Sangham Radio: Inside The Dalit Women-Run Radio Station That's Reshaping Indian Media

When Sangham Radio hit India’s airwaves in 2008, the Dalit women-run community radio was a turning point for Indian media. An industry that was once gatekept by the upper class in urban areas now opened itself up to a historically marginalised demographic, allowing for a new world of rural connectivity. Sixteen years later, thousands of villagers across Pastapur tune in to the broadcast every night, listening for everything from agricultural tips to folk stories and discussions of women’s issues.

While turning on Sangham Radio is a nightly ritual for many rural Indians today, the radio programme faced several major roadblocks in its rise to prominence. The Deccan Development Society (DDS), a non-profit striving towards agricultural development, conceptualised Sangham Radio as an opportunity for Dalit and Indigenous women to share their cultural knowledge with others in their community. DDS supports almost 5000 women in the Medak District of Telangana through their various grassroots initiatives, offering communities resources to celebrate and uplift their local culture. When building Sangham Radio, they taught women how to use all the equipment necessary to run a radio station, forming the foundation for an independent media operation.

The fight to get Sangham Radio on the air began in 1998, a full ten years before they successfully obtained their license. While larger, corporate-run radio stations were able to get these licenses quite easily, Sangham Radio was immediately denied by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. For eight years, DDS and Sangham Radio’s operators faced rejection after rejection, and were told that India had no policy in place for community radio. Despite the struggle, they continued to push for licensure. Finally, in 2006, the Ministry introduced a community radio policy, allowing civil society organisations to set up radio stations. Two years later, Sangham Radio went live. 

While Sangham Radio platforms several community voices across Telangana, two women in particular are the heart and soul of the project: Masanagari Narsamma and Algole Narsamma. Both women take on multiple roles in the radio station’s operation, acting as producers, announcers, and technicians. From interviewing people across the region to climbing up their own transmission towers to fix any bugs that arise, they are as good behind the soundboard as they are in front of the mic. Though many may have doubted their abilities before the rise of Sangham Radio, their passion for their work has allowed them to excel.

Sangham Radio is proof of the importance of true representation and inclusion in media. ‘Representation’ has become a buzzword but the term is often used in its lightest, least radical sense. It is one thing to make art about marginalised communities; it's another to offer equal opportunities to marginalised groups to make the media they actually need. For instance, in ‘A Radio of Their Own’, a short documentary film made by the women behind Sangham Radio, women from their village expressed distrust in the foreign journalists and filmmakers who would visit their town. Algole Anasuyamma, a farmer, emphasised the importance of autonomous media, stating, “If we don’t have our radio and depend upon outsiders, we don’t even know what they record about us. They don’t feed it back to us,” while Pushpalata, a community health worker said, “We are not sure if they do justice to our issues.” 

Sangham Radio puts the mic directly into the hands of the people it covers, allowing Dalit women in Pastapur to shape their own narratives instead of depending on others to tell their stories. Their broadcast centres on the interests and issues of their communities and livelihoods instead of pandering to the views of the masses. Sangham Radio is revolutionary; a masterclass in cultural preservation and a testament to the power of inclusion. It is truly and authentically by the people and for the people. 

Watch ‘A Radio Of Their Own’ here.

Follow the Deccan Development Society here.

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