Award Ceremony of CEMCA- NSDC CR Challenge “Meri Prerana Mera Hunar” on 1 September 2016

Award Ceremony of CEMCA- NSDC CR Challenge “Meri Prerana Mera Hunar” on 1 September 2016

New Delhi, September 2 2016: Commonwealth Media Centre for ASIA, along with National Skill Development Corporation organised a Community Radio Challenge, Meri Prerana Mera Hunar, to showcase the best Skilling story of communities. An award function for the same was held in India International Centre, New Delhi on 1^st September 2016, to honour the 11 winners from the 55 entries that had been submitted by 36 Radio stations from all over India. The programme, which was anchored by Ms. Sanjogita Mishra, Programme Officer, CEMCA, began as she welcomed everyone to the ceremony and requested Dr. Shahid Rasool, Director, CEMCA to escort the chief guest, the guest of honour and the chairman of the jury to the dais.

After the felicitation of the guests with a plant, Ms. Sanjogita Mishra invited Dr. Shahid Rasool, Director, CEMCA, to give his welcome speech. Dr. Rasool brought out the connection and commonality between skill development and community radios, since both have grass root association. He emphasised the need for collective efforts by CR stations, Doordarshan and CEMCA for use of media for the skill development of the youth. Then Dr. Manas Panigrahi, programme officer, CEMCA gave a description of the inception and execution of the competition Meri Prerana Mera Hunar.

The guest of honour for the occasion, Ms. Supriya Sahu, Director General, Doordarshan, in her address said that she wants to connect community radio to the main stream through Doordarshan and even offered to collaborate with CEMCA to create a video series for all the 55 entries of the competition.

The chief guest for the occasion Prof. Ashok Ogra, Director, Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, spoke about the diversity in the characteristics of India and how, in times where main stream media is interested in highlighting stories for their sale value, leading to a lack of discourse on plurality, Community Radio seems to be the only answer to focus on culture and context specific interventions. Also, the winners of the challenge shared their experiences with the audience. They informed how such a challenge provided them with an excellent opportunity to showcase stories from their communities and many of them requested the organisers to host many more such competitions in the future.

The event also saw the release of Audio Program Series- “Chalti Ka Naam Gadi”, a series created for children of Government Schools who have opted for auto service technician as their vocational elective in standard 9^th and 10^th, by CEMCA, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Skill Development. The programme was a huge success with representatives from 19 of the participating Radio Stations attending the event amongst others, along with some of the esteemed members of the jury. The hall was packed with CEMCA partners, CR & Media Experts and CR Station Masters. Chairman of the jury, Dr. M.P. Lele, speaking on the occasion, described his experience as a jury member to the audience, and proclaimed how this was not really a “competition,” but a “contribution” along with a discussion of the importance of community radio today, in a country such as India, where generic commercialization has taken over the mass media.

The event ended on a high note after a vote of thanks by the Head of Admin and Finance, CEMCA, and a session of group photographs followed by lunch.