The Role of Community Radio in Establishing Good Governance Through Right to Information in Bangladesh

AHM Bazlur Rahman-S21BR

MSS in Govt. and politics

Chief Executive Officer

Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication

&

Research Fellow, Center for e-Parliament Studies

ceo@bnnrc.net

As there is no appropriate power and opportunity to complain for marginalized population in the centered democratic society, one kind of opportunists, politicians and local administration take the chance to deprive them of their legal rights.

These marginalized rural and poor people may get an opportunity to discuss regarding these actual rights through the programs of Community Radio. Side by side, these sort of radio plays a role of mirror in the society and accelerates pro people endeavor of local administration and the politicians and arouses their responsibilities to the society.

Community Radio can play the role regarding the discussion program with community members and the personnel of different administrations reviewing the problems of community people and indicating the things to be done.

The discussion regarding local government or council or live telecast of meetings and conferences are the excellent strategies of Community Radio. In primitive society the total locality or society had been regulated by only a couple of families and the general people would hesitate to say anything. Community Radio can assist in opening the voice of the general people. In some cases, the influential personalities do not have any way without tolerating these broadcast discussions.

Good Governance is such a system which is practiced in economics, politics, and through the use of social resources. And it is such a work process in state management that civil society can express the opinion regarding the issues of concerning interest, legal rights, and differences of opinion and can participate in every issue of state.

That means there exists less opportunity of effective participation of people in the existing governing system but in good governance system, there exists manifold opportunities for the participation of people.

Good Governance can be assorted into three stages in general .They are:

A)    Good Political Governance

B)    Good Social Governance, and

C)    Good Economic Governance

(A)  Good political Governance: 

In good political governance, there exists decentralization of power and administrative authority and transparency; people’s participation and accountability exist in every stage of governance. Besides, establishment of justice and creating speedy trial exist in the boundary of good political governance.

(B)   Good Social Governance: In good social governance there exists building strong civil society, establishing human rights, equality of both male and female, exchanging information especially to ensure that in Urban and Rural and make it easier, to encourage the businessmen to spend a little portion of their income in social welfare.

(C)   Good Economic Governance: In good economic governance there exists some

points such as, to enhance the amount of budget necessarily regarding social development; to reform tax management, to make the information available regarding Credit and government services and to ensure the access of poor community in these kind of services; to take appropriate decisions by reviewing the impacts of trade policy of multinational companies and world trade upon the poor community people.

Amongst all the problems incessantly faced by the people of Bangladesh, poverty is one of the most. Moreover, there exists ecological imbalance, economic disparity, imbalance modernization in social infrastructure and the created problems by it, individual ownership, political unrest, inequality, encroachment of government resources/ assets, poor health services, insufficient income, violation of human rights and violence against women etc.

Though there are a plenty of sugar coated speeches in the manifestoes of political parties for confronting these problems; but in real sphere, it is not seen to make these speeches fruitful. Subsequently, it can be said in a word that, in the activities of political parties, poverty alleviation and good governance was ignored at almost all times.

In that case, CR can play a role in building necessary communication structure for making people’s participation possible in development activities/ programs. Needless to say about the development strategy that CR can put marks of success in implementing them. CR can achieve a magical success in effective partnership development and government, non governmental industrial and trade sector and market management. Even, in establishing public-private partnership and societal corporatism of industrial institution, CR can play the role of arbitrator.

How Community Radio can work in ensuring Good Governance 

First, the first and foremost work of Community Radio is to give importance in keeping democratic process always advanced by keeping up its position impartial. Besides this, CR also can work as a catalyst with the government, opposition party, administration, businessmen, and civil society leaders for keeping democratic process uninterrupted, and as an aftermath, both sides become positively influenced.

To create a pressure from community and civil representatives through dialogues, talk shows, discussion programs and magazine programs so as to state, market and society can always play the pro people role. As a matter of fact, ensuring good governance is not possible if state, market and society don’t work collaboratively.

Which work Community radio can perform specifically in good governance and Development.

In developing Good Political Governance

-          To enhance participation of people and civil society members for accelerating the work of local government and broadcast program relating to alternative opinion.

-          To create awareness in rural community regarding things to be done in drawing up local government’s budget and long range planning.

-          To scrutinize the budget of local government and ensure transparency and accountability and to offer information regarding things to be done by the members of civil society organizations in enhancing participation of common people.

-          To arrange question- answer program among local parliament member and local people through Community Radio.

-          To identify service rendering sections of government and broadcast regularly regarding all information of services (what services, for whom the services are, price of service etc.) in the light of citizen charter published by them.

-          To make the citizens aware in responsibilities regarding state, market and society by means of running citizen education program.

-          To broadcast program regularly regarding how the citizens and the elected representatives of local government will play more responsible role in the society.

-          To notify people regularly regarding the procedures of legislature, executive and judiciary; in this sphere, to inform the community people regarding the things to be done.

-          To broadcast program how the community people can get good effect in achieving access of family and village court.    

-           To bring the local administration aside from colonial gesture and attitude and broadcast awareness raising program for keeping the community people in the role of moderator.

In developing Good Social Governance

-          To broadcast program relating to building strong civil society at rural level.

-          To broadcast regular program on the situation of human rights in the locality.

-          To broadcast issue based program and help people participate in that program so that the community people can be able to involve themselves in development program by exchanging information.

-          To encourage the business personnel so as to they are able to spend a little portion of their profit in social service. And, to receive opinion from community people regarding  where this (spending the profit)

      will be more effective.

-          To do active participatory program planning, making and broadcast regarding different problems, potential and remedy of minor community and disabled people.

In developing Good Economic Governance

-           To broadcast talk show/ conversation program at community level about increasing budget in social development sector after analyzing the budget.

-           To broadcast development related program by means of interaction of both the local government and community people so that the citizens can pay tax regularly and the local government can carry out its responsibility.

-           To broadcast analytical program so that the poor people can avail themselves of loan facility and they may not fall into trap in getting loan; to collect best applications/exercises from home and abroad for making the micro credit pro- people and broadcast them continuously.

-           To broadcast informative programs so that the poor people can establish rights in their land as per governmental policy.

Community Radio can accelerate its victorious mission of good governance strategically by means of ensuring local community participation. Community Radio can ensure rural community participation in establishing good governance through policy making discussions with government, existing marketing system, and civil society leaders.

For more info: ceo@bnnrc.net  www.bnnrc.net