FM channel addresses fishing community in TN

While travelling, Armstrong Fernando, who hails from the fishing community in Rameswaram, met a person who runs a community radio for farmers. They started talking about how the radio was helping the farmers lead a better life. This made Armstrong think about supporting the fishing community in a different manner. With the help of NGO Nesakarangal Trust, he launched Kadal Osai FM 90.4, a community radio that’s exclusive for fishermen. In India, there are about 251 community radio stations and recently, they have given approval for 19 more new community stations. Though there are community radio stations in various coastal areas in the country, Kadal Osai is India’s first FM channel that’s by and for the fishing community.

Stationed at Pamban town in Rameswaram, the RJs who work at the channel also work as reporters. Apart from the station head Gayathri Usman, all the staff is from the fishing community. “Like any other community initiative, we too faced some difficulties when we started off. It is easy for an institution or a government agency to get the trust of the people. But when a trust says that we are keen on covering and addressing fishermen’s issues, many questions arise. But slowly, the members of the fishing community understood our goal and we launched the channel,” says station head Gayathri Usman on a telephone call from Rameswaram.

The 24-hour FM channel starts the programme at 6 in the morning. The 6 am show is called Athikalai Subhavelai that covers motivational quotes, stories, Thirukkural, and so on. “We start the day with weather report because for a fisherman, his/her day depends on it. Depending on the weather condition, they can decide on fishing, get to know about how the tides are going to be and understand the speed of the winds. During our 7 to 9 am show Kadal Osai Thandora, RJs give information like petrol/diesel rates, fish rates in the market and fish rates in auctions. One or two segments on this show will cover important global news as well,” she explains.

At 9 am to 12 noon game show called Meenavananban, listeners can share their birthday wishes, poetry, tongue twisters, mimicry talents, and so on. “This is more of a fun segment where RJs and fishermen indulge in friendly chats. Our RJs, who also double up as reporters, record some interesting conversations with fishermen in the morning. Those conversations will be broadcasted in this show. Our key show titled Samudhiram Pazhagu is aired from 12 noon to 2 pm.  Here, we talk about climate change, marine conservation, trawling, fish exporting, exporters’ expectation, sustainable fishing practices, etc. Parandhu Sellava is a women-oriented show that’s aired from 2 to 4 pm, where we focus on women empowerment, successful women, alternative earning methods for women, the importance of hygiene, and education and child marriage among other topics. From 4 to 7 pm, there is a show that’s exclusively for children. In this show titled Kutti Chutti Express, children become the RJ. The show is planned in such a way that kids can come to the studio and talk about interesting things. They can also have a chat with their parents through the channel. At the 7 to 9 pm show, listeners can request for old songs from the 60s and 70s. And from 9 pm to 6 the next day, all the programmes will be repeated. At present, Kadal Osai is transmitting in 10 km area in Rameswaram. But we are hoping to cover more regions with the support of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” remarks Gayathri.