Namaskar, aap sun rahe hai aapka apna samudayik Radio Connect FM 107.8, janta se jude direct samudayik Radio Connect (Greetings, you are listening to your very own Community Radio Connect FM 107.8. Community Radio Connect - directly connects with the people.)

It’s been a decade since Mamta (31) was a broadcaster at the Alfaz-e-Mewat radio station in Haryana’s Nuh district (formerly known as Mewat). But she narrates her opening lines perfectly, intonation and pitch exactly as if she’s back in her host seat. 

Mamta recalls the bundle of nerves she was on her first day as a broadcaster. “I’d never worked before that,” she shares, adding that she applied for the role whilst completing her B.A degree. “I was anxious about the job. I was nervous about whether I would be comfortable among people who were so experienced,” she explains. 

But after a two-year stint when she quit — Mamta moved to Rajasthan after marriage — she was remembered as one of the most competent broadcasters the radio station had ever seen. Remembered for her razor-sharp observation skills and her ambitious tone, she was adept at anchoring programmes that resonated deeply with her listeners.  

For many of the families, especially the women who would tune in to Mamta’s segments, it was a breath of fresh air. As Pooja Oberoi Murada, Principal Lead at S M Sehgal Foundation — whose grassroots programmes and development interventions are impacting people across 13 states in India, and whose brainchild is Alfaz-e-Mewat (now rebranded as Community Radio Connect FM 107.8) — shares, “Thirteen years ago, when we started the radio station in Nuh, the district was a media dark area. The literacy levels were low. While there were so many government schemes available to the people, we wondered how they would ever be able to access this information.” 

Thus, Alfaz-e-Mewat was established to ensure information reached the last mile. In May 2010, the foundation received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which allocated Alfaz-e-Mewat a broadcast frequency of 107.8 MHz. 

Pooja recalls how, despite their call for aspiring broadcasters drawing interest from teachers, farmers, students, and unemployed youth, only one woman went on to complete the training. Today, however, that reality stands challenged, as the radio station in Nuh and in Rajasthan’s Alwar sees women take on visible roles, both as broadcasters and as an audience. 

Getting women to articulate their thoughts on a public forum wasn’t easy, Pooja reasons. “Initially, our women broadcasters would tell their own daughters to dial in and ask their questions on-air. We hoped that hearing a woman voice her question would encourage other women to also dial in with theirs. We had to........

© The Better India