BBC Media Action – the NGO wing of BBC – launched a new community radio based programme, Majboor Kisko Bola, in three districts (Khunti, latehar and Palamau) of the State to promote labour welfare and prevent the incidence of bonded labours. The first broadcast will happen on Saturday June 15. The weekly programme will run for a year.
The 30-minute programme is unique in the sense that it would directly reach to the targeted population through radio sets provided by BBC Media Action. The programme will also be made available to people through pen drives by trained community reporters.
BBC Media Action has taken the initiative in collaboration with three NGOs - Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) in Khunti, life Education & Development Support (lEADS) in latehar and Gramin Samaj Kalyan Vikas Manch (GSKVM) in Palamu.
In each village every week a new programme based on different subject related to bonded labourers will be recorded and aired on community radio. Each village will be provided with two such radio sets.
The same programme will be made available to people across the target villages through pen drives. This is to make sure that the entire population of a village is covered every week. Senior Project Manager BBC Media Action said, “Bonded labour still exists in India despite being abolished in 1976. Our effort is to understand the extent of the problem directly from the people.”
Every radio broadcast will be followed by a discussion programme moderated by the trained community reporters. People can also give a ‘miss call’ to the phone number 9560213195.
They will be called back by BBC team and desired information related to bonded labourers would be given to them. The programme was also launched in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Including three districts of Jharkhand the programme will cover 10 districts and hundred villages in the three States.