
iv)	Tripura	-	02
v)	Nagaland	-	01

(c) to (e) The clause 7
(i) of the Policy Guidelines on Community Radio Stations in India stipulates that: “CRS shall be expected to cover a range of 5-10 km. For this, a transmitter having maximum Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of 100 W would be adequate. However, in case of a proven need where the applicant organisation is able to establish that it needs to serve a larger area or the terrain so warrants, higher transmitter wattage with maximum ERP up to 250 Watts can be considered on a case-to-case basis, subject to availability of frequency and such other clearances as necessary from the Ministry of Communication & IT. Requests for higher transmitter power above 100 Watts and upto 250 Watts shall also be subject to approval by the Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting”.

So far, no Community Radio Station has been permitted transmitter power above 100 Watts ERP. Also, there is no proposal under consideration to permit higher transmitter wattage.