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This is to certify that the
dissertation entitled
Mass Communication and Participation
A Case-Study of Kheda, India
presented by

Padmaja Chiruvolu

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Mawmdegreem Telecommunication

Wm»;

Major professor

 

 

Date May 16, 1986

 

MS U i: an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0-12771

 

 

MSU

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Place in book drop to
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MASS COMMUNICATION AND PARTICIPATION
A CASE STUDY OF KHEDA, INDIA

BY
Padmaja Chiruvolu

A THESIS_

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Telecommunication

1986

ABSTRACT

MASS COMMUNICATION AND PARTICIPATION:
A CASE STUDY OF KHEDA, INDIA

BY
Padmaja Chiruvolu

This thesis attempts to examine the research statement
that in a third world development context, mass
communication process needs to approximate the process of
interpersonal communication as much as possible. Mass media
messages need to be generated through and fortified by
interpersonal communication between the sender and the
receiver to engender and facilitate participation among the
viewers. Participation is applied in this thesis as it is
conceptualized by Paulo Freire.

The examination of the research question is attempted
thorugh the case study of the Kheda Communication Project,
Gujarat, India.

The case study concluded:

--that the mass media can be effective in generating
participation when they approximate the process of
interpersonal communication as much as possible; that the
mass media.encounter limitations that are unique to their
capital intensive technology base and their dependence on
governments for transmission facilities; that the internal
social-structural factors effect the existence of the mass

media projects.

Accepted by the faculty of the Department of
Telecommunication, College of Communication Arts and
Sciences, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree.

 

Director of Thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been accomplished without
the knowledge, patience and encouragement of Dr. Bella Mody
and Dr. Joseph Straubhaar.

I would like to thank my family, especially my husband,
Rajendra Shaw, for his encouragement and support.

I would like to thank my colleagues in the Department
of Telecommunication, Michigan State University, who have

been supportive of my efforts.

iii

1.
2.
3.

5.
6.

Table of Contents

OBJECTIVES. ......................................

COWICATION AND DEVELOPMENT.OOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE. O O O O 0000000000 O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O 0
Participation in Theory ................. .........
Part1c1pation in Practice ......... O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
Fows 0N KHEDAOOOOOOOOO ........ . 000000000000 O .....

Evolution of Television in India.................
Kheda Communication Project ...... ................
Location.........................................
History..........................................
Mandate................ ......... .................
Organizational Structure and Financing of KCP....

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT. 0 O O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O O O O O O 0
Approach to Software..... .................. ......
Program Categories..... ..........................
Process of Program Production ........ ............

Formative Research...............................
Viewer Participation.............................

PrObl ems O O O O O O O O O O O O O O ........ ’ 0000000000 O O O O O O O O O
ANALYS I s O O O O O O O O O O O OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO O O O O O O O 0
CONCLUSIONS ......................................

iv

Page
1

6
27

35
37

43

CHAPTER ONE

OBJECTIVES

 

"Communication and national development," "development
communication," "people-centered. developmentfl" and
"participatory development," etc., are some of the phrases
often bandied about in academic debates on the role of the
media in national development in less developed countries.

Mass media have been considered almost a panacea for
the development problems of the ”less developed" countries
since the early lQéOWL Introduction of technologies is
seen in itself as a sole agent of social change. This
arises out of an assumption that increasing technological
sophistication automatically produces something called
progress, in human terms. But if real human beings in real
social formation make real social choices that give rise to
certain communication technologies and systems, can there be
such a thing as autonomous technology and, therefore, can
there be a conception of progress that is isolable from the
complex interrelationships that constitute the social
formation?1

.A characteristic assumption underlying conceptions of
mass media as autonomous technology for national development

is that very little of value exists at the local level, and

that communication technology exists to tell people what to
do, to direct them, in effect, to manipulate them.

Development efforts working on these assumptions have
time and again demonstrated that the transfer of social
experience on a humanistic level cannot be achieved on these
premises.

The Kheda Communication Project in Gujarat, India (see
map at the end of this introduction) drew worldwide
attention from the early days of its inception--first, as a
major experiment in application of direct broadcast
satellite for development; second, as a communication
project that experimented with programming strategies for a
decentralized, yet integrated, communication network.

As a communication project that attempted to mold a
medium of mass communication--te1evision--to subserve the
interests of a socio-economically, linguistically and
culturally identifiable group of people, Kheda project is of
great interest.

As a communication project that took into
consideration, the criticisms directed at the ideology of
autonomous technology in designing communication strategies
for transferring social experience, a study of Kheda project
is critical for the lessons it has to offer.

As far as this writer is aware, a comprehensive study
of Kheda project to place it in perspective in terms of

larger socio-political and structural issues, has not been

attempted. This then is the objective of this thesis. The
thesis attempts to make a modest beginning.

This thesis attempts to examine the research statement
that, in a third world development context, mass
communication process needs to approximate the process of
interpersonal communication as much as possible. To be
effective, mass media messages need to be generated through
and fortified by interpersonal communication between the
source and the receiver. The roles of source and receiver
need to be interchangeable.

The examination of this research statement is attempted
through the case study of the Kheda Communication Project.
This thesis is constructed around the following structure:

The first chapter delineates the objectives and the
structure of the studyu The second chapter sets forth.the
theoretical framework for the study. The third chapter on
Review of Literature examines six different communication
projects that attempted to apply the concept of
participatory communication to achieve development. The
fourth chapter. Focus on Kheda, deals with the evolution of
television in general in India, followed by an outline of
the history, location and mandate of the Kheda Project.
section on Program Development deals with the programming
philosophy, categories of programming and the actual process
of programming at Kheda. The Analysis chapter examines the

Kheda project from various perspectives - as a contrast to

The

Doordarshan, as an experiment in decentralized broadcasting,
as a participatory project. The last chapter outlines the

conclusions of the study.

TV Stations and Prolects

 

 
   
   
 

 

  
 

 

 

  

 

    
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
   
      
     
  

  

  

    
 
   
 

 

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References

1Noble, D. (1979). Social choice in machine design:
the case of automatically controlled machine tools, in
Zimbalist A. (ed.), Case studies in the Labor Process, New
York: Monthly Review Press” Quoted from Slack, Jennifer
Daryl, The Information Revolution as Ideology, in MediaE
Culture and Society, 1984, Vol. 6, p. 247-256.

CHAPTER TWO
COMMUNICATION AND DEVELOPMENT

This chapter sets forth the theoretical framework for
the study; The theoretical framework attempts to give a
brief outline of widely accepted development theories during
the Development Decade and the communication approaches that
evolved out of these theories. The change in emphasis that
occurred in the 703 through questioning some of the
assumptions made by effects and diffusion oriented schools
of communication research are traced and the importance
currently being placed on the socio-political and structural
issues of a communication context. are outlined. A brief
outline of some widely accepted mass communication models
and the major features of interpersonal communication also
form a part of this chapter.

The discussion of mass communication and interpersonal
communication processes in conjunction with the discussion
of alternative development theories converge on the concept
of participatory communication for development.

A description of how participation is conceptualized by
Paulo Friere and the socio-political and economic factors
that impinge on participatory communication projects are
also detailed here.

The role assigned to communication in any society is

primarily a function of its socio-economic and political

history. Even in cases where development is the ostensible
goal assigned to communication, the practice of this
function is conditioned by the social-structural factors and
historical imperatives of that society. The role assigned
to development communication also is dependent on the
definition given to development in these societies.

During the first development decade in the 19508, the
focus was upon the standard measurement of gross national
product per capita (GNP/capita). This is also the standard
measurement used by the World Bank and other economic
development agencies for dividing the world into developed
and less developed sectors. Those nations with a GNP/capita
of more than $1,000 are considered "developed”; while those
below that figure are less developed countries. When the
degree of development is measured primarily in terms of
GNP/capita, then the goal of increasing development--i.e.,
moving from a "less developed" to a "developed" stage must
be stimulation of the growth of GNP. The traditional
theories of economic development relate increases in GNP
growth to four major factors: capital accumulation, new
resources, technological progress and population growth.‘1

Describing the development process according to this
strictly "economic model," Rostow set out the historical

account of development in industrialized West in the

following five stages:

l. The traditional society stage is where
productivity is limited because of inefficiently
developed economic techniques.

2. The preconditions for take-off are development
of a "leading sector" in the economy which positively
influences other sectors; increase in agricultural
productivity to support leading sector activities;
improvements in transportation and other forms of
social overhead capital.

3. The take off stage is the interval when the
old blocks and resistances to steady growth are finally
overcome and growth becomes a normal condition for all
sectors of society; the main feature of this stage is
increase in ratio of savings and investment to national
income.

4. The drive to maturity is the long interval of
sustained if fluctuating progress, new teaching sectors
supporting older Ones.

5. The age of high mass consumption is where
structural change no longer takes place at a rapid
pace. Leading sectors shift towards consumer goods and
services.

This theory is predicated on the belief that capital
accumulation through the mechanism of savings and investment
is the engine of development. Accordingly, much emphasis
was laid on heavy industries, capital intensive technology
and urbanization.2

The communication theories that emerged during this
time also focused on increased productivity through rapid
industrialization, Communication was perceived primarily as
a tool to inform and influence people towards these goals.
The role assigned to communication was "to disseminate new
knowledge, impart new skills, introduce new values, raise
aspirations of the people and create a sense of nationhood

among the people." The chief proponents of these theories

are Wilbur Schramm, Daniel Lerner and Lucien Pye in their
respective books Mass Media and National Development, Th3
Passing of Traditional Society, and Communication and Political
Development.*

The mass and interpersonal communication models that
had found wide acceptance during this period were those
developed by Harold Lasswell, Shannon and Weaver, and
Berlo.3 I

Lasswell's model of communication describes the process
of communication with the help of a set of questions: who
says what in which channel to whom and with what effect.
This is a linear one-way model of communication that is
inherently top-down and does not incorporate the concept of
feedback in it.4

The Shannon and Weaver model diagrams the means by
which information is physically carried from source to the
receiver. Though this model incorporates the concept of

noise--unwanted information-~it also delineates

communication as a linear one-way process.

 

*Schramm, Wilbur, Mass Media and National Development,
Stanford: California, 1964.

Lerner, Daniel, The Passing 9; Traditional Society,
Canada: Collier-MacMillan, 1958.

Pye, Lucien, Communication and Political Development,
NJ: Princeton, 1967.

 

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Shannon and Weaver's model (1949)

Berlo's model of communication identified the elements
in an act of communication that is intentionally designed to
effect certain changes in the behavior of a receiver. The
main elements in this model are the source, message,
channel, receiver and feedback. Once again, this is a
linear one-way model of communication with emphasis on the
communicator.

Subsequent models of mass communication developed by
Schramm-Osgood (1954), Melvin DeFleur (1970), Riley and
Riley (1969), and Westley and MacLean (1957) attempt to fill
the deficiencies of earlier models of communication and to
emphasize different aspects of the process itself.

The Schramm and Osgood model of communication
emphasized the circular nature of communication and the
encoding, decoding and interpreting functions of the

communicator and the receiver;5

11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Osgood-Schramm model (1954)

The Riley and Riley model emphasizes the social context
in which communication takes place. The model in the words
of the authors "seeks to fit together the many messages and
the manifold individual reaction to them within an
integrated social structure and process."6

In Melvin De Fleur"s model, sources and transmitter are
seen at different phases of the mass communication are

carried out by the originator of the message.7

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The DeFleur model (1970)

The model of mass communication developed by Bruce Westley
and Malcolm MacLean, emphasizes the role of gatekeepers in
the mass communication process. The gatekeeper C, serves as
an agent of the audience, 8, and selects messages and
transmits them to receivers from the sender, A.8

The models of communication examined here are vertical
and top down. They emphasize the communicators more than
the receiver. The interest in receiver is primarily
effects-oriented, so that communication at the level of the
source is skillfully designed and manipulated to achieve the
specific effects. Persuasion and aggressive attempts at
changing the attitudes and behavior of the "target" audience

is considered the primary and legitimate function of

13

communication.

These communication models evolved out of a
capitalistic consumption-based economy where they were the
basis of advertising campaigns. They were then applied in
developing countries to promote development through
communication links over the last several decades. As
Rogers, the leading exponent of the diffusion school admits,
the diffusion school grew in strength in the United States
and was then applied in very different socio-cultural
conditions in the third world.9 Rogers and Shoemaker feel
that communication should be applied to development which
they define as ”n.a type of social change in which new
ideas are introduced into a social system in order to
produce higher per capita income and levels of living
through more modern production methods and improved social
organization. Development is modernization at the social
systems level."10

The typical research issues of the diffusion school
dealt with how technological innovations are diffused in a
social system, the characteristics of adopter categories,
and the role of opinion leaders in the interpersonal network
through which an innovation diffuses.

The major US communications research trends that
evolved out of this philosophy--effects orientation and the
diffusion.school--came under heavy criticism in the 19705

from Latin American scholars.

14

Critiquing the diffusion school, Beltran (1976)
enumerates three basic assumptions of this approach

--that communication by itself can generate
development, regardless of socio-economic and political
conditions.

--that increased production and consumption of
goods and services constitute the essence of
development and that a fair distribution of income and
opportunities will necessarily follow in due time.

--that the key to increased productivity is
technological innovation, regardless of whom it may
benefit and whom it may harm.

Several research studies in developing countries
reinforced this criticism. The failure of ”trickle-down
economics" also began to be apparent during this period.
This trend of criticism shifted the focus of communication
thought to issues of equity and the implications of social
structure and power structure on attempts at bringing about
changes in developing societies. This debate also brought
to the fore different interpretations of development and
underdevelopment referred to in the Introduction here.

Even after having achieved political independence from
their colonizers, several third world countries have locked
themselves into economic structures that are highly
centralized and consumption oriented, following the
Rostowian model of development. The structural inequities
that are a feature of the socio-economic conditions of

several of the third world countries facilitate a conscious

neglect of the basic needs of a large majority of the

15

deprived population. The centralization of the economy
concentrates power with the national elite who in the face
of a steady decline in the quality of life of a majority of
the poor people, promote a profit-oriented ideology of
consumption that encourages the purchase of ”non-essential”,
”luxury” goods such as cosmetics, soft drinks, household
appliances, etc., among the sectors of the third world
population that are deprived of even the basic needs such as
food, shelter, health care, and literacy.

It is increasingly accepted runv that the
underdevelopment of the so-called third world countries is
primarily a function of the colonial exploitation and
transplantation of a capitalistic consumption—based economy
in societies that are characterized by subsistence
agriculture and domestic production. This top-down process
of integrating a nation as a dependency into the world
market through patterns of trade or investment is deemed to
be the basis of "development" of the industrialized West and
the "underdevelopment" of the third world countries}:2

As a counter-measure to first world development
initiatives imbalances in first world - third world power
structures and social structure within the developing
nations, several social scientists are converging on the
prospect of empowerment of third world peoples through
communication initiatives at the grass root level, applying

the methodology developed by Paulo Freire. This methodology

16

is broadly identified under the rubric of "participationfl'

To quote Freire; "Critical and liberating dialogue,
which supposes action, must be carried on with the oppressed
at whatever the stage of their struggle for liberation. The
content of that dialogue can and should vary in accordance
with historical conditions and the level at which the
oppressed perceive reality. But to substitute monologue,
slogans and communiques for dialogue is to attempt to
liberate the oppressed with I the instruments of
domestication. Attempting to liberate the oppressed without
their reflective participation in the act of liberation is
to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning
building; it is to lead them into the populist pitfall and
transform them into masses which can be manipulated."13

In Paulo Freire's view, people are critical and
creative beings capable of knowing and transforming their
own environments. Education can either humanize, liberate
and treat people as subjects who control their own lives, or
it can domesticate, Oppress, and treat them as objects to be
manipulated. To be humanizing, he contends, education must
involve the learners in a process of problem-solving in
which they describe, analyze, and act to redesign their
realities. According to Freire, this can be done only in a
context of true communication, one in which learners and
facilitators trust and respect one another. This process,

which he calls conscientization (the term conscientization

17

refers to learning to perceive social, political, and
economic contradictions and to take action against the
oppressive elements of reality), leads to an awareness of
the forces which shape one's life and a realistic
understanding of one's ability to act to control those
forces. This perspective implies changes in the
relationship between outsiders and learners. The role of
the outsider becomes one of raising questions and issues,
not prescribing answers or solutions.14

The mass communication models that are«outlined earlier
are vertical, top-down and emphasize the importance of the
source of communication. The communication systems
prevalent in most developing societies are based on these
models where a few sources address themselves to a large
mass of heterogeneous and dispersed viewers. There is a
tendency also to assume a uniformity of needs and
aspirations across a broad and diversified population. The
messages are developed by a handful of private/public
organizations that are in decision-making positions.
Receivers of these messages have no input into the agenda
set by these organizations.

Mass media of this nature are characterized as capable
of 2 well-defined ideological functions. 1. Reproduction,
reinforcement and legitimization of the social relations of
production. 2. Manipulation or superimposition of the

interests of the dominant classes over the interests of

18

those under power.15

To break away from this role and to play a liberating
role, mass media need to approximate the process of
interpersonal communication as much as possible, instead of
perpetuating the classical communication models where the
receiver and sender are separated by a series of
intermediary stages (in addition to noise and gatekeepers),
through which the message is filtered.16 Communication for
participatory development even when it occurs on a mass
medium such as radio or television needs to have the roles
of the sender and the receiver interchangeable.
Communication messages that are area specific, culture and
situation specific and contextual should originate through a
process of research based on a system of discussion,
investigation analysis in which the researched are as much a
part of the process as the researcher. The program
researcher has no preconceived theories or solutions to
preconceived problems;r7 Reality is jointly explored by the
researcher and the community which develops its own
understanding and solutions about its reality. There is a
common search to solve common problems--the concern for a
researcher at this juncture would be "good communication"
and "good interactive learning" which involves a deliberate
demystification of complex technologies like video and
simplification of jargon.]'8 This interaction thrives on the

knowledge of the learner--whether-the learner happens to be

19

the "source" or the "receiver" of communication.

Conventional applications of mass media have been
proved time and again to be good sources of information but
not effective in motivating people towards change--
interpersonal communication is recognized for motivating
attitudinal change. Summarizing a range of studies in
agricultural communication and rural sociology, Rogers
generalizes that mass media channels are relatively more
important at the knowledge stage and interpersonal channels
are relatively more important at the persuasion stage in the
innovation-decision process.l9 Attempting to fit adapter
categories to media channel image, he also states that mass
media channels are relatively more important for earlier
adopters than for later adopters.20 Considering that
earlier adopters have more years of education, higher social
status, greater degree of upward social mobility, larger
family farm units with a commercial economic orientation,
development efforts aimed at empowering less privileged
people have to be«distinct. Interpersonal communication
channels can be expected to be the most important component
of the communication package.

Each society is characterized by an interpersonal
network that is unique to its needs and world view.
Participation is an essential component of non-mediated
interpersonal networks. These networks are considered much

more affective in facilitating a critical understanding as

20

they are characterized by emotions, feelings, values and
collective social experiences shared by the members of the
culture. These networks evolve out of the collective memory
of the group's experience in the given physical and
psychological environment.

It is the primary contention of this thesis that to
effectively generate participation, mass media process needs
to approximate the process of interpersonal communication as
much as possible. To be effective mass media messages need
to be generated through and fortified by interpersonal
communications between the source and receiver at the
content selection and program utilization stages. The roles
of source and receiver need to be interchangeable. Face-to-
face interpersonal exchanges allow for constant feedback,
ongoing correction of messages to suit the needs of the
source and receiver, clarification and addition of
information, and most of all they entail active and critical
participation.

The contention has several implications for the nature,
control, organization and funding of communication
organizations. Conventional mass media systems that are
spawned by consumption-based economic systems treat
information and entertainment as commodities. Media have
become primary'vehicles for advertising rather than being
critical sources of reliable information for the audiences.

According to Ivan Ilich--"Once basic needs have been

21

translated into demands for scientifically produced
commodities, poverty is defined by standards which the
technocrats can change at will. Poverty then refers to
those who have fallen behind an advertised ideal of
consumption in some important respect."21 This system
operates on the premise that the power of media should be
used to change attitudes as well as transmit information
which transforms a traditional society into a technology
based one.

In contrast to this, mass media that are fortified by
participation can encourage gradual growth of organized
group activity, through a process of collective reflection
and active involvement of members and an emphasis on self-
reliance.

According to Uphoff, participation, like development,
has economic, social and political dimensions. Most
considerations and conclusions are shot through with value
judgments. No assessments can escape normative
implications. Uphoff concludes that participation even in
"developmental" terms is inescapably political! Broader
participation is likely to change the use and allocation of
resources in society.22

Oakley warns that the feasibility of participation in
the mass media will depend on the political climate in which

23

a campaign is being organized. Lenglet and McAnany have

argued that the significance attached to the mass media

22

in the education of the rural masses is due to the
realization by governments that the mass media can be used
to provide political and ideological support to the
technical, economic, and social services they provide.24
Macro economic policies may have an influence on the
strategies encouraged by the governments to achieve
participation. Gow and VanSant reinforce this:
”political commitment can be two-edged when it
comes to the role of participation. While
participation can take the form of widespread
rural mobilization to support and implement
government policy, it can also serve as an
effective tagl for government control of rural
population.

There are several versions of I participation currently
prevalent - each a reflection of the ideology of its
sponsors. Dharam Ghai describes two interpretations of
participation: the one widely accepted is to view
participation as an input to developments The people are
"mobilizedfl to implement activities generally decided by
outsiders. This instrumental and interventionist
interpretation is contrasted with the view which regards
participation as "empowering" the rural poor to play an
effective role in rural development.26

However, if a society is highly stratified and is
dominated by powerful and oppressive elites, the degree of
participation "allowed" or ”tolerated" has its limits.
According to Byram, the political situation will affect the

extent to which popular participation can take place. For

23

some radio schools in Latin America, he predicts, there are
limits to how far they can push popular participation.27

According to Frances Berrigan, political restraints
stemming from ideological stances, are not the only
limitations. Access and participation also challenge the
traditional hierarchies. Resistance is likely from
influential persons and groups, such as those who are
powerful in the commercial sector, or bureaucratic spheres
or even media professionals. To accept the practice of
access and participation invites the professional to adopt a
responsive approach instead of a professional one.28

Peter Golding describes professional ideology as the
devotion to broadcasting's impartiality. The impartiality
of broadcasting and of broadcasters is built into the notion
of the institutional separation of broadcasting from the
state. Though, most third world broadcasting organizations
are not separate from the State, the professional detachment
survives as a goal at the second level, that of daily

29 In contrast, non-

production and occupational practice.
mediated interpersonal communications tend to be closely
wedded to social and political processes.

When access and participation are presupposed in a
communication situation, the "professional" is required to
respond with partisanship and purposiveness, rather than

with detachment and impartiality.

This chapter attempted to provide a theoretical context

24

for analysis of Kheda Communication Project. Development
strategies that were widely accepted during the Development
Decade and the mass communication models that evolved out of
these development perspectives are discussed in this
chapter. "Empowerment" of the people following Paulo
Friere's definition of participation is presented as an
alternative to the development strategies of the 1950Hs and
60's.

An attempt is made here to describe a communication
strategy that intermeshes mass communication technology with
interpersonal communication techniques. The next chapter
will examine a few communication projects that have

attempted in different ways to incorporate this concept.

References

1Herriot, Peter J., The Political Economy g;
Development and Underdevelopment, New York: Random House,
1978, p. 6.

 

21bid., p. 7.

3Dissanayake, W. Communication Models and Knowledge
Dissemination, Media Asia, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1984, 217 p.

 

4Schramm, Wilbur; Roberts, Donald F., Process and
Effects g; Mass Communication, University of Illinois:
Urbana, 1971, p. 22.

 

 

Sschramm. Wilbur- flsss Essie sss Essisssl
Development, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964.

 

6McQuail, Denis, Sociology 93: Mass Communication,
London: Penguin, 1972, p. 135.

 

 

7Op. cit., Process Effects of Mass Communication.
81bid.
9Rogers, Everett, New Perspectives on Communication

and Development Overview, Communication Research, Vol. 3,
No. 2, Apl. 76, pp. 99-107.

 

10Rogers, Everett bL. and Shoemaker, Floyd F2,
Communication 93 Innovations, London: The Free Press, 1971.

 

 

11Beltran, Louis Ramiro, Alien Premises, Objects and
Methods in Latin American Communication Research,
Communication Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, Apl. 76, pp. 99-107.

 

12Herriot, Peter J;, Development Alternatives Problems,
Strategies, Values in the Political Economy 9; Development
and Underdevelopment, op. cit., p. 11.

 

 

13Freire, Paulo, Pedagogy g; the Oppressed, Herder and
Herder, NY, 1970, pp. 39-56.

14Can Participation Enhance Development? The NEE
Exchange, No. 20, East Lansing: MSU, 1981, p. 2.

16Modyr Bella, sessiss :ss Msssss ssss into

25

26

Communication, Paris: Unesco, Manuscript, 1986.

17Maij a, Lisa Swartz, Research as an Educational Tool
for Development, Convergence, Vol. 8, No. 2, 75, p. 44.

 

1BOxenham, John, Action Research and the Production of
Communication Media, Convergence, Vol. 8, No. 75, p. 90.

19Rogers, Everett, Diffusion 9f Innovations, New York:
Free Press, 1983, p. 198.

 

 

zolbid., p. 201.

21Illich, Ivan, Deschooling Society, New York: Harper
and Row, 1971, p. 38.

22Uphoff, Norman, Participation' s Place in
Development: Seeking Clarify through specificity, World
Development, vol. 8, London: Pergamon Press, 1980, p. 228.

 

 

23Oakley, Peter and Marsden, David, Approaches 59
Participation in Rural Development, Geneva: ILO, 1961.

 

2I’I'McAnany and Lenglet, quoted from Jeremy O'Sullivan,
Kaphy, Mario, Communication Methods t_o Promote Grassroots

Caracas, 1979, p. 77.

 

25Gow, DJLW and Vansant,.1n Beyond the Rhetoric of
Rural Development Participation: How can it be Done? World
Development, vol. 8, London: Pergamon, 1980, p. 430.

 

26Ghai, Dharam, Approaches to Participation in Rural
Development, Introduction to Oakley and Marsden, p. 11.

 

 

 

27Byram, Mertin.L., Popular Participation and the Mass
Media, Unpublished Manuscript, Canada, 1980.

28Berrigan, Frances, Community Communications: The
role of Community Media in Development, Reports 5 Papers 99
Mass Communication, Paris: UNESCO, 1982, p. 791.

29Golding, Peter, Media Professionalism ig_the Third
World, eds. Curran, James, Gurevitch, and Woollacott, Janet,
London: Sage, 1979, p. 301.

CHAPTER THREE

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This review of literature will outline communicatin
projects that are illustrative of participatory
communication. There are several projects which employ this
mode of participatory communication. However, they are not
cited here as they employ group media and audio-visual media
other than radio and television. The choice of cases has
been based primarily on their focus on socio-economic and
political issues as opposed to the purely educational
projects like Radio Mathematics of Nicaragua. In addition
to this two other reasons for choosing these specific cases
were: 1) that there is a substantial amount of analysis and
literature existing about these projects, 2) that these
projects have started out with a conceptualization of
participation that is more rigorous, in the sense of
extending the concept to decision—making in program content.
Participation, in other words, is not conceived merely as
another component in ”development" but as a ”process" as

referred to in the earlier chapter.

27

28

Review of Participatory Projects

 

According to Jeremy O'Sullivan and Mario Kaplan, a
number of participatory communication projects in Latin
America, have concentrated their efforts in the development
of popular culture. CVSullivan and Kaplan quote Azcueta to
describe popular culture as "...born in the Culture of
Poverty and the Culture of Domination and its main
characteristics are: its collective nature, a community
expression, it is both pluralist and universal and it is
creative and belongs to the proletariat u. The media that
it uses include: music, popular theater, and the
development of folklore, which becomes an expression of the
traditions of the past, often ignored or abused by the
dominant mass culture u” Popular culture and popular mass
communication are vital factors in the creation of a new

society."1

Even though the basic philosophy of popular
culture proposes to awaken peOple from the domination of
cultural imperialism, O'Sullivan and Kaplan feel that
communication projects that concentrate on popular culture
are generally considered less explosive from a political
perspective, as they avoid an overt statement about changing

the power structure in the society.2

Radio Tabacunda:
The Radio Tabacunda.£Ecuador) Project was designed to
provide programming for farmers by farmers, and uses the

forty radio school centers which broadcast on the Tabacunda

29

transmitteru ”Auxiliaries" were given tape recorders and
cassettes. They were free to record whatever they wished,
in close collaboration with the local population. There
were an estimated 42,000 illiterate adults in this area.
The programming contained a great deal of music at first,
and this has continued to feature strongly. But there were
reports of development projects, such as the collective
which recorded how they had joined together to build new
houses for co-operative members. Prior to the use of
recorders, community participation was limited to those who
could write and read- Recording enabled many more of the
illiterate population to have a means of expression}3

This project came into being with the funds made
available by the University of Massachusetts Non-Formal
Education Project, under the leadership of Padre Isias
Berriga.4 According to the UNESCO report, this project
demonstrates the fairly minimal outlay needed to provide an
interactive communication system. However, they emphasize,
through the existing radio centers, there was also a grass

roots personlto person link through auxiliaries. Without

this network, such a project would be difficult.5

Movimento de Educacao de Base:
A more widely known project using radio is the
"Movimento de Educacao de Base" (MEB) in Brazil.6 The

project originated in 1960 from a contract between the

30

Ministry of Education of Brazil and the Catholic Bishops'
Conference. The project started with conscientization and
politicization as its primary objectives. Conscientization
is defined here as, "the discovery of self and of the
dignity of the human person, together with the realization
that the person, in cooperative association with other
persons, can humanize the worldfl' Politicization is defined
as, "conscious participation in the decisions relevant to
the life of the nation, with clear understanding that the
local problems cannot be solved without taking into account
the more global framework of national and world problemsflfiI

According to O'Sullivan and Kaplan, MEB's work was
initially aimed at mobilizing and educating the peasants of
the Brazilian Northeast, who were illiterate and poor and
had very little access to rural schools and health
facilities.8 I

MEB had a decentralized organization, composed.of a)
the Regional Sistema Educative, b) the local team, c) the
animators and the national team. MEB broadcast its
promotional and educational messages through eleven stations
in the northeast, some of them belonging to the Catholic
Church.but the majority through ordinary commercial stations
from which radio time was purchased. According to McAnany
however, the mass medium given greater importance was not
radio but printed matter, especially when the new text book

Viver g Lutcu (to live is to struggle) appeared in 1963.9

31

Marina Bandera, MEB's Secretary-General, confirms this:
"For MEB, radio is:not the axis of the work. Radio serves
as motivation and support for the activities in general.
The job is based on the dialogue of the local team with the
rural population."10

Summarizing the main lessons from this experience,
Bordenave says: a) if compesino mobilization for social
change is the goal, radio cannot be the main element of the
communication strategy, but it can provide a useful
supportive tool for encouraging local dialogue, b) for a
popular animation movement, the general political situation
of the country and particularly the ideological orientations
of its leaders are critical factors; opposition from these
sources will only lead to the disadvantage of the campesinos
whom the movement set out to benefit.11

The second conclusion emerged from the fact that with
the change in government in 1964, there was also a loss of
interest in campesino participation" The movement which
operated as many as 5,000 radio schools and which imparted
literacy skills to 400,000 campesonos before 1964, dropped
to less than 2,000 schools and 100,000 new literates in
1970.

This is a critical problem faced by mass media systems
that attempt to function in a participatory mode in the

larger socio-economic and political system that does not

subscribe to a similar ideology. Even in instances where

32

public rhetoric supports participatory efforts, a fine line
is drawn where participation ceases to be perceived as an
"input" into development and begins to be looked upon as a
"process" that empowers people to undertake collective
action. In such instances, mass media institutions face
unique constraints that non-mediated communication can by-
pass. The pressures exerted by the source of financial
support and the authority that permits transmission
facilities appear to be the two recurring constraints

communication projects appear to be contending with.

Radio Educative Rurale:

The Pilot Project in the Use of Communication Media for
Adult Education in Senegal originated as a result of
cooperation between.the Government of Senegal and'UNESCO.
The project falls into 2 distinct parts, a) experimental
television, broadcast mainly during 1965 and 1966, but
continuing until 1969, b) rural educational radio (Radio
Educative Rurale), aimed.atlorganized listening groups at
the end of 1968 and eventually expanded to cover audiences
throughout the country.12

According to Bordenave, for television, the clientele
consisted of listening groups of adults, some mixed, but
most composed of women--TV audiences were in and around
Dakar. The TV part of the project was small scale and

strictly experimental, from 250 to 255 women were reached

directly by 121 programs. Radio, however, began with 57

33

listening clubs in three administrative regions. The
potential radio audience was about 800,000.‘13

The objectives of this project were to evaluate the
utility and effectiveness of modern techniques of adult
education, and to train future specialists of Senegal and
other African countries in the production and utilization of
these methods and techniques. The inquiries conducted by
Professor Fougeyrolles show that the television programs,
according to viewers, helped them to take better care of
their homes and children, taught them much about preparing
food and personal hygiene. The influence of TV, according
to Professor Fougeyrolles, went far beyond the tale-club,
thanks to deliberate efforts to disseminate what had been
learned, as well as through spontaneous conversations with
neighbors and relatives.14

RER results are evident, according to Bordenave, in the
enthusiasm of rural listeners and government officials alike
and in the changes in government policies and actions
directly attributable to the dialogue established through
the channel.15 According to a UNESCOevaluation of this
project, however, the principal lesson of the television
pilot project, a lesson which is even more evident from the
subsequent analysis of the educational radio, is that
effectiveness of the medium of communication depends

essentially on the overall organization of services into

which it is integrated and the socio-political framework in

 

 

In

34

which it operates.16
The conclusion, once again, is that radio, television,

or any one medium is not self-sufficient. ~To be effective,
any medium must be coupled with effective community

organization.

Campo y Productividad:

Another project which used both radio and television
was the Campo y Productividad (Farm and Productivity)
project in Mexico. This project was sponsored by the
National Productivity Center, originally set up with ILO
support, and planned by Dr. Luis Ramiro Beltran. A series
of television programs were designed to "motivate and
sensitize the farm audience for parallel and/or ulterior
instruction training processes and to diffuse basic
concepts, administrative policies and technological
processes."17

Research reports found that the series was an effective
way of passing on informational and motivational material.
However, it was also found that there should be much more
interaction between the viewing groups and the programme-
makers, so that modifications to the programmes could be
made all the time» .Another research recommendation was that
group leaders should be carefully trained and have a clear

idea of the objectives and orientation of the series.18

35

Tanzanian Year 16:

One of the earliest developing country video projects
that employed portable video was the Tanzanian Year 16 in
1971-72. The objective of the project was to produce a
record of the historical experience of the Ujama movement.
The record, however, was not to come from the organizers nor
officials, but from the people themselves. Video was to be
used as a ”means of self-expression, so making people more
critically aware of their situation, to promote a dialogue
between villagers and also to build up a large library of
audio-visual materials on all aspects of development.19

During the project, a six-member video team spent time
in three villages, up to six months, showing day-to-day
life, attending meetings, taking part in discussion, sitting
in on adult education classes and participating in village
festivities. Discussions and situations were taped and
playbacks were also taped.

The video workers considered that the process had been
successful in stimulating the communities, in making them
more critically aware, and in turning passive attitudes into

active ones.

Participation in Theory

 

The problem of what participation would mean in
practice was addressed at the UNESCO international
conference on "Self-Management, Access and Participation"

held in Belgrade in 1977.20 The conference defines access

36

as the ability of the public to come closer to communication
systems, and that in concrete terms, it can be related to
two levels of choice and two levels of feedback.

At the level of choice, access implies:

l. The individual right to communication materials,
the right to listen to or view desired programs, when a
person wants, where he/she wants.

2. the availability of a wider range of materials, the
choice of which is made by the public instead of being
imposed by production organizations (informal and
educational materials, services and alternative programs).

3. the transmission of materials requested by the
public. I

At the level of feedback, access implies,

1. the interaction between producers and receivers of
messages.

2. direct participation by the audience during the
transmission of programmes.

3. the right to comment and criticize

4. measure of keeping in touch with producers,
administrators, and the managers of communication
organizations.

At the Production Level, participation implies:

1. unrestricted opportunities for the public
(individuals or groups) to produce programs and to have

access to professional help.

37

2. making available to the public technical facilities
and production resources (iJL, a more advanced level of
participation.

At the decision-making level, participation implies
involvement of the public in:

1. programming: content and duration of programs;
scheduling of programs.

2. the management, administration and financing of
communication organizations.

At the planning level, participation comprises the
right of the public to contribute to:

1. the formulation of plans and policies for
communication enterprises: definition of objectives,
principles of management and future programming.

2. the formulation of national, regional and local

communication plans.

Participation in Practice

Applying this framework to the case studies:

--in terms of access, among Tabacunda, MEB, RER,
Tanzania and Mexico projects, except for Mexico projects,
all the projects have incorporated large and significant
components of interaction between producers and receivers
of messages, the right to comment, criticize and
direct participationlby the audience during the transmis-

sion of programs. The means of keeping in touch

38

with producers, administrators and the managers of
communication organization also formed a part of the
projects. In some of the projects, for instance, Tabacunda
MEB, Tanzania, and RER, this component appears to have
played a more meaningful role in terms of influencing
decision-making at a higher level. In case of video project
in Mexico, this component is weaker by its very nature of
being an experimental project.

--in terms of participation, at the production level;
all the projects except the Mexico project have provided for
unrestricted opportunities for the participating communities
to produce programs and to have access to professional help.
Technical and production resources are made available to the
communities. At the decision-making level, though all the
projects have provided for involvement of the communities in
deciding content of the programs, control of
scheduling/utilization and length of programs remained with
the organizations.

The management and administration of communication
projects is external to the communities. Financial
sponsorship is from respective governments or from
governments in collaboration with international
organizations. With the management and administration
resting entirely with the communication organizations and
financing coming from governments and international

organizations, the communities are not involved in

39

formulating plans and policies for these communication
enterprises. The organizations define objectives and chalk
our future programs without involving the public to any
great extent.

The projects that have the ideological support of the
funding sources, for instance, MEB of Brazil, RER of
Senegal, and video project of Tanzania, have generated
participation to a remarkable degree. Some of these
projects have used the existing interpersonal networks
(Brazil), some have created these networks for developing
along with the mass media component (Senegal) and Tanzania
project used the mass media component as essentially an
additional catalyst for enhancing and refining interpersonal
activities. However, as in the case of MEB, any project can
achieve its objectives only'as long as the‘government/the
funding source, supports the project. In case of MEB, with
the change in government in 1954, the system now operates as
a conventional organization, offering fundamental
education.21

The review of the media projects reveals that the
capital intensive technology of the media places the
responsibility for the initiation of the projects and for
defining the objectives with the sponsoring/funding
entities. This does not necessarily constitute an obstacle
as long as the ideology of the sponsoring entity is in

harmony with the objectives of the project. Another

4O

critical aspect revealed by the review is the varied role
interpersonal networks play in each of these projects. Each
of the projects also reveals the profound influence the
objectives, socio-economic and political conditions have on
the viability of the project.

The next chapter, Focus on Kheda, outlines the history
of television in India, the history of the Kheda project
itself with a brief outline of Kheda, location, socio-
economic profile, the objectives of the project itself, its
mandate and its transmission functions. This chapter aims
to place the Kheda Project in perspective in terms of the
national television in India, and in terms of the national

objectives for television and the Kheda mandate.

References

lAzcueta. quoted from O' Sullivan, Jeremy and Kaplan,
Mario, Communication Mgthggg tg Promote Grass Roots

Participation for pg Endogenous Development Process,
Caracas: 1979, p. 78.

 

 

 

 

21bid., p. 63.

3Berrigan, Frances J. Community Communications: The
Role of Community Media in Development, UNESCO reports and
papers on mass communication, No. 90, Paris: May 1979, p.
21.

 

 

 

41bid, p. 20.
51bid., p. 21.
6Op. cit., O'Sullivan and Kaplan, p.

7Bordenave, Juan EJL, Communication and Rural

Development, UNESCO, Paris: 1977, p. 32.

 

8Op. cit., O'Sullivan and Kaplan, p.

9Ibid., p.

1°Op. cit., Bordenave, p. 34.

111bid., p. 35.

12Op. cit., O'Sullivan and Kaplan,

13Op. cit., Bordenave, p. 44.

14Op. cit”, Bordenave, p. 47. Quote from Pougeyrolles,

Pierre, TV and Social Education of nggp, Paris, UNESCO,
1977 O

 

lslbid., p. 47.

16Mass media in an African Context: An Evaluation of
Senegal's Pilot Project, UNESCO, Paris: 1973.

17Op. cit., Berrigan, p. 23.
lalbid., p. 23.

41

19Ib1d., p. 23.

20Ibid., The Practice of Community Communications,
Community Communications: The Role of Community Media 13

Development UNESCO, Paris: 1979, Ch. 2, p. 18.

 

 

21Op. cit., O'Sullivan and Kaplan.

42

ir

t:

or
ts

D]

Ur

EC

Te

It

CHAPTER FOUR

FOCUS ON KHEDA

 

This chapter aims to place the Kheda project in
perspective in terms of the history and objectives of the
national television in India and also in terms of Khedafs
own mandate and its programming functions. This chapter
will present a brief sketch of the evolution of television
in India followed by a focus on Kheda - its location,
history, mandate, organizational structure, and the
transmission functions. Program Development is treated as a

separate, but major subsection under this chapter.

Evolution of Television:

 

Television started in India as an experimental service
on 15th.September 1959, with.reconditioned closed-circuit
television equipment bought from Philips and cameras and
projectors donated by United States Information Service.
Under a 1959 agreement with UNESCO, all India Radio received
$20,000 to finance production of programmes for social
education, organization of viewing centers, purchase of 100
plus television receivers, and evaluation of results.1

Television was assigned a specific and well-defined role.

It was to be used exclusively for imparting social education

43

44

and that its development would be undertaken to make it an
instrument to support the strategy and.prOgrams of social
and economic development.2
For five or six years, the programs were directed to
schools during the day time and thrice a week in the evening
to viewers in farmers' teleclubs from a transmitter located
in a suburban extension of metropolitan Delhi}3
Introduction and development of TV was low priority
with the Government of India almost until late 603.
However, in the late 1960s, the Government of India had
begun seriously examining the techno-economic and other
aspects of the long-term plan for TV coverage of the entire
country; New developments in the satellite technology, such
as Applications Technology Satellites, which make
significant simplifications in the ground terminals
possible, also reduced the costs of the ground terminal.
This permitted satellite communication to become practical
for domestic television distribution and direct

4

broadcasting. Direct broadcast to communities and

classrooms is economically superior for population densities
less than 500 and 800 persons per square mile.5

Two events of great forethought prepared the ground
work for satellite TV coverage of India. They were: 1) the
setting up of an experimental satellite communication earth

station at Ahmedabad in 1966—67, 2) the initiation in

January 1967 of the Krishi Darshan (television programs

45

aimed to establish the use of TV for development and
simultaneously to generate expertise in software and
organization of such projects).6

The UNESCO panel of consultants on space communication,
meeting in June 1966 suggested a satellite pilot project in
India. After carrying out systems studies with the help of
some foreign institutions and a joint study by India-USA in
1967, the Government of India signed a memorandum of
understanding to conduct a limited experiment using the ATS-
F satellite of NASA in 1969.7

This agreement spelled out objectives of the
experiment, which included demonstration of the value of
satellite technology; gaining experience in the development
and management of a satellite-based instructional television
system; enhancing Indian capability in the design,
manufacture, development and operation of village TV
receivers and broadcast facilities, etc. The institutional
objectives were in the fields of health, family planning,
agriculture, national integration, education, teacher
training, etc.8

The Department of Atomic Energy which was assigned the
responsibility to put up a proposal for the coverage of
India by a satellite system around mid-19703 also drew up a
set of objectives:

-Television can be a most important tool for
development. In this context, its impact is as

relevant, if not more so, to the isolated rural
communities, where the bulk of our population resides

46

as it is to the urban population already subject to

other major influences of modernization.

-National television programs accessible through
community receivers to all our clusters of population,
urban as well as rural, permitting shared audio-visual
experiences, can be a most important factor for
national integration“ Therefore, it is necessary to
have a broadband communication system suitable for a
national hook-up of television, particularly reaching
remote areas where the population density is less.

-By providing entertainment and instruction of a
high standard, TV can produce a qualitative improvement
in the richness of rural life and thereby reduce the
over-whelming attEFction of migration to cities and
metropolitan areas.

The Department of Atomic Energy report also recognized
that programs made in one central place beamed all over the
country will not satisfy the needs of a diverse country like
India. The complexity of allocating time between various
uses and various regions from the three video channels
available was recognized at this time.

The report also proposed 20 major studios, each
attached to a transmitting station, so that programs of
strictly local interest can be telecast when the satellite
program is not of particular interest to the local area. It
envisioned that the satellite system could be used for
transmitting some programming of strictly local interest
each day. The resultant decentralized programming was
expected to be of high quality and low cost.10

There was a stated preference at this time for shunning

an elitist bias in programming. For instance, a

recommendation of the seminar on Software Objectives held in

47

February, 1973, was "Television must be used in the
development process as an instrument of social change and
national cohesion by unhesitatingly upholding progressive
values and involving the community in a free dialogue.
Indian Television must shun an elitist approach and consumer
value system and evolve a true national modeleJ'

In August 1975, the Government of India launched the
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment using ATS-6
satellite. The Indian government invested 188 million
dollars in this program. Television programs dealing with
rural health, agriculture, family planning, and teachers
training were beamed to 6 clusters of 400 villages each.12

The direct broadcast system experimented.with.during
the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment proved the
feasibility of taking television programs to remote and
hitherto inaccessible villages. However, it also generated
skepticism about the excessive centralization that this
system engenders. Analysis conducted at this stage
indicated the cost effectiveness of the use of direct
reception sets and low power transmitters along with high
power transmitters for a national television

13 It was in 1976 that a separate entity,

configuration.
Doordarshan, was created for television. Prior to this,
television was a part of All India Radio, the national
broadcasting monopoly run by the federal government's

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the capital.

48

Doordarshan is a Department under the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting. The Minister of Information
and Broadcasting is the final authority on issues related to
this Ministry. There are several Departments under this
ministry such as the Department of Information and Public
Relations, the Song and Drama Division, All India Radio, the
Press Information Bureau, the Films Division, and
Doordarshan (Indian National Television). Each of these
departments is administered by a Director General, who
reports to the Secretary to the Minister of Information and
Broadcasting.

Doordarshan has created two posts of Deputy Director
General, one each assigned to Bombay and Calcutta, for
administrative convenience. Each of the stations in the
country is administered by a director who reports to the
central office in Delhi. Depending on the size of
operations, the number of producers, production assistants,
engineering and other technical staff varies.

At each level of operation in the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, the production operations are
supported by a large secretarial staff.

Television which was a part of All India Radio
initially, but was created into a separate entity only in
1976. The administrative as well as the production staff
were trained in All India Radio. The administrative and

programming philosophies of AIR are transferred to

49

Doordarshan.

All India Radio is funded through license fees.
Doordarshan also initially inherited this mode of financing.
With the creation of commercial channels on both AIR and
Doordarshan, both entities have acquired a degree of
financial viability that has prompted the government of
India to abolish license fees.

Following the termination of the satellite project,
India launched its own satellite, INSAT-1B. INSAT-lB is
equipped with two broadcast transponders, Each transponder
transmits different sets of programs. One distributes the
local language programs back to the several states in which
they are produced. The viewing time of rural audiences for
evening telecasts is between 6 pm and 9 pm. To accommodate
all the programming in different languages, each languageks
allotment is 40 minutes per evening, in addition to 45
minutes for school children each morning.14

The second transponder beams the national and regional
programming. These programs are produced by Doordarshan and
can be viewed in villages and in any of the 40 cities that
now have television transmission.15

With the launching of INSAT and the introduction of
color during the Asian Games in 1982, Doordarshan has
undertaken a massive $2,320 million expansion which proposed

to install 20 to 30 transmitters every month between July

and December, 1984.16

50

INSAT system is expected to take television to over
15,000 electrified villages in 6 states. But the government
has committed itself to supplying 2000 direct reception sets
and 2000 UHF sets by the end of the 6th Five-Year Plan in
April 1985.

The Indian government also reduced the excise taxes to
bring down the price of a color television set from $850 to
$550 and of a black and white set to $120, thereby providing
an incentive for rapid increase in the number of
individually owned setsrll7 In 1984, the Government of India
augmented the satellite service by adding a commercial
channel. Thus, programming sponsored by advertisers was
introduced into the developmental fare offered by
Doordarshan. As early as 1965, a decade before the
launching of the SITE, the Indian government introduced
film-based entertainment component from India's Hollywood-
equivalent into what was till then programming designed for
farmers and school children. This entertainment component
maintained a steady increase in direct proportion to the
increase in the number of television sets owned individually
by the urban population. The addition of a commercial
channel in 1984 to the satellite system is only a
culmination of this trend.

Given the socio-economic condition of the rural and a
a large section of urban population in India, community

viewing of television was conceived of as a viable solution

51

to overcome the inability of individuals to buy television
sets. In the rural areas, wherever community sets have been
installed during SITE, the average audience per set is
estimated to be about 300 to 400 people.18

However, only about 800 of the 11,000 villages in the
SITE program receive their television through direct
reception sets. The rest located within the range of high
power transmitters in the larger metropolitan centers, use
VHF sets. The reason for this is that only in and around
cities is the density of television sets great enough to
warrant the construction of a land-line system to feed the

local transmitter.19

The location of the transmitter very
close to the urban centers predetermines the audiences,
leading to a rapid increase in the number of individually
owned sets in the urban areas.

The more vocal urban middle-class exerts pressure and
influences programme fare towards more commercial
entertainment. This is threatening to make Indian
television more urbanized and centralized as only four new
production centers are planned, making them 13 in all. No
new satellite uplinks are contemplated. The original
conception of national television was not centralized
production, but cost-effective centralized transmission with
greater number of programming centers.

The vision of Vikram A. Sarabhai the eminent Indian

space scientist who proposed a satellite-based communication

52

system for India, had been that television would be a
powerful social force only if its reach extended beyond the
cities.20 Thus, the Space Applications Center (SAC), which
initiated the SITE project, envisaged local facilities
capable of local production, with limited.rebroadcast:of
national signals. SAC envisaged the use of direct broadcast
only where the population density was sparse. Looking for
technological options that would not only reduce but
meaningfully complement the centralization caused by direct
broadcasts, SAC conceived the idea of "limited rebroadcast,"
giving birth to the Kheda system.21

The Pij television transmitter installed in Kheda
district with funding from International Telecommunication
Union, the United Nations Development Program, and the
Department of Space, was meant primarily as a transmitting
facility for local programs produced by SAC Software Systems
Group in collaboration with Kheda villagers.

This local transmitter and its community-rooted
programming is considered one of the most significant
contributions of SITE. It is the first television
transmitter in the country to be located in a rural area to
serve a cluster of villages with development support
television broadcasts. This television station was
visualized as a model station for future local television

stations for the future satellite television system.

53

Kheda Communication Project:

Location: Kheda district is located in the western

 

state of Gujarat in India. The 2 million population of this
district is spread around 5 talukasz.22 The population of
men is slightly higher than that of women in this area.

This is primarily an agricultural district. Rice,
wheat, millet, groundnut, and oil seeds are cultivated along
with cash crops like cotton and tobacco. 148% of the workers
are cultivators, 23% are agricultural laborers. Other
occupations include tending livestock, mining and quarrying,
household work, construction, trading and transport
communication.

4u4% of the population holds 15+ acres of land. 75% of
the population has no landholdings or less than 5 acres of
land. The literacy rate is 38.45% in this area. It is
slightly higher than the all-India rate of 34%.

The state of Gujarat was governed by the Indian
National Congress from the time India attained independence
until the time of the SITE project in 1975. Kheda district
has a thriving dairy cooperative movement; The tradition of
cooperative organization in this area goes back to pre-
independence days. Thus, the district also has a well-
established transport network established by the dairy

cooperatives consisting of milk collection truck routes.

History: The Pij transmitter, about 50 km south of

Ahmedabad, in the district of Kheda, went on the air on

54

August 1, 1975, as a part of SITE. The l kw transmitter was
linked to the ISRO studio at Ahmedabad through a microwave
link, and to the satellite through a receiver-only terminal
at Pij village. The primary coverage of the transmitter is
about 35 km, covering most of the villages in Kheda
district. With assistance from the local cooperative
organization, 550 community television sets were provided to
about 400 villages of Kheda district. During SITE, Pij
transmitted 30 minutes of local programs made by SAC of ISRO
and 30 minutes of the national programmes originating from
Delhi.23

After the conclusion of the SITE project, SAC continued
this service re-titling it the Kheda Communication Project.
A special Memorandum of Understanding between
ISRO/Department of Space and the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting was necessary to enable the NASA-equivalent in
India to continue operating a television program service,
once its experimental mandate under the SITE project was
over. Under this arrangement, Kheda Communication Project
has the responsibility'of producing the developmental and
educational programs for transmission from Pij, while
Doordarshan produces news, current affairs and other
programs. ISRO was also given the responsibility of training
Doordarshan staff. Under the new agreement, the production
costs and training costs are to be shared by ISRO and the

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.24 On July

 

55

25, 1985, on the day Doordarshan commissioned a high-powered
transmitter in Ahmedabad, the capital city of Gujarat state,
the government shut down the low powered transmitter in Pij,
which was transmitting Kheda programmes. In August 1985, 10
years after its original inauguration in July 1975, the
Government of India announced its decision to move the Pij
transmitter to Madras, the capital city of Tamil Nadu
state, to facilitate establishment or a second channel for

the city.25

Mandate of KCP/DECU: Development and Educational Communica-
tion Unit was created with a mandate that included
programming production, development and adaptation of video
hardware, communication research; training, consulting and
studies in fields of interest to space application.

Production of television programs, for the Kheda area
is the major activity of DECU, through KCPJ26

Credo of the Kheda Communication Project: the Kheda
Communication Project has a well-defined clearly stated
credo:

--Development, economic, social, cultural or
ideological, implies a break from the status quo, from
inertia; it implies movement, change. Change requires
certain attitude, motivation, information and of
course, appropriate physical and social
infrastructures. It also requires the objective
understanding of oneis predicament--the family and
social constraints one works withini This necessitates

the development of a rational outlook, a scientific
attitude towards life.

56

--Development implies a social change, education,
awareness and economic development. However, economic
development cannot take place in isolation. It
requires changes in the social system and in the
attitude of the individual, it implies breaking away
from bondages and oppression: and most importantly, it
necessitates an "awakening of the individual and.his
self-confidence. In trying to accelerate development,
communication can play a very major role. TV, in
particular, can be a powerful tool in creating a
'climate' for development.

--The prime target audience is invariately the
lower classes/castes who are the most oppressed.
Keeping this audience in mind,27programme's content,
presentation, etc. are designed.

Organizational Structure and Financingfof KCP:

The scientific ministries under the Government of India
are organized as departments. The secretaries in charge of
the scientific ministries are scientists and subject
specialists, as opposed to the secretaries of other
ministries who are Indian Administrative Service
bureaucrats. The secretaries of the scientific ministries
are also in complete control of the agency. These
ministries have so far been under the direct control of the
Prime Minister of India, as the Prime Minister holds the
portfolios of Department of Space, Department of Electronics
and Department of Atomic Energy. This provides the
secretaries of these ministries, direct access to the
highest decision making authority in the country.

The Department of Spaoe's ISRO is organized into

several centers with each center focusing on one aspect of

space research, such as rocket launching, space technology

57

applications and the like. The Space Applications Center is
a wing of ISRO. The Space Applications Center is subdivided
into eight divisions, each of which concentrates on an
aspect of space application, for instance, remote sensing,
weather forecasting, etc. Software Systems Group, a
division of Space Applications Center, undertook development
of a small part of television programming for the Satellite
Instructional Television Experiment, and was responsible for
social research and evaluation of its impact.

Until 1977, there were 3 divisions within the Software
Systems Group:

1. Kheda communication Project

2. Social Research and Evaluation Group

3. Educational Resources Group

The Kheda Communication Project was in charge of
producing the program content with the local populations
around Pij village. The Social Research and Evaluation
Group conducted on-goinngormative, processual, and
summative evaluation of all programming operations. The
educational Resources Group was responsible for extension
and training.

In 1977 the Software Systems Group underwent a
reorganization due to the recruitment of several of its
researchers by Doordarshan stations that were a part of the
SITE. The Educational Resources Group was made responsible

for extension and training of television personnel

58

nationally in the methods evolved by SAC in program
development and research.28

In 1983, Development and Educational Communication Unit
(DECU) was spun off as a separate organization with a
specific mandate (outlined earlier). The Manager of Kheda
Communication Project reports to the Director of DECU.
There are 5 producers and 11 production assistants with the
SAC while Doordarshan has 3 producers and 3 production
assistants. The SAC also has script writers on its staff.
Most of the producers are graduates and degree/diploma
holders in cinema direction, film editing, dramatics, from
institutes like the Film and TV Institute of India, and the

30 There are also 3 full-time

National School of Drama.
writers with reputations as good writers in the local
language, Guj arati.31

run: did the space agency acquire a television
transmitter for Pij village? Since the ground segment for
SITE was the responsibility of ISRO, UNDP was approached to
provide funds for earth station equipment development; UNDP
sanctioned $i.5 million which was executed by International
Telecommunication Union. The UNDP fund was utilized in
developing a full complement of earth station equipment, in
procuring Ahmedabad SITE studio equipment and for installing
the high power transmitter in Pij. .Ahmedabad Studio was

primarily responsible for developing programming for Kheda

communication Project. The Pij transmitter transmitted the

59

programming to this district.32

SITE started at a time when broadcast television was
still utilizing highly expensive, sophisticated and complex
video equipment (2" quad VTRs and 35 mm film equipment,
etc.).

SITE recognized early the foreign exchange requirements
involved in setting up such studios and also the fact that
such equipment renders the productions studio-bound. To
overcome the shortcomings of expense and studio-bound
production, SITE made an early decision to acquire 1", 3/4”
and 1/2” VTRs for the facilities at Ahmedabad and Bombay
production facilities. 1/2" portable systems were used
extensively'to cut down costs of field based programmes.

The philosophy behind experimenting and adopting small
gauge videolequipment during SITE was to demonstrate that
the quality of the equipment is highly suitable for program
production for rural development. As a tool for mass
education, small gauge video equipment was seen as ideal for
setting up low cost television studios and field production
vans.35

In addition to the use of portable equipment, the
studios also are equipped with two plumbicon camera chains,
one T/C chain with optical sound (16 mm film projector, 35
mm slide projector and vidicon camera chainy,1fl IVC VTR,

one 8 input vision mixer, and other broadcast standard

equipment.

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60

However critical the hardware decisions, it is
ultimately the process of program development and the
programs themselves that determine the "worth" of a
broadcast facility.

This subsection outlined a brief history of the Indian
national television, its objectives, its dilemmas of rural-
urban conflict and class interest conflicts that are
influencing not only the nature of its service, but also
form a context for Kheda system. This chapter also outlined
the history, organizational structure, location, programming
functions, and hardware facilities of the Kheda project.
This history of Doordarshan and Kheda form the context for

the next subsection on program development at Kheda.

 

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Approach to software: The Space Applications Center
had serious concerns about the nature of programming that
the government radio and television monopoloy could be
expected to create, given its origins and structure after
examining the conventional broadcasting system. The
homogenizing nature of centralized communication and dangers
of the dominance of the rural areas by a few elite around
the broadcasting studios in large cities led to
experimentation with a new concept of decentralized, yet
integrated communication system. This desire to break away
from the tyranny of centralizing technology led the SAC
scientists to develop and modify small format video to match
broadcast quality. This has broadened the reach of the
production process to distant areas where people live
instead of confining the process to urban based studios:36

The motivation for rendering television "people
centered” arose out of their alternative view of development.
Development was defined as a process which involved each
individual in searching for ways that were satisfying to
himself as an individual and that meet the needs of the
community and the society at large. It was thought that the
principal barrier to such a process was the absence of a
sense of community, or the absence of a feeling of belonging

to a wider system. This absence prevented the members of

61

62

the community from mobilizing their energies towards
concerted action, leaving only the alternative of each for
himself. When this alternative was put into operation, it
was felt stereotyped solutions to problems become the major
response. The objective of programming for television in
the context of SITE proposed by space agency staff consisted
of attempts to generate a sense of worth in the individual
self at one level and to generate a sense of pride in
belonging to the wider system at another level.‘37

SAC staff, realized that the system of operating the

medium geared to this kind of programming would call for a
very high degree of participation from the audience as well
as user agencies. Three kinds of programs were envisaged
under this participatory approach:

-programs that would be used as a forum for discussion
between participating villages and participating
clusters.

-programs that play the role of a "mirror" which
reflects back to the audience the set of processes it
is living with

-programs that provide a forum for discussions between
groups that were responsible Sgr providingservices
and the users of these services

It was recognized that program-makers were not wise men

with solutions to the problems of the villagers, that they
could only use the medium to promote communication and
interaction amongst the villagers and between villagers and
decision-makers, and to promote awareness. However, it was

also recognized that the medium was not "objectiveJ'

Decisions on what to show and what not to show were based on

63

subjective judgments. To that extent, the role was not

merely to act as mirror, but to promote reflection.39

Program Categpries:

Following the processes in individual existence such as
the individual and his work, the self and the kin, the self
and the community, and the larger system, categories of
programs were derived. Each of the categories was broken
down into sub-areas like family and kin, community, larger
system, weather and local affairs.. Each of these areas led
to serials, features, instructional programs, documentaries
and interviews.40

The programs were categorized into four general areas
by SAC. Softcore 46% (socio-economic 32%, women 6%,
children 8%), hardcore 25% (agriculture 6%, animal
husbandry 5%, health 7%, science 4%, fisheries 3%), general
information 11%, entertainment 10%, miscellaneous 8%.

About 32% of the programs were based on socio-economic
themes. These programs included topics such as
untouchability, prohibition, social beliefs, superstitions,
employment, minimum wages, exploitation, and cooperation

among the oppressed/‘1

Process of Program Production:
In keeping with the overall philosophy, the focus of
Kheda Communication Project was on the objective of

generating participation and not on program production per

64

gg. The process of program production was designed from
this perspective.42

As a result of this perspective, skepticism was
expressed about stratifying audiences into faceless
aggregates based on an image of them only as economic units
of productivity and income. Talking of "target" audiences
was considered meaningless. "Statisticizing" human beings
beyond meaningful limits and taking decisions based on these

43 Therefore,

bases was considered self-deceptive.
statistical information was used for facilitating an
understanding of the major occupation and lifestyle of the
larger number of people residing in the area. For instance,
population was categorized into interest groups by their
occupation and landholdings. Cultivators were 48% of the

total workforce. Seventy-five percent of the people either

have no landholdings or hold less than 5 acres of land.‘44

Formative Research

 

Formative research on the lines of the concept
developed by Children's Television Workshop in the United
States, formed the basis for Kheda programming.

During 1972-73, Kheda Software Systems Group was
experimenting with formats for the science programs of the
SITE project. The Software Systems Group, being part of a
scientific organization, had a marked preference for
determining program needs and content through scientific

social science research. Each of the producers at the

65

Software Systems Group was assigned a specific program area.
All productions were done in a team mode. Each team was
assigned a producer, a researcher, a scriptwriter and a
subject specialist. Scientific needs assessment of the area
was done to determine the tapics for programming. A
lifestyle profile of the area was compiled to determine the
language and format that would be most suitable for each
tepic. Pilot scripts were written following these
guidelines. The scripts were pretested in the area of the
telecast to determine if the program was being understood by
the audience, in terms of content, language and format.

Collective decision-making and working in team mode was
a new experience for both the social scientist and the
producers. The conflicts arose on issues of control over
choice of topics and choice of content between the social
science researchers and the producers who tended to depend
more on their intuition. This led the Software Systems
Group to systematize and lay down a method of operation for
programming in general.

A pilot series for children was developed on the lines
of Children's Television Workshop. Briefly, the development
of the series began with an extensive needs assessment of
children in the Kheda district. This evolved into a
scriptwriter's handbook which contained a content brief for
each of the sixty segments in the series and guidelines for

formats. The producer, researcher, scriptwriter team was

"_ ""E

 

if
'.

66

free to exercise creative freedom within this framework.
After producing the pilot, extensive pretesting was also
done.

Following a similar programming philosophy with regard
to socio-economic issues as well, each of the producers in
the Kheda Communication Project was assigned one area of
programming. The producer was a part of a researcher,
subject expert, scriptwriter team. When a program idea was
generated, the researcher, subject expert, scriptwriter,
producer team had a series of meetings with authorities,
political activists, user agencies and the local peeple of
the area in which the program was to be produced. Formative
research data was gathered by the team and presented to the
content experts and user agencies, as well as the people in
the area. Several different program strategies were
developed and pretested to gauge which of the strategies had
the most success in conveying the information fully.45

The team mode was put into practice in different ways.
In the area of health, regular meetings were held with the
District Health officials. In these meetings, topics were
suggested by health officials according to the relevance and
priority of health problems. They also provided the
necessary information for developing instructidnal messages.
Occasionally the health officials were invited to Kheda
Communication Project to discuss the video data collected by

the Kheda researchers. The researcher, who after the series

67

of meetings was in possession of technical information and
the official point of view, visited the villages and found
out the field reality. Information thus processed was again
discussed with the district level officials. .Appropriate
modifications were made and a strategy of appeal and
presentation were decided upon by the producer in
consultation with the researcher.‘45
. As a part of formative research efforts, Kheda Project
ensured that the responsibility for content and structure
was distributed evenly between the subject experts, the
researchers, and the producers who were part of the
production team. Often, subject matter experts were trained
in production techniques by the Kheda Project so that they
could themselves design and produce programs of greater
relevance. For instance, animal husbandry programs were
produced by AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited, a large scale
dairy cooperative in the district) veterinary officers, who
also functioned as producers and did formative and extension
work. AMUL has a widespread network of active dairy
cooperatives spread across Kheda district. It also has an
active infrastructure that provides veterinary aid,
distribution of support literature and visits to AMUL by

village women.47

68

Viewer Participation

The programming process also incorporated a major
component of participation from the viewers. As mentioned
earlier, a third of Kheda programming, 32%, was based on
socio-economic themes. The programs include themes such as
superstitions, prohibition (alcohol), social beliefs,
untouchability;(employmentg minimum wages, exploitation,
and cooperation among the oppressed, etc. There was a great
need for scriptwriters for series based on these themes --
scriptwriters who were familiar with rural life, understood
the rural people, and their language. To overcome this
problem, scripts were invited from the villagers. There was
a good response. A scriptwriter of the Kheda Communication
Project went through ‘ their scripts and suggested
modifications. The scriptwriter also organized a one-day
workshop for scriptwriters from the villages. This workshop
was attended by the producers, the researchers, and the
writers. This also facilitated the thinking of the Kheda
team and development of insights into the problems of the
village community. As partners in this activity, viewers
and production teams got the opportunity to share their
experiences and shared a sense of involvement. This also
succeeded in involving the community in Kheda programs.
Fifteen to twenty scripts were received each week of which
about 50% were usable. Initially women did not write, but

with some encouragement, several scripts were written by

69

women as well.‘48

For the series "Tamara TV Mate Tame Lakho" (You Write
for Your TV), all the writers were from the villages of
Kheda. This series also attracted a very large audience as
the scriptwriters were from the village community
themselves.

All previews were done at joint meetings of the teams.
When the ideas were converted into scripts, they were
brought to a committee consisting of a producer, a writer, a
researcher to examine and evolve a consensus. The
scriptwriter and producer were consulted for clarification
and modification.50 Whenever a new format was used, or when
it was feared that something may be misunderstood in a
program, or a negative and unintended message may be
conveyed, the programs were pretested on the village
community.

After transmission, the programs were analyzed once
again. The analysis took four forms -- transmission
analysis, feedback, viewer's letters, and content
analysis.51

Transmission analysis was primarily a researcherws
point of view, conveyed to the producer. Feedback was a
major and critical part of programming. During the course
of a series, a constant monitoring of audience reactions was
undertaken to tune the content and format of programs to the

needs and tastes of audiences. Apart from formative

70

research that played a significant role in the design of
programs, process evaluation and periodic summative
evaluations of programs also guided the production teams.
The research tools used for gathering this information were
oftentimes participatory observation and in depth
interviews. Some survey research techniques were also

used.52

Some significant changes in structuring and
scheduling of programs resulted from the feedback efforts,
as can be illustrated from the following example:
--"Dahimani Vato", a successful women's series of more
than 60 episodes was made, in which a good, old, wise woman
was featured as the main character. While this series was
successful, it was observed that there was a certain amount
of preaching in it, and there was always a solution to every
problem in each episode. It was felt that such an approach
served only a limited purpose. It was not realistic and
therefore could not have a lasting effect. It was therefore
decided that this new series should avoid preaching
solutions and should pose questions to get people thinking
of their own solutions. The format was changed to have a
young couple as lead characters. The husband was a quiet,
straight-forward.person who took life as itlcame, with no
questions. The wife, on the other hand, was curious about
everything. She did not accept anything without thinking.
Feedback on these programs revealed that the people

liked the programs, the characters and the style of

71

presentation. Women suggested that this program be
transmitted second or third instead of at the start of the
evening's transmission in order that late-arriving viewers
did not to miss any one of the episodes in this series.
This suggestion was followed by the Kheda Communication
Project.53

Viewers' letters were analyzed to see which programs
they liked and which they disliked, who wrote the letters
and from which villages, etc. Some of the letters were
answered in an attempt to let the audience know about the
”credo" or guiding belief system of the project, Kheda, its
limitations, and that the Kheda Communication Project
welcomed criticisms. Every month, the three best letters
were selected and the letter writers were invited to the
studio to participate in a program of questions and answers
which was also telecast.54

Content analysis was carried out on programs that
were transmitted every month. This was used to provide
guidelines for planning and to keep track of the time and
topic-distribution of the Kheda transmission.55

The proximity and involvement of the audience, and the
limited duration of the transmission had made introduction
of research into the operational television system possible.
The research, formative, processual and summative, enabled
production of programs which were relevant, meaningful and

useful to Kheda audiences.56

72

It was earlier thought that those programs aimed at
improving the economic position of the villagers were of
prime importance. However, research indicated that that
economic improvement was often stymied by social and
structural problems in village society. Accordingly, in the
last few years (early 80s), the focus of programming has
shifted from the purely economic to socio-economic and
social-structural issues, even as the earlier programs in
agriculture and animal husbandry have continued. Programs
on cottage industries involving self-employment and on
outside employment have also been made.57

Apart from specific development-support programs,
KCP/DECU also produces programs which have a higher
entertainment content. These programs use and promote local
folk forms and local talent, while also bringing in new
cultural forms and creations from outside. Much of the
program production was done outdoors, but studios were also
made use of, specifically for the very popular drama
programs.58

A most notable aspect of the Kheda television
programming was that it was the only television center which
did not show commercial entertainment films. The demand for
movies was often voiced from urban pockets within the area
of its coverage. KCP considered the argument that movies
increase the audience size misleading because the kind of

audience movies draw is urbanized rural elite. Kheda

73

research also substantiated the thinking in that audience
size remained consistently large over the years for programs
using the traditional folk form 'Bhavai' and.“Tamara TV Mate
Tame Lokhofl (You Write for Your TV"), which involved
participation of the local audiences.

Apart from facilitating participation of the viewers,
Kheda Communication Project also played a problem-solving
role. To illustrate, local television programs acted as a
mediator of communication between the farmers with an
irrigation problem and the authorities in charge of the
projectsg, they facilitated interaction between a community
health worker scheme and the community5o, and brought
incidents of grain adulteration to public knowledge.“ The
weekly feature which dealt with such issues took up a
specific problem and discussed it in detail through
interviews with affected villagers and government officials.
The producers would then moderate a solution and follow it
through to its implementation.

The village scriptwriters were being trained.to send
feedback on the programs and also for formative work in the
community.62 A series of seven episodes was also produced
on themes of exploitation.

Kheda Communication Project was seen as a communication
laboratory by SAC. The work was seen to imply
experimentation, analysis and a Striving to do something

meaningful, and innovative. However, as a learning

SI.

IT‘?

74

experience there were problems andznistakes that troubled

the project.

Problems:

The major problems that the Kheda Project faced were
those related to set maintenance and operation. The set
operation depended on several variables such as whether the
village was small or big, which caste was dominant, and who
the owners of the television sets were.

An analysis of the operation of the sets in this
district revealed that small villages were more regular
viewers than big villages (small 78%, big 32%). Rajput
caste dominated villages were more regular viewers than
Patel dominated villages (Rajput 70%, Patel 33%). Sets
owned by the AMUL cooperative were more regularly used than
those owned by Panchayats (local self government body) and
others (AMUL 64%, Panchayat 22%, Others 14%).

Erratic supply of electricity in lean seasons acted as
a deterrent on occasion. The custodians of community
television sets were not paid employees. The responsibility
of operating the set every night and.being answerable for
its maintenance was not clearly defined and assigned.

Social and political factions in the village society
determined the nature and composition of the viewers at the
community sets. Weather conditions also played a role in
the community viewing activity.63

The villagers who participated in the programming and

75

were vocal in voicing their opinions occasionally faced
physical threats from the landlords. This intimidation
sometimes acted as a deterent for the fearless participation
of the villagers.

Within the program production teams of Kheda, there
were conflicts between the more intuitive, artistic
producers and the more scientific social science researchers
in determining the topics and contents of the programs.
However, the team mode of functioning was found so effective
that it evolved into a standard format within the Kheda
system.64

The literature on Kheda cites several studies of impact
of Kheda programming. A study on the health programs

indicated knowledge level in television and non-television

villages as:

-cholera prevention 76% in TV villages

32% in non-TV villages
-vaccines for diseases 56% in TV villages

24% in non-TV villages
-How malaria spreads 63% in TV villages

20% in non-TV villages
On agriculture programs

-places for soil testing 46% in TV villages

6% in non-TV villages
-sources for agricultural
credit 47% in TV villages

26% in non-TV villages
-precautions in buying
hybrid seeds 60% in TV villages

12% in non-TV villages

In the area of socio-economic problems, 67% of TV

76

villages as against 43% non-TV villages were aware of
minimum wage. While 52% of the TV villagers suggested that
the poor should unite to get the minimum wage, while only 7%
did so in non-TV villages. Twenty-five percent of
television villages thought of cooperative farming as a way
of improving their economic condition, while only 7% of non-
TV villages thought so.55

The first subsection, Focus on Kheda, in this chapter,
attempted to place the Kheda project in perspective in terms
of the history and objectives of the national television in
India and also in terms of the Kheda project‘s own credo,
location, history and mandate. The second subsection of
this chapter, Program Development, dealt with the
programming philosophy of the Kheda group, programming
categories, and the process of program development. The
chapter concluded with a look at the problems encountered by

the project. The next chapter will analyze the issues that

emerged in the preceding chapters.

References

1B.S. Bhatia, A.C. Jain, Kiran S. Karnik, Yash Pal,
Narender K Sehgal, Television Broadcasting in India, in
Technology Transfer and Communication eds” Adan.Hancock
(ed.), UNESCO: Paris, 1984, p. 34.

 

 

21bid., p. 39.

3Chander, Romesh, Programming for SITE,‘VIDURAV Vol.
10, No. 1, Feb. 1973, p.

4National 3y coveragg employing a hybrid system of

community satellite broadcasting, ISRO, Dept. of AtomIE
Energy, 1970, p. 5.

 

 

5Ibid.

Gsehgal, Narender. Issssslssx .Isssssss .12
Communications: Tglevision Broadcasting i3 India, ISRO:
Ahmedabad, 1979, p. 76.

 

 

71bid., p. 77.

31bia., p. 78.

9Op. cit., Dept. of Atomic Energy, p. 3.
lolbid.

11Op. cit., Sehgal, p. 65.

12The Global Village, Nova series, Telecast on WKAR-TV
23 on July 23, 1985.

 

13Bhatia, BS, Kheda Communication Project, SAC carrier,
ISRO: Ahmedabad, Vol. 10, No. 1, September 1985, p. 3.

 

14Traub, James, Beaming the World.to.Andhra Pradesh,
Channels, May/June, 1984, p. 42.

151bia., p. 48.

16Dubashi Jagannath, The Jumble Sale, India Today, July
31, 1984, p. 37.

 

17Op. cit., Traub, p. 42.

77

78

18Op. cit., Traub, p. 43.
19Op. cit., Traub, p. 42.

20Ramiah, V., Pij Transmitter, SITE Winter School,
ISRO; Ahmedabad, 1976, p. 279.

21Development and Educational Communication.Unit, Kheda
Communication Project. UNESCO report pg IPDC-UNESCO prize
for Rural Communication, p. 1.

22Information in this segment is derived from a)
Vishwanath, K. Nadiad Program Plan, in SITE Winter School,
ISRO: Ahmedabad, 1976, p. 313-332. b) Morris David Morris
and Micheele B. McAlpin, Measuring the Condition 92 Indiaks
Poor, Promilla & Co. Publishers, New Delhi, 1982.

23Ibid., p. 1, UNESCO award report.

24Karnik, K48” Development and Educational
Communication Unit--An Overview, SAC courier, p. 1.

25Menon, Ramesh, Fading Out, India Today, Oct. 15, 1985,
p. 82.

26Op. cit., Karnik, K.S.

271bid.

28Interview with Bella Mody, 14 April, 1986.
290p. cit., Karnik, KS,

3°lbia.

31Kheda Formative Researchers, Research for Television
Programmes--Kheda Experiences, ISRO: Ahmedabad, 1979, p. 7.

32Rastogi, CLP., Contribution of Foreign and Indian
Agencies for SITE-l, SITE Winter School, ISRO: Ahmedabad,
p. 102,

33Op. cit., Ramiah, p. 279.

34Jain, G.C., Low cost of studios, SITE Winter School,
ISRO: Ahmedabad, 1976, p. 289. Information following this
reference is also from the same source.

35Jain, GAL” Basrai, Farukh, Aggarwai, R.C”
Innovations in Video Technology and Modes of Programme
Production for Rural Development, SITE Winter School, ISRO:

79

Ahmedabad, 1976, p. 312.

36Dr. Yash Pal, Proceedings of SAC seminar on
Participatory Broadcast Media, May 1977, unpublished, p. 1.

37Banejee, Sushanta, On Program Planning for Kheda, in
SITE Winter School, 1976, p. 335.

 

381bid., p. 336.
39UNESCO award report,p. 5.
40Op. cit., SITE Winter School, p. 340.

41Research for TV Programmes, Kheda Experiences, Kheda
Formative Researchers, May 1979, p. 18.

 

42UNESCO Award Report, p. 3.
43Op. cit., SITE Winter School, p. 338.
440p. cit., Vishwanath, p. 315.

45The above section on formative research is based on
an interview with Bella Mody, April 16, 1986.

46Op. cit., Kheda Formative Researchers, p. 51.
47lbid., p. 38.

431bid., p. 58.

49lbid., p. 57.

5°lbid.

51lbid., p. 19.

52lbid., p. 25.

53Ibid., p. 25.

54lbid., p. 19.

55Ibid., p. 19.

55lbid., p. 3.

570p. cit., UNESCO Award Report, p. 4.

581bid., p. 5.

59Op. cit.,
5°Ibid., p.
5llbid., p.
62Ibid., p.
53Ibid., p.

80

Kheda Formative Researchers, p. 55.
55.
57.
60.

15.

64Interviews with Bella Mody.

65Op. cit., Unesco Award Project, p. 3.

CHAPTER FIVE

ANALYS I S

The Kheda Communication Project started as an
alternative prototype for creating a "climate" for
development through people centered approach.

One can examine the project in terms of the framework
for participation and access laid out by the Belgrade
conference cited in an earlier section of this thesis to
understand if this Kheda Communication Project was indeed an

alternative.

Access, at the level of choice:

The right of individuals to communication materials,
the right to listen to or view desired programs, when a
person wants, where he/she wants. Kheda society is governed
by traditional and authoritarian relationships. The Kheda
Communication Project introduced a1 wider range of
communication materials which were not within easy access.
The range of information about socio-economic issues, about
health, nutrition, animal husbandry and family planning that
formed the content of Kheda television, by its very nature
of being"new' information for a large section of the Kheda

population, would not have been demanded by the audiences.

81

82

The choice of such material was made by the production
organization. The viewers through their‘participation as
scriptwriters and through feedback, however, had a great
deal of input into selection of topics on socio-economic
issues.

Kheda Communication Project responded constantly to the
needs and demands of the public. Feedback and formative
research components of the production process, in
associatiOn with the team approach to production ensured a
degree of responsiveness of the medium to the viewers that

is rarely seen elsewhere.

Access at the level of feedback:

There was a constant, in depth, and effective
interaction between the producers and the receivers of
messages. Participation of viewers in programming by means
of scriptwriting and various means of feedback was also
constant and intensive. This encouraged comments and
criticisms from the audience that were incorporated into

programming to attune it to the needs of the audience.

Participation at the level of production:

The Kheda Communication Project made training of
personnel from user agencies and audience groups in design,
scripting and production.of programs a<critical aspect of
its activity. By conducting such training programs, the

project succeeded in demystifying television from its image

83

of being a complex technology that is beyond the reach.of
ordinary people. This demystification.generated.a lot of
interest and enthusiasm for the medium as not merely a
carrier of information from elsewhere but also as a vehicle
for communicating with others in the community.
Availability of Kheda Project resources and technical

facilities broadened the extent of participation.

Participation at the decision-making level

The audience could dictate the content and scheduling
time for programs. However, as a matter of policy, demands
for feature films were ignored by the project, as such a
demand did not fit in with the mandate the project laid down
for itself, given the limitation of time resources
available. Given the thirty minutes available each day for
local programming, the time slot was critical for the
project if it was to achieve any of its goals.

Kheda viewers did not have much role to play at the
level of planning, in terms of definition of objectives,
principles of management or future programming; ISRO as the
parent organization was instrumental in designing the
project, defining objectives and also responsible, through

SAC, for day to day management of the project.

84

What were the factors that contributed tg the uniqueness 9;
mess?

The Kheda project was initiated as an experimental
project to innovate and develop prototype programs for local
programming in the satellite Instructional Television
Experiment. The initiation and design of the project came
from a group of scientists experimenting with applications
of satellite technologyu This group of scientists had no
experience with and no preconceived notions of what
television technologY. its organization and programming
culture for rural development, was to be like. The
organization and systems of programming evolved through
experimentation over time. The parent organization, ISRO,
itself is a goal oriented scientific organization with clear
objectives. More significantly, ISRO was independent enough
of political pressures that it could venture out, look at
rural reality and stir awareness among the rural audiences
toward their immediate existence. As a goal oriented
scientific organization, ISRO also had an organizational
structure that encouraged innovation and rewarded
creativity. The Kheda system was a limited broadcast
facility, that retransmitted programs from the national
network at a more convenient time for the local audiences.
Kheda system also had local low cost programming facilities.
The transmitter in Kheda was located in a predominantly

rural area.

85

A brief look at the national television, Doordarshan,
will reveal that organizationally Doordarshan is a
bureaucracy in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
As a new broadcasting wing of this ministry, and as an
offshoot of All India Radio, Doordarshan inherited the work
culture and organization structure of All India Radio. The
organization of Doordarshan is highly centralized and
heirarchical. The structure 'folI' dissemination of
programming nationwide is also highly centralized. The
program production centers are located at major urban
centers and the dissemination is through a network of
transmitters that merely transmit centrally produced
programming as several of the transmitters are not equipped
with production facilities. Most of the transmitters, as
mentioned elsewhere in this thesis, are located close to
urban centers, leading to urban preferences and demands on
the nature of programming.

Kheda, once again, is a case in point to illustrate
this. After the closure of the transmitter, programs
produced at Kheda are still transmitted by Doordarshan for
forty minutes every day from a transmitter located in
Ahmedabad city. But this has only set off another
controversy. The urban audiences resent having to watch
programs targeted for a rural audience. The SAC-run Kheda
system which had resisted film based entertainment so far,

has been drawn into the fold of escapist commercial

86

entertainment. The rural audiences in Kheda feel that
realistic avenues of change stimulated by rurally rooted
programming has been taken away from them.

Lack of transmitters located in the rural areas and
local programming facilities preempts any need for
interaction with the audiences, and the conventional wisdom
that audiences want more film-based entertainment is invoked
as an easy way out. With the introduction of commercial
programming, software on Doordarshan has become responsive
to advertising agencies and the tastes of urban audiences.
Centralized transmission is imposing this fare on audiences
with other concerns elsewhere in the country.

Perhaps the most significant distinction that sets
apart Kheda Communication Project is that it started out
with a clearly stated credo and programming philosophy.
Doordarshan inherited its programming philosophy from AJR.
AIR started as a colonial service and has not changed its
work culture or programming philosophy after independence.
Doordarshan operates to a similar set of standards. The
concern with the rural poor in the Kheda credo and the
operational systems that Kheda evolved over time to serve
this population and to facilitate participation from this
segment of the audience was in fact what the national
network ostensibly set out to achieve, but did not.

Commercialization of Doordarshan appears to have

distanced the medium from the masses even further. The

87

programming decisions have become the domain of civil
servants in Doordarshan and executives in advertising
agencies. There has already been a Central Bureau of
Investigation inquiry into Doordarshan operations and
allegations of corruption" The worry seems to be whether
commercialization.and the taint of corruption have created a
money-making monsterl

The Government of India cited development imperatives
as primary at each stage of expansion of the television
service. But programming for development issues is minimal
and lacks direction. This lack of direction has was
recognized.early'by Kiran Karnik, who in 1973, reviewing
the UN Panel Meeting on satellite instructional system,
pointed out that "the simplistic approach that the programs
are meant for development was taken and there was little
discussion on what 'development' meant in terms of a better
life".2

Several critical decisions at the second phase of
expansion have determined the course of national television.
The decision to install transmitters without augmenting
local programming facilities, as well as the fact that the
existing facilities are equipped primarily for studio bound
production, successfully keep the viewers out of the
programming equation.

Kheda project's major contribution in this area is to

demonstrate the vital importance of portable equipment that

88

can be taken to the areas where rural people live and work.
This contributes to reality based programming as opposed to
programming that develops out of preconceived urban notions
of what the rural reality is.

An even more specific contribution of the Kheda project
is its planned demystification of television as a technology
- by training user agencies as well as the rural audiences
in using it to develop their own programming; This is a
significant contribution because the more a technology is
rendered esoteric, the fewer uses it has for ordinary
peeple. It also becomes more out of reach and expensive for
ordinary people.

A critical problem faced by Doordarshan as a
centralized institution and as a bureaucracy of a central
ministry is the excessive political interference which
stifles creativity. At points in its recent history,
Doordarshan officials were told what to do at regular
Wednesday meetings by Information and Broadcasting Ministry
bureaucrats.3

Kheda Communication Project was not a hotbed for
political skullduggery and corruption because it was not a
money machine. The success of its programs in exposing the
roots of exploitation led to pressure from large landlords
that it did not cave-in to. The awareness generated by the
programming on socio-economic issues seemed to have

displeased the local elite who objected to the language used

89

in some of the programs and on occasion tried to prevent the
villagers from viewing the shows.4 Within the Kheda
organization itself, there appears to have been a clarity of
vision and partisanship with the poor which guided the
project.

The degree of awareness among the rural poor created by
the project has become political threatening enough to close
down the transmitter and to move it to Madras City to
provide a.second channel. The closure of the transmitter
triggered off a series of protests from the Kheda audience.
The Kheda audience began a relay hunger strike in batches of
20 to protest the action.5 As of October, 1985, resistance
was successful because engineers appointed to dismantle the
tower have not done so. .A housewife, Kashiben, is quoted as
saying ”we are prepared to pay any price to keep this
transmitter here. We owe a lot to it".

The station director of Ahmedabad Doordarshan, however,
in his privileged position of never having to doubt the
wisdom of his biases, declared: "There is no reason at all
for Kheda villagers to protest. 'They are only doing it
because of the instinct of possessiveness. .Actually, the
villagers want entertainment".6

Kheda project involved audience/viewer participation at
every stage of programming. Given the mission that the
project was to create a "climate" for development through

participation, there was a constant interaction with the

9O

audience causing a critical awareness of issues. The nature
of production.organization was such that this interaction
was as much a learning experience for the production team as
it was for the viewers.

The ability of the production teams to interact, learn
and open channels of communication between and among the
rural communities was perhaps the most important factor in
the success of communication messages of Kheda project. A
success on a similar scale does not appear feasible with a
centralized communication organization that is far removed
from and often unsympathetic to the viewers it is meant to
serve.

Apart from the organizational structure and philos0phy
and the management practices, the commitment of the
personnel also contributed to the effectiveness of the
project. Mr. B.S. Bhatia, manager of KCP, says, "Producers
had taken on the roles of social workers. It is not their
job to go around mobilizing villages to fight their
battles, but they did as they were committed and were not
making programs just because they had transmission time to
fill".8

There are many similarities between the Kheda project
and the projects reviewed in an earlier section of this
thesis. Like MEB, of Brazil, RER of Senegal, Campo y
Productividad of Mexico and Tanzanian Year 16, the Kheda

project was also funded by agencies external to the local

91

area—-the Government of India, UNDP and UNESCO. As soon as
the project crossed experimental stages and began its
existence as a continuing project, the pressure on the
organization also began to change, culminating in the
closure of the transmitter.

Almost all the projects reviewed offered three
significant conclusions. 1) that radio or TV cannot be the
primary focus of a communication effort to conscientize the
population, 2) that interpersonal networks are critical for
consciousness raising activities, 3) that ideological
orientations of the leadership has a significant influence
on the survival of media projects in any situation.

The Kheda project once again substantiated all the
three conclusions.

The Kheda district has a history of successful
participatory and self help organizations. AMUL dairy
cooperative, considered a well organized and one of the most
successful cooperatives in Asia is situated in this
district. Amul already had developed an extensive and
efficient network of communication between village milk
collection centers in this area. It has an excellent
reputation for providing supportive services for dairy
farming. This infrastructure of efficient supportive
services is often cited as a reason for AMULNs success. The
Kheda Communication Project had the support of AMUL in its

field efforts. There was also.transfer of television

92

technology from KCP to AMUL.9

This chaper on Analysis examined the Kheda
Communication Project in light of the Belgrade ideal for
participating projects and found that Kheda did, in fact,
enhance access and participation of the community in the
media project. The analysis compared the Kheda project with
Doordarshan, analyzed the Kheda project in terms of the
social-structural problems, rural-urban conflict of
interests among the audience segments and also compared the
Kheda project with some of the projects referred to in the

Review of Literature.

References

lJain, Madhu, The Money Machine, India Today, April 15,
1986, p. 65. '

2Karnik, Kiran, Spotlight on Software Aspects, Vidura,
Feb. 1973, Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 43.

30p. cit., Jain, p. 64.

4Research for TV programs, Kheda experiences, Kheda
Formative Researchers, May, 1979, p. 32.

5Manon, Ramesh, Fading Out, India Today, Oct. 15, 1985,
p. 82.

6Op. cit., Jain, p. 65.

7Sethi, Sunil, A Blurred View, India Today, Aug. 31,
1984.

 

8Bhatia, B.S., Programming for Kheda, SAC Courier, p.
4.

gseheal. Narender. Issssslssx Isssssss is
Communications: Television Broadcasting_ig India, ISRO:
Ahmedabad, 1979, p. 79.

 

93

CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSION

The Kheda Communication Project has been widely
acclaimed as a success by communicators as well as those
interested in rural development efforts.

From the case study of the Kheda project, it can be
concluded that:

1. Mass media can be effective in generating
participation when they approximate the process of
interpersonal communication as much as possible.

Among the projects reviewed in the thesis, each of the
projects had a different equation with interpersonal
communication. The MEB project of Brazil used the existing
interpersonal networks; the RER project of Senegal created
additional interpersonal networks to develop along with the
mass media component; Tanzania project used the mass media
component essentially as an additional catalyst for
enhancing and refining interpersonal activities that were
already existing. The Kheda project generated some new
interpersonal networks that were necessary for the mass
media project, in addition to using the interpersonal
networks that were already existent in the district.

However, the Kheda project operated within a context

94

95

that did not lend any political support. There are laws
enacted by both the state government and the central
goverment of India with regard to untouchability, minimum
wages, working conditions and to protect the week against
injustices, but there is no ideological or structural change
in Indian society that supports the laws. The traditional
oppressive relationships persist.

Given this context, the Kheda project once again
illustrates the critical importance of factors other than
efficient communication models that determine the life of a
project when the internal inequities of a social system are
not dealt with in the first place. In the context of a
society in which there is equitable distribution of
resources, the mass media can ensure participation of the
people by approximating the process of interpersonal
communication as closely as possible. This directly leads
us to the next conclusion.

2. Mass media are technology-based communication
channels. Technology implies a fair amount of capital
outlay. Capital outlay brings ideological control from the
financiers.

The political and economic power elites may not
necessarily desire a society that involved power-shaping
with the deprived majority in the decision-making process.
As long as it was on an experimental status and under the

exclusive direction of the ISRO scientists, the Kheda

96

project pursued is commitment to the oppressed. After the
conclusion of the one-year pilot project, SITE, the Kheda
project entered an uncertain phase which culminated in the
closure of the transmitter in 1985 by the Government of
India's national television monopoly, Doordarshan.

While the Department of Space's ISRO has its own
resources to continue its experiment in local programming,
it has no mandate to be involved in television transmission
which is the monopoly of Doordarshan, a division of the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Experimenting
‘with satellite applications is SACKS charge, not running
operational systems. The conclusion of the experiment and
the launching of the operational Indian National Satellite
(INSAT) system put the control of television programming
back in the hands of the government television monopoly, now
grown prosperous with advertising revenues.

The Government of India, represented primarily by rural
and urban elite, is quite likely to be wary of any project
that involves a component of participation of the poOr.

3. Participation of community in matters of concern
to its well-being is not a slogan, or a myth. It can exist
in reality. As with any other approach to generate
participation, use of mass media for this purpose also
presupposes a high degree of political will, commitment and

integrity.

97

From a communicator's point of view, the Kheda project
may be termed a pioneering effort in development
communication. It proved the efficacy of a whole range of
concepts that have been debated long.

The sobering conclusion, however, is that without
political will on the part of the central government, even a
small corner in rural Gujarat cannot have a participatory

communication project, using television. The same corner in

 

rural Gujarat can have a participatory communication
project, that does not require either financial sponsorship
or permission to transmit from the Government of India.
This, perhaps, is the single most important limitation of
mass media in countries like India, where radio and TV are
government run.

Other audio-visual media like cassette recorders, VCRs,
slide and tape presentations, and a whole range of
traditional and folk forms are not constrained by these
limitations. The audio-visual and folk media are also
applicable in highly decentralized situations. These media
deserve a closer examiation from the advocates of
participatory development.

Ironically enough, Kheda project was honored with the
UNESCO Award for Rural Communication for 1984, just before
the closure of the Pij transmitter. In response to the
closure of the transmitter Mr.lLLran Karnik, Director of

Development and Educational Communication Unit of SAC, said,

98

"It was a very worthwhile experience. We learned a lot in
the process".

The Kheda Communication Project has demonstrated that
mass media can be very successful as tools for development
communication when they approximate the process of
interpersonal communication. But the history of the project
also highlights the importance of larger socio-economic and
political factors that impinge on the communication

environment.

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