New Delhi, 25 November: Even as 235 entities have signed the grant of permission agreement (GOPA) for setting up community radio stations in the country, the actual number of operational CRS is only 188 after more than a decade of launch of this sector.

This shows an increase of only eight community radio stations since the last list issued in May this year.

A total of 960 applications for CRS had been either rejected or withdrawn as on 15 November.

However, another 323 applications are still under the consideration of the government from educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, Krishi Viguan Kendras and State Agriclture Universities. Some of these date back to 2011.

The operational stations include 105 by universities and private and government educational institutions, seven by NGOs, seven by Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and five by State Agricultural Universities.

State-wise, Tamil Nadu has the hghest number of CRS with 27, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 23. Maharashtra has 17, Madhya Pradesh has 15, and Karnataka has 14 stations. Uttarakhand, Haryana and Odisha have nine each; Kerala and Rajasthan have eight each; Delhi and Gujarat have six each; Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Telangana have five each; Assam, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Puducherry, Punjab, and West Bengal have three each; Himachal Pradesh has two and Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand have one each.

Thus, there are only three CRS in the northeast, and only one in J and K.    

Though the scheme was launched around a decade earlier, the outreach of the Community Radio Stations was enhanced in 2006 to include non Governmental and Community based organizations with at least three years of legal existence.