Radio Mewat

Radio Mewat airs discussions and advice on health, education, and finance to the villagers, offering programming that is meant to be sensitive to the needs and problems of the community. The content is hence conceived with the help of the community: The radio station has a content committee and a management committee with representatives from the community, who participate actively in all its operational and programming issues. Over 90% of what is aired is specific to the region. For example:

• Sponsored by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Faayde ki baat was a series of 200 programmes focused on financial inclusion. Audiences were apprised of bank-related information such as how to open a bank account, benefits of opening a bank account, loan facilities available in Mewat, and success stories of small entrepreneurs who took a loan from the local banks to commence their businesses that are running successfully. All programmes were broadcast under the supervision of bank managers.
• Sponsored by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Swasthaya ki baat is a series of 230 episodes aiming to make the community aware of various health-related issues like malaria, tuberculosis, pre-natal and post-natal health, importance of nutritious food and healthy lifestyle, AIDS, safe sex, tubectomy and vasectomy, seasonal diseases, and immunisation etc. All the programmes were made by keeping in mind the understanding of the community on health-related issues into consideration and with a doctor's supervision.
• Sponsored by the Panchayati Raj department of Government of India, Humara Raj Panchayati Raj was a series of 60 programmes that were made after "rigorous research and a lot of community interaction. There were programmes based on Gram Sabha, Panchayat Samiti, roles and responsibilities of the elected body etc. Not only were the programmes made but a grass root level work was done where community participation was the focussed upon through narrow casting. This programme was highly appreciated by the community members."
• Galli Galli Sim Sim (GGSS) is a Hindi version of Sesame Street which was a long running American children's television series (see Related Summaries, below). Radio Mewat is one of the 10 radio stations that were picked up by Sesame Workshop India to broadcast their programmes. The programmes focused on physical and emotional health, mathematics, etc.
• Pate ki Baat (PKB) is a series of episodes where the community is made aware of basic needs like the importance of ration cards, insurance, bank accounts, Permanent Account Number (PAN) card, voter ID, passport, etc. They are also told about small schemes like pension, the right to education, fundamental rights and duties, etc.
• Aaj ka Mehman is a programme for people from various strata of society. Various people from different castes are interviewed at the radio station. The programmes aim to encourage community members to come forward to participate in the radio and to share their lives and experiences so that others come forward, too.
• Dastaan-e-Mewat explored "the glorious history of Mewat which has not been documented ever in the past. The tagline of this programme was - 'Ladaaku nahi, jazbaati hain, fakr se kaho, hum Mewati hain'. The reporter travelled extensively to do the ground level research on this programme." Radio Mewat also makes efforts to revive the lost cultural and oral tradition of the Meos - that of the Mirasi music - sufi singers who have been reciting the Mahabharata.
• Baat Berbani Ki is a programme run by women, for women. In Mewat, women are not allowed to go out of their households and talk, so the reporter goes to their houses and interacts with them.

To bring about greater participation and depth to the content, the radio station disseminates information and also serves as a bridge between the community and the administration. Evidence of how much the radio enjoys the trust and confidence of the local community can be gauged by the fact that local people come for counseling and seek help in grievance redressal from the staff on a regular basis.

Moreover, the open door policy of the radio station encourages the residents of Mewat to walk in freely and voice their opinions on issues that impact them or about which they are passionate. Live phone-ins have increased the participation of the people and brought in a wide spectrum of voices from all sections of the population. These efforts are intended to help improve the relationship between the local community and the administration. The radio station acts as a conduit between locals and various government departments, helping to raise awareness of issues like education, health, agriculture, justice and the environment.

To reach people in villages where electricity runs for only two hours a day, if that, and nobody owns a radio set, Radio Mewat worked with communities to build up listeners' groups and provided each group with its own battery-operated radio set. Village women - some hiding their faces from the glances of men with hems of their saris - often gather together, such as in Kherla village in Haryana district, some 55 miles northwest of India's capital, New Delhi, to listen to Radio Sewat programmes. The initiative has also given radio sets to various schools.

Women, Rights, Education, Economic Development, Health

Mewat's population of around 1.2 million has limited access to basic facilities such as safe drinking water, healthcare, schools, electricity, and good roads. The Muslim majority district is a patriarchal society, with many communities considering the education of their children, girls in particular, to be immaterial and against social norms.

SMART explains: "It was not easy to set up a community radio station in a socially and educationally backward district like Mewat. Paucity of funds, trained manpower and dedicated power supply were not the only hurdles, there were far more complex social issues that we had to contend with. There were genuine fears of being rejected by an extremely conservative religious community. Our radio programmes were subjected to hard scrutiny by the elders and conscience keepers of the community to ensure that they did not threaten their beliefs. What really worked in Radio Mewat's favour was the credibility of SMART and the work it had done in the last twelve years with women and children. Today the radio station has become not only the voice of the community but also it's pride and identity."

The radio station has been the recipient of two national awards from the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It won an award for being the 'Most Sustainable Community Radio Station' in 2011 and for the 'Most Creative and Innovative Programming' in 2012. According to Radio Mewat's project coordinator Meenakshi Kukreti, when they started the initiative, the village women were reluctant to express their opinions after lifetimes of being told by men that they had nothing worthy to say. "The community radio tries to make them aware of their rights so that they speak up," she says. "They now have a platform where they can put forward their grievances and in turn be educated on important issues." Before Radio Mewat, "There was no one in the village to tell us what is good or bad for our children," says Akhteri, a mother of four. "Now we get information on the radio about how to take care for our children’s health and personal hygiene." Eighteen-year-old Farheen, 18, credits the radio station with changing her life. After doing well in her school exams, she had to drop out in 2008 because of a village custom that disallows girls from being educated beyond the age of puberty. But through the educational programmes she heard on the radio, Farheen defied tradition and continued her schooling at home. She passed her secondary school exam and recently joined Radio Mewat as an intern. The experience, she says, has given her self-confidence she never had before. "I was even scared of my own self. I would never go out with anyone other than my family," she says. "Today, I feel privileged. I represent the radio in my village and stand for my village on the radio." Her mother says she, too, has been inspired by what she's heard on the radio. "I don't want to marry [Farheen] off at an early age, which is a trend here," Begum says. "I want her to be among this village's respectable women of tomorrow."