Community Radio Conference Held in Jaipur

Kota: A two-day Community Radio Conference was organized at the Holiday Inn hotel in Jaipur to commemorate 20 years of community radio in India. This event was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Representatives from 145 community FM radio stations across four states in Western India—Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan—participated in the conference.

From Kota, the only community radio station, Kisanvani Kota, was represented by Vibha Sharma, Chairperson of the Rajasthan Technical Training Institute, and Sanjay Verma, the station director.

During the conference, Gaurishankar Kesrwani, Additional Director of the Community Radio Center Cell at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, provided insights into community radio management and discussed various ministry initiatives. He emphasized the crucial role community radio can play in preserving and promoting endangered regional languages. UNESCO language experts were also invited to the event, which was coordinated by Professor Sangita Pranavendra from IIMC.