NEW DELHI: Only 18 of the 114 applications received from non-profit organizations for setting up community radio stations have been cleared so far.

Of the total number of 34 community radio stations reported to be functioning in the country at present, the highest number of eight is in Tamil Nadu.In 13 states and union territories for which details are available, Delhi has five such stations and Uttar Pradesh has four. Maharashtra and Rajasthan have three each. There are two stations each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka, and one each in Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh and Puducherry (Pondicherry).

Information and Broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi told Parliament that the government had taken steps to sensitize the scheme by arranging a number of consultations and workshops at regional and national level throughout the country, where prospective organizations from rural and backward areas were invited.

Letters had also been sent to chief secretaries of all the States and Union Territories to give sufficient publicity to the scheme in the print as well as audio-visual media.