Janadhwani
Community voice. Shared knowledge. Local action. A participatory radio platform connecting rural and tribal communities with timely information, public systems, local knowledge and one another.
Objective
To facilitate the development of rural communities in H.D. Kote and Saragur by providing timely, relevant and accessible information, reducing information inequities and strengthening informed community participation through participatory radio.
More than a radio station — a platform for participation
Launched in 2012, Janadhwani has grown from a small weekly broadcast into a community-led communication platform serving rural and tribal communities across H.D. Kote and Saragur. Its purpose is not only to transmit information, but to make information locally relevant, participatory and connected to community action.
Read more about Janadhwani
When information is distant, technical or inaccessible, people can remain excluded even when services and opportunities exist. Community radio narrows that distance by bringing knowledge into everyday language, local context and familiar voices.
To turn communication into participation — enabling people to access information, ask questions, share local knowledge, engage public institutions and contribute to the development processes that affect their lives.
From audience to participant
Janadhwani is designed around two-way communication. Community members take part as speakers, resource persons, callers, farmers, students, women leaders, local role models and cultural knowledge-holders. In 2024–25, more than 70% of the station's programmes were reported as originating from the community.
Building human and social capital through communication
Human capital: reliable information strengthens knowledge, awareness, confidence and the ability to make informed choices.
Social capital: dialogue builds networks of trust between communities, experts, institutions and government systems.
Collective participation: phone-ins and community programming create public spaces where local issues can be voiced and discussed.
Local ownership: community voices, languages, culture and local role models shape what is broadcast and why it matters.
Contextually relevant communication
Janadhwani carries information on health, education, agriculture, livelihoods, government schemes, women and youth, environment, tribal rights, art and culture. The station is guided by periodic needs assessments and community surveys so that its programming remains connected to local priorities rather than becoming a one-way information service.
A bridge to institutions
One of Janadhwani's distinctive roles has been to connect rural communities directly with government officials and subject experts through live programmes. This makes the station part communication channel, part public-information platform and part civic space for participation.
From 30 minutes a week to a community voice reaching 2.7 lakh people
Janadhwani's journey reflects a steady evolution in reach, programming, community participation and its ability to connect people with knowledge and public institutions.
Janadhwani goes on air
The station begins broadcasting from Saragur with around 30 minutes of programming a week, focused on locally relevant information for rural communities.
Radio as a public-health lifeline
During COVID-19, Janadhwani aired more than 690 hours of awareness content, reaching about 2.5 lakh rural people and supporting access to health information during disruption.
10 years of community voice
A 144-episode SSLC learning series supported rural students, while 56 Sethuve programmes connected officials directly with 373 community members through live calls.
14 hours on air every day
Janadhwani was broadcasting more than 40 programmes a week, with over 70% of programming reported as community-originated.
A wider information ecosystem
The station reached an estimated 2.7 lakh people across 256 villages, while strengthening expert interviews, government collaboration, social media and online broadcasting.
Recognition across public-interest themes
Over the years, Janadhwani has received recognition for programming related to HIV prevention, Radio Maths and TB awareness — reflecting the station's ability to translate public-interest themes into accessible community communication.
A local radio platform with sustained community reach
Janadhwani combines geographic reach with active participation — reaching rural and tribal communities within its broadcast area while involving people directly in programme development, discussion and dialogue.
FY 2025–26 · Janadhwani 90.8 MHz Community Radio
Participation is as important as listenership
During 2025–26, Janadhwani recorded participation from 1,356 women and 1,153 men across its programmes. 443 participating community members were from tribal communities, illustrating the station's continuing role as a platform for voices that are often underrepresented in mainstream media.
The programme mix is guided by community surveys, field engagement and local priorities, keeping participation connected to issues people encounter in everyday life.
Community-originated programming
In 2024–25, more than 70% of programmes were reported as coming from the community. This is a useful indicator of Janadhwani's evolution from a station that speaks to people into one that increasingly speaks with them.
Development information carried in familiar voices
Programming spans the everyday concerns of rural communities — from farming and health to schooling, government services, women and youth, culture and local leadership.
Agriculture & Rural Development
869 programmes were broadcast in 2025–26 on agriculture and rural development, including farming practices, services, local role models and government support.
Education
557 educational programmes were broadcast in 2025–26. Earlier series have included Radio Patha, spoken English, science, general knowledge and exam-support content for rural students.
Health
208 health-awareness programmes were broadcast in 2025–26, with doctors and subject experts contributing information on prevention, healthy practices and access to care.
Women & Youth
104 programmes in 2025–26 focused on women and youth empowerment, participation, opportunities and issues affecting everyday social and economic life.
Culture and local identity on air
Janadhwani also creates space for tribal culture, traditions, local leaders, art and community knowledge. In 2024–25, around 52 programmes focused on tribal culture, costumes, traditions and information on government privileges available to tribal communities.
This matters because community communication is not only about delivering schemes or awareness messages. It is also about making local identity visible and valued within the development process.
Local role models as resource persons
Farmers, teachers, women leaders, government officials, health professionals, students and community members participate as speakers and resource persons — keeping programme content grounded in lived experience.
Turning radio into a bridge between communities and public systems
Janadhwani's live phone-in and government-dialogue programmes create a practical civic space where people can ask questions, raise local issues and receive information directly from officials and subject experts.
Community raises a concern
A listener or community participant brings forward a question, service gap or development issue.
The issue reaches the airwaves
Radio creates an accessible public platform in the language and context of the community.
Officials and experts respond
Live interaction reduces the distance between citizens, departments and technical knowledge.
Information supports action
Communities gain clarity on schemes, services, responsibilities and possible next steps.
Sethuve: radio as a civic bridge
In 2024–25, Janadhwani conducted 36 direct phone-in programmes with participation from 234 government officials. Earlier, 56 Sethuve episodes connected district and taluk officials directly with 373 community members, with 45 Gram Panchayat members also participating.
The significance of this model is not simply the number of broadcasts. It is the creation of a recurring public channel through which information, questions and accountability can move in both directions.
A communication platform connecting Health, Education and Livelihoods
Janadhwani is one of the connective platforms within SVYM. It carries specialised knowledge from Health, Education and SEEP into homes and communities, while also carrying community questions, experience and feedback back into those systems.
Health
Doctors, health teams and experts use Janadhwani for preventive health, maternal and child health, TB, elderly care, public-health information and emergency communication.
Education
Radio learning, exam support, spoken English, science and general knowledge help extend learning beyond the classroom, particularly for rural students.
Livelihoods & Agriculture
Farmers, trainers, government departments and local practitioners share information on agriculture, skills, employment, enterprise and services.
Entitlements & Public Systems
Government schemes, social protection and direct phone-ins help communities understand services, clarify processes and engage public institutions.
Information becomes more useful when it travels both ways
Janadhwani does more than distribute information created elsewhere. Community participation helps SVYM and partner institutions understand what people are asking, what information is missing and which local issues require attention. That feedback loop is central to an integrated, community-centred development approach.
On air in the community. Available beyond the broadcast radius.
Listeners within the local broadcast area can tune in on 90.8 MHz, while the Janadhwani app extends access to people who are outside the FM radius.
FM frequency for listeners within the Janadhwani broadcast area around Saragur and H.D. Kote.
Daily broadcast window — 14 hours of programming.
Listen beyond the FM radius through the Janadhwani Radio app on Google Play.
Explore the wider socio-economic empowerment ecosystem
Janadhwani provides the communication layer that connects communities with information, opportunities and institutions. Other SEEP initiatives deepen specific pathways in skills, collective institutions, enterprise, agriculture and energy access.
Integrated Tribal Development
Self Help Groups, social entitlements, community strengthening, government convergence and locally rooted development with tribal communities.
Page to be linked after publicationViveka Rural Livelihood Centre
Learn locally, earn locally — vocational skills, employment, self-employment, enterprise and livelihood pathways.
Rural Enterprise & Income Generation
Women-led Rural Social Business Units, federation-linked enterprise, local production, markets and entrepreneurship.
Sustainable Agriculture & Farmer Livelihoods
Scientific training, millets, livestock, farmer institutions, government convergence and value-addition pathways.
Page in developmentEnergy Equity for Tribal Communities
Solar electrification, clean cooking and practical clean-energy applications that strengthen everyday opportunity.
Socio-Economic Empowerment
See how livelihoods, collective institutions, enterprise, voice, entitlements and community agency connect across SEEP.
Strengthen informed participation in rural communities
Partner with SVYM to expand community-led communication, improve access to reliable information and strengthen the social capital that helps people participate more actively in their own development.