Gadchiroli Live: App-based radio takes govt messages to masses in Maoist-affected district

Nagpur: The district administration is trying to overcome the hurdle of inaccessibility and remoteness in the tribal-dominated and Maoist-affected Gadchiroli with a unique app-based radio to reach out to the masses in Marathi. Launched in February this year by guardian minister Eknath Shinde, the radio app ‘GadchiroliLive’ is still in it’s formative phase but with huge promise.
Collector Sanjay Meena, who conceptualized the radio, wanted to create a common digital platform which could take government messages and information to places where officials may not be able to reach in the district due to administrative difficulties.
The radio was launched with three channels, ‘Suchna’, ‘Samvad’ and ‘Gyan Ganga’. They are an attempt to counter the Maoists propaganda of anti-government sentiments and information to draw the masses towards their movement.
The channel ‘Suchna’ was created on ‘GadchiroliLive’ to share information like beneficial schemes to health updates, agricultural facts or weather alerts to even government policies. It aims to deliver to the grass roots level information that could be useful to them but is currently limited by their access to tehsildar or patwaris. However, many villagers are only in touch with gramsevaks and anganwadi sevikas, who are the only available bridge between them and the state.
The channel ‘Samvad’ is meant for communicating messages from experts in various fields, ranging from education to technology and other aspects relevant to the district population. The other channel ‘Gyan Ganga’ deals with content related to employment, skills, health, crops, agriculture and such information.
Meena said his objective was to ensure a communication bridge that can take the state through his administration to the farthest corner of the district, wherever it’s possible for the radio to function through the app. “With major challenges like connectivity and remoteness before us, the radio can still break barriers of distance and communication. The idea was to take information and messages to the masses,” he said.
The collector is also focusing upon the sustainability factor to support the radio by earning revenue and become a self-sustaining entity. “A workable infrastructure has been created at the district office from where we run the shows,” he said.
District information officer Sachin Adsul, who is managing the content, said they are still building up the content library. “We are currently repeating content round-the-clock but soon there would be more variety covering a wide range of subjects related to our district and it’s population,” said Adsul.
“The focus is on seven out of 13 talukas in the beginning but later on stretch out to cover the entire district,” he said, adding the radio had covered the just concluded Pranhita Pushkar Mela at Sironcha.