MUMBAI: Guwahati based Community Radio Station (CRS) Jnan Taranga has increased the number of its broadcast hours, despite facing a financial crunch. Until last year, the CRS aired four hours of live programs, which has been increased to eight hours from this year. The new broadcast timings are from 9 am to 6 pm, and with it, the CRS is also airing a host of new programs. Jnan Taranga is the first community radio station in North East India and is a part of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University.

“We increased the number of hours because our listeners demanded more content. The increase in the number of broadcasts has helped us bring on board students who want firsthand experience in radio, or those who want to develop their skills in public speaking,” said Jnan Taranga station coordination, Gitali Kakati. The CRS broadcasts programs by students from 9 am to 2 pm, which are educational and related to subjects like health, sports, career, science, woman, children, agriculture, horticulture, climate change and environment.

Among the new programs is a show called ‘Poor Kiran’ which takes in requests for birthdays. The show also conducts a quiz, and offers information, awareness and a bit about taking care of animals. Another show- ‘Jnan Hofru’ talks about the lives of great people from the state of Assam, and shares recipes, while the show ‘Anubhav’ is based on stories about the lives of common people. ‘Pakohat Guwahati’, another program on the CRS talks about the city during the 1940s and 50s, while the show ‘Kunali Hokum’ promotes young talent.

Through the Jnan Taranga, students studying journalism are given the opportunity to interview singers, authors, musicians and many others who have done well in their respective fields. The CRS recently started a small segment in which they inform people about basic things like applying for ration cards, prices of groceries in ration shops. The most popular show of the radio station, however, is ‘Manar Khabar’, an older live phone-in program, which talks about various issues of people. The programs are broadcast on all seven days of the week.

When asked if the CRS faces paucity of finances, Kakati explained, “Finance is a common problem with all community radio stations. We depend on our University for money. So we do face a problem, but our university does help out a lot.” Jnan Taranga initially used to air private FM advertisements, but now only broadcasts government ads.

The shows are aired in Assamese, Hindi and English, and the CRS caters to about 15,000-20,000 people.