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Our Reporter
Dimapur, Sep. 8 (EMN): A community radio station called 90.8 Hills FM, initiated by a Dimapur-based NGO, was launched on Thursday at Hotel Sente, Golaghat Road, Dimapur.
President of Hills FM, S Hukavi Zhimomi, said 90.8 Hills FM is the first community radio station in Nagaland set up with the aim to educate, inform, promote and entertain the community
Interestingly, Khahwang, a class six student from Orphanage Home, Ganeshnagar, Faith Ministry Society, was the chief guest of the inaugural event.
Zhimomi said they chose Khahwang as he is one of youngest members in the society and they want to promote him so that he could become a servant of God in the future. He said Dimapur being a cosmopolitan city, the community radio station was set up keeping in mind the diverse communities living in the city.
“It is very difficult to communicate with the people to bring them together, so we have to take up FM radio, where we can coordinate with the people as well as we can preserve their culture, tradition and custom,” he said.
The managing director of Hills FM, Imali Hesso, said the radio station is opened to all communities and invited everyone to be a part of the project.
“Radio can be much underutilised but we believe it is going to impact our people, especially Dimapur being a commercial hub,” she said and added that that radio could actually be a very strong source of medium.
Hesso said they would link their contact on Facebook, instagram, youtube and twitter as well as in their website. She also informed that in the initial stage, the station would broadcast two hours daily (4-6 pm), which would gradually increase.
She further informed that the station would broadcast in English, Nagamese (Saturday) and Hindi (Tuesday and Thursday).
Hesso said at present they are covering Dimapur, Chümoukedima, Niuland and parts of Assam till Bokajan. She said Hills FM’s vision is to be the voice of the people and highlight the current grievances of the society, promote local talents and businesses, disseminate information and inspire the community to build a better future.
Vitono Haralu, an RJ of the station, said community radio caters to a wide audience and so the tradition of listening to one another is something they are using as USB. The idea of community radio is “heart to heart and real talk and we want to bring in the community,” she said.
“We are not duplicating but extending the horizon and creating the ecosystem where everyone can survive, thrive and do something for each other,” Haralu added.
Stating that the motto of the station is “The voice of change”, she said the whole idea of the community radio is to be heard.
“We need the help of everyone to bring in stories that will inspire others,” she said.
The programme manager, Ketho, said the top programmes on their airwaves would include women empowerment, mental health awareness, disability talk, book reviews, awareness on governmental schemes, music reviews, local music, panel discussion and stories “by the fire.”
Under the category of ‘stories by fire,’ he informed that any citizen could send stories through recording or scripts.