NEW DELHI: Jharkhand should make use of community radio to ensure last mile reach. Educational Institutions and NGOs should be motivated to set up community radio stations, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today.

He said that community radio was an empowering tool which caters to the information needs of the people in local language/dialect. It broadcast programmes on various local issues relevant to the community. He added that to give a boost to radio outreach, the ministry has increased the subsidy amount to 75 per cent for stakeholders for setting up of CRS in various states.

Elaborating further about enhancing the radio outreach in the state, Naidu said under FM Phase III, 16 more Private FM channels have been proposed for the state of Jharkhand.

The Minister was speaking at a review meeting of the programs and initiatives of Ministry held at Ranchi, Jharkhand today. Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das was also present during the review meeting.

While giving an overview of issues discussed during the review meeting, Naidu said the Jharkhand Government has been requested to provide a dedicated power supply through separate feeders to All India Radio and Doordarshan stations in the state. He mentioned that action was being taken to cover all shadow areas of Koderma region by December 2018, to ensure 100 per cent coverage of all geographic regions in the state by DD and AIR.

A separate 24x7 Doordarshan channel is being launched shortly for Jharkhand, Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said.