Radio of the Year

On the occasion of World Radio Day 2020, Brahmaputra Community Radio Station (BCRS) or Radio Brahmaputra as it is commonly known, was awarded the  Community Radio of the year  at the 6th International Radio Fair at Bhubaneswar by  the Minister of Revenue & Disaster Management of Odisha Government, Sudam Marndi.  Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister (MOS, Ind. Charge) of Tourism, Odia Language, Literature & Culture of Odisha Government, Tanaya Patnaik, Executive Director of Kanak News and Radio Choklate, RJ Kartik from Radio Choklate,  Subrat Kumar Pati, Convener of 6th International Radio Fair were also present at the  event. Coordinator of the station  Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan, received the award on behalf of Team BCRS.

It needs mention that Radio Brahmaputra also  won the Manthan Award South Asia and Asia Pacific in December 2014 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. What is remarkable about the station is that the entire team led by coordinator Bhaskar Bhuyan did not have any previous training in journalism but developed as reporters through training after the idea of the station took shape.

Radio Brahmaputra is based at Dibrugarh, very close to where the mighty river flows by at Maijan ghat. The station is unique in the sense that it caters to the needs and aspirations of people belonging to as many as five communities residing around the area in as many local languages – Shadri (dialect of the tea tribe community), Assamese, Bhojpuri, Bodo, and Mishing. While BCRS seeks to reach the most marginalised groups in 14 islands and 30 tea plantations and more than 180 villages in Dibrugarh district, its footprint reaches across the Brahmaputra to other districts as well. Today it broadcasts for eight hours every day on FM 90.4 from Dibrugarh and can be heard in three districts along and across the Brahmaputra. The station started with initial support from UNICEF and like other C-NES projects and programmes, it is an innovative effort to reach the marginalised and the poor with new ideas, opportunities, giving them a platform to speak and perform in their own voices and access to better lives. It needs mention that from 24th February 2020, BCRS is on air 24X7 