Community radio station to be established in Chin State
14 January 2016 — Work on the establishment of a community radio station in Chin State that will broadcast in local dialects is expected to start in the near future.
The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) indicated that the project ‘Chin FM Radio Broadcasting’ to be implemented in partnership with the Global Chin Chin Christian Federation would begin early this year.
“The radio station would first and foremost allow isolated communities to communicate in local languages with people who otherwise would not be informed of ongoing developments. Alongside the need to inform and educate the Chin population about political developments, the radio will play a significant role in community building and sustainable development,” the WACC posted in its website.
According to the organization, the station – believed to be the first in the country’s least developed state – will be built in Hakha, the capital.
This has been welcomed and seen as one of the outcomes from the implementation of provisions in the peace-talk agreements between the Union government and the Chin National Front.
One of the provisions agreed at the Union level peace talk says of the programme ‘for each Chin dialectical group with the view of facilitating better interactions amongst the Chin as well as promoting Chin media’.
Despite making attempts in the past, communities in Chin State had not been able to initiate official radio broadcast programmes in local dialects owing to various reasons including difficulty in getting permission from the authorities.#
