NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday ruled out any proposal to provide financial support to educational institutions and other organisations to launch community radio stations.

Parliament was informed that a total of 48 Community Radio stations were functioning in 16 states and union territories at present, which included 42 started by educational institutions and six by non-governmental organizations.

Tamil Nadu has the largest number of CRs – 10, followed by Uttar Pradesh with six, Delhi and Karnataka with five each, and Maharashtra with four. The number of stations in other states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal – varied between one and three.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that a total of 584 applications had been received including 240 from educational institutions.

Letters of Intent had been issued in 189 cases while 79 had been rejected. A total of 316 applications were under process, she added.

Source: Radioandmusic.com