Community Radio (CR) in India is in its infancy. The idea of allowing the people to own and run
radio channels that broadcast content relevant to their own lives, has taken some
time to gain acceptance in India. Radio has always been extremely tightly controlled in India,
the monopoly resting with All India Radio. The first break from this monopoly was the start of
Campus Radio stations (often confused with Community Radio stations, which are not led by
an educational institution but by the members of a community). The first Campus Radio station was
set up in Anna University in Chennai in 2004.
It has taken another four years for the first Community Radio stations to start broadcasting.
In 2007, after years of lobbying by CR activists, the government of India finally decided to
release thousands of licenses for educational institutions, NGOs, and registered community
organizations across India. After a fairly lengthy process of application, screening, and paperwork,
the first CR stations have begun broadcasting in India, in places as far apart as Orchcha in Madhya Pradesh,
Kuchch in Gujarat, Mukteshwar in Uttarakhand and Medak district in Andhra Pradesh
TRF applied for its CR license in late 2007. In 2008 our team was called in front of a
screening panel. In July 2008, we received a formal Letter of Intent informing us that,
pending complete paperwork, we had been cleared to receive a Wireless Operating
License to start a Community Radio station in Gurgaon.
The Gurgaon Community Radio station will have a footprint of approximately 20 kms originating
from the broadcasting tower on top of TRF’s field office in Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, Haryana.
Within this footprint, fall hundreds of villages, many of which have practically disappeared inside
industrial zones, urban estates and condominiums. The radio station will encompass offices and
factories in Udyog Vihar, homes and apartments in the new and old colonies of Gurgaon, villages
strung along both sides of NH-8, as well as those tucked inside, reached only by broken roads and narrow paths.
