HimVani
Shimla: The biggest challenge for HimVani, Himachal Pradesh’s first and only grassroots journalism effort is to reach out to the villages, which do not have access to internet, HimVani‘s one of the founder’s Surender Kumar Dhalieta, said in an interview to All India Radio (AIR) Shimla, recently.
The interview was broadcast on ‘Khula Akaash‘, a programme for rural youth, recently. You can listen to the interview below, (though it is an unedited file, and AIR surely must have played an edited file).
Replying to a question posed by announcer Anil Chadha, popularly known as Chanku Ram – the character he plays – of Aas Pados, a popular family series broadcast on Thursday morning, 7:30 AM, Dhalieta said that HimVani and other such citizen journalism efforts can play a catalyst in highlighting rural problems and become a think-tank in giving ideas to the government.
Dhalieta said that today anybody can become a journalist with a mobile camera and report incidents on citizen journalism initiatives, whether be internet or television channels.
He said that HimVani is also a great platform for people to document Himachali cuisine and vanishing folklores of the state.
He also cited examples where the administration has picked up ideas from their website and implemented them to promote tourism in the state.
Listen to the unedited interview below.
