For a long time, India’s first community radio station, Sangham Radio has pulled off daily two-hour broadcasts with the help of 5000 volunteers. The radio station began in 1998 as an initiative by the Deccan Development Society (DDS) and UNESCO. What makes it so special is that it is run by 5,000 poor, mostly Dalit women, reports The Hindu.

The station has made leaps and bounds when it comes to aiding the sanghams (self-help groups) consisting of underprivileged, rural women. Having survived numerous odds, the station now needs your help or it will be forced to close down.

“The Government of India once in a while commissions SANGHAM RADIO to advertise their own ‘schemes’. But the government has not paid for the advertisements aired and is dues of the government to SANGHAM RADIO over the last three years has totalled to an amount of Rs.3.25 lakhs, a staggering amount for the women of SANGHAM RADIO,” stated an appeal on Milaap, a crowdfunding page.

“We could not collect donations from outside India as we have to run the community radio on our own. Some of our listeners have been asking us why they are cannot hear our broadcasts. We have told them that we need new transmitters and each one costs about ₹3 lakh. This is the reason we are trying to raise money,” said M. Narsamma, a woman who runs the radio station to The Hindu.

If Sangham Radio were to shut down, it would be a tragedy of immense proportions. It needs your help – click here to donate.

(Header credits: Milaap)