There is urgent need to prepare young men and women to act as leaders to play a creative role in the advancement of rural India. People have to be made aware of the great strides in various fields being made in other places. This requires them to get acquainted with the need to banish poverty, spread education, do away with gross inhuman disparities in income, contain malnutrition, and overcome lack of health care, water and sanitary problems. This in turn requires development of scientific approach, cultivation of scientific temper and readiness to adopt new technology in agriculture, local industry and diversity of employment avenues. A good and cheap communication facility for creating such awareness and encouragement to act in correct direction is very helpful.
Arun, a very young man of about 17 years of age, has been doing this yeoman service in village Reotipur of district Ghazipur in UP by riding on the waves with an improvised short wave transmitter called Radio Reotipur. It has been reaching to the villages in the radius of three kilometres with local news and film songs for about past two years. His hard work, single minded devotion to the attainment of his objective and the steadfastness cannot fail to impress, ennoble and goad others to undertake some work of one’s liking to illuminate the gloomy atmosphere of deprivation, backwardness and frustration existing in rural India.
While many highly qualified, handsomely paid scientists, pampered by government assistance and basking in the glory of their reputed institutions, fail to come out with any worthwhile research in the service of humanity. Surely, Arun Rai has set an imitable example which is being lauded by one and all. This enterprising young man is founder, engineer and chief of this radio station, and acts as producer, programme director, operator and Radio Jockey (RJ) of Radio Reotipur, all in one. This speaks volumes of the distinguished talent and brilliant managing capacities of the young man with meagre means but indomitable spirit.
Arun is son of Mahendra Rai, a private tutor who finds difficulty in making the two ends meet. This gentleman was afraid of the broadcasting rules and regulations which his son might have flouted in transmitting the programmes without a licence for doing so. He did not encourage his son in his activities. But the boy, only an intermediate science qualified, has succeeded in assembling the transmitter which went on the air one fine morning in 2005. Propelled by the idea of Vividh Bharti service, he thought of starting his own radio station. He scoured the physics books of his brother Amresh who had simply studied the theory in physics but he adopted its practical part. Borrowing used transistors, transmitter circuit, capacitors, trimmers and chokes from TV and radio mechanics, he succeeded in having made a radio transmitter on the short wave (SW) band. The transmitter initially covered a short distance of 200 metres only which he later enhanced to encompass 3 kms but now wishes to increase it further to a range of 15 kms. It is broadcast with the help of a 15-volt battery from his room in Reotipur. The area of coverage includes villages of Tilwa, Pakri and Gopalpur.
The programme relayed from this radio station includes daily news bulletin, local news and film music for six hours a day, thus catering to the need of entertainment of the rural folk also. He has done proud to the villagers of the area who consider him a genius. They exhort their children to follow in his footsteps and become achievers in fields of their interest. Now it is for the government officials, local people to guide this teenager to include in his programmes information about agricultural activities, seeds, fertilisers, fighting crop diseases, irrigation, cooperative movement, Panchayat Raj institution, health care, education and participatory approach in many community activities, horticulture, animal husbandry, etc. with active cooperation and help from district administration and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The district administration is quite impressed with the accomplishment of the young scientist. The financial component of the youngster’s feat was borne by the elder brother Amresh and sister Priyanka who chipped in with their pocket money. They helped their brother realise his dream, one who worked on improving and upgrading the radio station during night while others slept. He dared while others fled in the face of challenges. Now that district administration has lent a helping hand to him, he is expected to achieve the greater heights of success in the service of his backward area.