Developing Community Radio Programme on Budgeting Process in Bangladesh

Community Radio as a platform for Raising Mass Awareness In a partnership with Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), ANSA-SAR has started to work on Community Radio to raise Mass Awareness on Budgeting. Now a day Community Radio has become a powerful platform to reach the remote. Since Bangladesh govt. has approved and provided license to 14 initiators to install Community Radio throughout the country, till today 14 Community Radio stations has already started 91.5 hours community broadcasting on significant social issues like education, information, entertainment and development motivation. According to BNNRC there are 536 rural youth are working with the community radio stations as a rural broadcaster. Regarding the emerging role of Community Radio in propagating social message to the community people of rural areas of Bangladesh, ANSA-SAR has stepped on the way to produce radio programmes on different aspects of Budget and budgeting process. The creative programmes have already initiated to mould the popular form of music and folk theatre to generate infotainment product for community people. The magazine program format has included issue-based songs, dramas, interviews, success stories and finally audience feedback and suggestions. The Community Radio programmes have designed to corroborate the issues as follows:           •    Budget Management at local level  •    Monitoring and tracking of local budget management  •    An overview of National budget •    Relation between National and local budget •    Community participation in local budgeting process The objective of these CR programmes are to produce and broadcast programs through 14 Community Radio stations, on budgeting process so that citizens are sensitized to participate in different stages of the process.