Be it any crisis, natural or man-made, Radio always comes to the rescue

Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi *

Exotic North East India is picturesque and a tourist’s paradise, what with its thick jungles, undulating landscapes, salubrious climate, and remote and inaccessible villages populated with tribals with different cultures, traditions and practices combining to present an experience that no other region in India can offer.

Thanks to the somewhat recent focus on the region under the Act East Policy, development is on a fast track in the region that will become India’s trade gateway to Southeast Asia.

Fortunately, slowly but surely tourism that was hit badly during the two years of Covid pandemic and its after effects is picking up, thanks to the proactive and efficient work of all frontline Covid warriors that include media persons in the North East, and especially so the radio fraternity that cuts through language and literacy barriers, and the information it relays reaches the intended targeted audiences with great ease via airwaves.

Countless radio professionals, from private sector radio channels to Government owned All India Radio and Doordarshan were the unsung heroes in the fight against the deadly pandemic that brought the world to a grinding halt.

As is normal, and inevitable during any crisis, natural or man made, children and women are the most likely victims who need the immediate and maximum possible assistance and help. Of course, the Central Government and the health authorities of the State do recognise this and pitched in with whatever special initiatives they could to ameliorate the sufferings of the most vulnerable of the population.

Yes, the Government was doing its duty, and fulfilling its responsibility and what is so great about it one may ask – when dealing with the pandemic, as it is its primary task to safeguard its people. But given the ever-present danger that lurked at every nook and corner, the very fact that people came out to perform their duties itself is commendable enough.

But more important, the zeal and enthusiasm with which many people providing essential services–from groceries deliveries, medical, health, courier services, and media – is a case in point, and their selfless service is something worth remembering, and if possible, ought to be appreciated with thank you notes to them.

Day after day, radio professionals worked from home, office, field to create messages of useful information, life-saving information about Covid centres, spread of disease, facilities available, schedules, locations, and specific information for the masses.

And more important did a yeomen service in bursting fake news and false propaganda, which itself was a bigger challenge for the Government authorities in the fight against Covid. So, it was not surprising that radio was recognised as a key element in information strategy for Covid mitigation in India–in which Government owned AIR and private radio channels both played a crucial role.

UNICEF on its own, during the pandemic, interacted with more than 2000 radio professionals, to tackle misinformation and create general awareness on Covid-19 and on impact of Covid-19 on health, mental health of children and women.

So, it was at a congregation of such Covid warriors from the media field, representatives from All India Radio from districts of different States of North East, were felicitated at a media workshop organised by UNICEF in Guwahati. Their services and their contribution in the fight against Covid and their continued efforts to educate the masses on routine immunization, and focused awareness creation on the zero dose children were appreciated.

It was also at this very productive workshop, UNICEF launched the North East Chapter of Radio4Child, its initiative to encourage radio professionals come up with creative and innovative programming on child and maternal health that was started in 2014. An initiative that worked wonders during the pandemic, across India.

It was also logical that such a congregation was held at Guwahati, the gateway to North East, and the hub of all economic activity of the region that is now witnessing development and growth. It hosted a two-day capacity building workshop on nutrition and routine immunization for over 70 radio professionals from Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, and Assam.

Additional Chief Secretary of Assam, Maninder Singh, who formally launched the North East Chapter of Radio4Child said that radio was the best and cost effective medium to reach the masses, especially given the topography of the North Eastern States. Besides, it is a medium that renders itself useful in different circumstances and locales, and even when travelling which television now is difficult to achieve.

Radio has the power of reach–it reaches the remotest of regions of North East. If key messages are integrated in the popular shows that people tune into, then information will stay with them.

The younger generation has come up with ideas that clicked in conveying messages in the most engaging of the ways, all during the pandemic. But in creativity quotient and zeal and enthusiasm, the oldies (well, those in the age bracket of 50 and above) among the radio professionals present and interacting proved that they could teach the younger ones a lesson or two.

But fortunately, it is a blend of youth and experience that enriches the radio fraternity that has come into its own, as it has always been during emergencies, and calamities– natural and man made. What the start of the North East chapter of Radio4Child could do for the region that it would give the State Governments a very useful platform to spread mass awareness and address social behavioural challenges.

Radio professionals of the region could network among themselves and with development agencies like UNICEF and others on issues like ending violence against children, education, sanitation, climate change beyond routine immunization and nutrition.

Radio has the potential to help State Government health workers and development sector workers raise awareness about challenges of malnutrition (undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies), and overweight and obesity, breastfeeding, and complementary feeding in a cost-effective manner.

Not only radio continues to retain its relevance but is adapting to the changing media game as well. It has well and truly adapted itself to the new digital world and it may not be wrong to say, it might gain even more prominence and purchase in the not-so-distant future. Its distinct advantage over TV is that it gives the listener a chance to multitask.