Mangelore University is located on the west coast of India, about 400 miles south of Mumbai. The Times of India reports that its journalism department is pushing to open a community FM radio station: “Radio Mangala.”
Judging from the description provided to The Times by G. P. Shivaram, Chair of Mangelore’s J. School, Radio Mangala will be run by students on behalf of the Mangaluru area:
“The community radio will be an academic boost for students, who pursue journalism in the department. Students will get hands-on experience in various activities of a radio station through the project. The community radio will also consider the cultural aspirations of people and the focus of the programme will be more on local community.”
Roughly the same description comes from a 2014 Mangelore Journalism Department publication: “This radio will serve as a catalyst to fuel the development activities in the campus. It will also be a platform for the local people and other academic community to air their aspirations, culture and talents.”
India has over 170 community radio stations and most of them are run by schools (this tendency has its critics). The Radio Mangala proposal submitted to the government would allow the station to broadcast to a 15 kilometer contour.
Funding for the project would come from a program run by India’s Department of Higher Education: Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA). Among RUSA’s objectives: “Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved & underserved areas.”
