The sense of unity that was on view during the unprecedented floods in the State last year has now led to a unique experiment – six community radio stations from flood-hit regions across the State are coming together to ‘co-create’ programmes on rebuilding the State.
The Janakiya Pankalitham Punarnirmanam initiative of the Local Self-Governance Department is being implemented in partnership with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, UNICEF and BBC Media Action.
Community radio stations Radio Media Village, Radio Mattoli, Radio Neythal, Janvani Community Radio, Radio Hello and Mangalam Radio which have dedicated listeners in various flood-hit districts are part of the initiative, with the first of the ‘Puthu Nambukal - Nava Keralathinte Shankoli’ episodes going live on Tuesday in all these stations and on the Internet.
“There have been instances of one radio station producing a programme and others too broadcasting it. But this is the first time that one programme is being co-created by several stations. We have planned 24 episodes on issues such as housing, livelihood and health. Each episode is half-an-hour-long, with each station contributing to it. For instance, the Mattoli or Neythal stations will be contributing a short drama on the topic of the day, Media Village will be doing expert interviews, Mangalam will be doing a short synopsis and key takeaways capsule and Radio Hello and Janvani, public service announcement jingles and promos,” says Vipin Raj, programme coordinator at Radio Media Village.
All the coordination happens on a common WhatsApp group, where each radio station shares the segment that it has done, with the rest of the stations all stitching it together for their respective broadcasts.
The programmes
Two episodes each will be broadcast every week. With all of these stations being situated in flood-affected regions, the coordinators themselves have been part of the rescue and rebuilding efforts, and also have a local connect.
The programme centres around ensuring a dialogue between humanitarian responders and people and communities affected by or prone to a crisis. In Wayanad, the Mattoli station is even translating the entire programme to Paniya language for its listeners from tribal village.
“Soon after the floods, we approached the State government with this plan for a people-led recovery process, and the government responded immediately. The radio programmes are part of our initiatives at taking people’s feedback to inform the recovery process, integrating it into disaster response, recovery and reconstruction. Once we are able to demonstrate the impact of this on the developmental plans and people's lives, this will go a long way in bridging the current gap between disaster response planning and developmental planning,” says Anu Puri, who worked with UNICEF for the programme.