Radio Sarang staff paid a media visit to two community radios on August 5-7. The team first visited Janadhwani in Saraguru, Mysore and Radio Neythal in Alleppey, Kerala.

At Janadhwani radio station, the station coordinator, Ningaraju spoke about Janadhwani. He said that Janadhwani worked for the uplift of the local tribal people. “Due to our intervention, we have been able to bring these forest dwellers to the mainstream and helped them send their children to school and give them social identity. There have been many success stories and our programmes have made an impact in their lives,” he said. Other staff of the station too interacted with the Sarang team.

At Radio Neythal, Alleppey, Kerala, station director, Fr Xavier Kudiyamssery spoke about the contribution of Radio Neythal. The station is six-year-old. But its impact has been quite remarkable, he said. “During the 2018 floods, we were able to rescue scores of people through our constant networking and dissemination of information,” he added.

Fr Xavier further said that during Covid times, the station was instrumental in doing a lot of people friendly programmes. “Our staff interacted with the families and gave them regular updates on health issues and made sure that they stayed safe,” he said.

Sarang team also took some time off to navigate the Arabian sea on a house boat. Director of Radio Sarang Dr (Fr) Melwyn Pinto SJ and other staff members were present.

- Dr Melwyn Pinto SJ