Kalanjiam Community Radio

Kalanjiam Community Radio (Tamil: களஞ்சியம் சமூக வானொலி) is a radio broadcasting service in Tamil, operating from Vizhunthamavadi, a tiny village in the coastal area of Tamil Nadu, India. It broadcasts in the FM broadcast band on 90.8 MHz from local time (GMT+51⁄2) 6.00 a.m. until 6.00 p.m.

Organisation

Kalanjiam Community Radio is a unit of Kalanjiam Media Centre supported by DHAN Foundation as part of its development program in the Tsunami affected areas in Southern India. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided the resources and a Bengaluru-based organisation, VOICES provides necessary technical support.

Vision

The vision of Kalanjiam Media Centre, as stated by the organisation, is:

• To inform, inspire and empower the vulnerable coastal communities to speak and act on various socio, economic and cultural development issues concerning them.
• To enable the communities to use radio, television and the Internet to create and distribute programs that promote and celebrate individual expression, local achievements, education, cultural exchange, arts appreciation and civic engagement.
• To prepare the communities in the disaster prone coastal areas for managing any kind of disasters and strengthen their livelihoods to cope up with future disasters with a long term conservation focus.

As per the above, the station broadcasts program material created/produced from contributions by the local community and presented by a team of trained volunteers from the same community.
The programming focuses on local information pertaining to community needs concerned with disaster preparedness, livelihoods, local best practices, women and children, health, education and farming.