Pulathisi Ravaya: The Lost Opportunity in Rural Broadcasting

Abstract

Sri Lanka is one of the first countries which started radio broadcasting in the early 20th century. This broadcasting unit under the British colonial rule was maintained for the benefit of the rulers to entertain their officials and the troops located in several areas of the Indian sub-continent. After the end of the Second World War radio began to air more local content since independence radio broadcasting continued as a government department. 1979 was the year in which the Colombo centered broadcasting monopoly ended with the opening of the Rajarata Sevaya as a first regional Radio Broadcasting Service. Since then few stations like Ruhuna and Kadurata started, they inaugurated another format of radio broadcasting popularly named “Community radio”. Pulathisi Ravaya was yet another Broadcasting service which was started in 1995 under the control of SLBC and was maintained by the Mahawali Development Authority. It functioned until 2002 and terminated without any known legitimate reason. This study tries to analyze Pulathisi Ravaya by using the case study method. For collecting data, we have deployed several methods such as field study, content analysis of the programme scripts, interviews and primary and secondary sources such as administrative reports and reminiscences of the broadcasters. We found that this well-established radio service terminated due to lack of cooperation, misunderstanding and the power struggle between the stakeholders of the radio. This study suggests that exploring the possibilities of re-inaugurating it and filling the vacuum for radio broadcasting like Pulathisi Ravaya in the North Central Province