As part of SITE, under this project about 600 community TV sets were installed in villages. The responsibility of producing development oriented programmes was that of the ISRO. This transmission of the local programmes was started in 1975 and continued uptil October 1989.

Programmes were produced on hardcore areas like agriculture, health, animal husbandry etc., as well as on social issues like untouchability, woman’s status, children’s programmes etc. Most of the programming effort was in a series mode and were produced using the team mode of production, after extensively studying the audience needs, and with the participation of the audience. The medium was extensively used for problem solving by recording the problems and taking these to the decision makers or by bringing the villagers and the decision makers together to discuss the problem.

Focus of KCP Coverage
Planned Brinkmanship
Team Mode of Working
Innovations Suitable to Target Audience / Problem Solving approach
Communication Research - An integral part of Communication Process

Social/Formative Research Findings
Co-ordination with Field Agencies
Hardcore programmes
Important Television Serials

KCP - A model of rural development communication

The “team-mode” and “serialised-mode” were critical to the success of the programmes. The “team-mode” implied that production of development oriented programmes cannot be the job of a single individual, like a producer. It requires various inputs like understanding the rural audiences, writing in the local language with local flavour, and provide content expertise on the subject matter. Thus the team had to consist of a producer, researcher, content expert and writer. Each bringing his own strengths to the programme at the right time and place.

The serialised mode was essential to make a consistent and continuous effort for a long time, to build a rapport with the audience, to develop the characters and the plots. All these led to a greater degree of success.Kheda TV had a definite purpose viz., to promote rural development and social change. It was therefore decided to lay down a Credo, a statement that would guide the work and be the basis for all productions.

Excerpts of the Credo read as follows:

“In trying to accelerate development, communication can play a very major role. Television, in particular, can be a powerful tool in creating a “climate” for development.

Our attempt in Kheda will be to use TV – and also to supplement it by other means – for development in the broadest meaning of the term. Concretely, the attempt will be to:

	Focus on the oppression and bondages in the present social and economic system in such a way as to heighten understanding.
	Mobilise the community and the individual himself to break away from these bondages.
	Promote self-reliance among the individuals and the community.
	Involving a reduction in apathy, in dependence on God or others.
	Implying improvising and an optimal use of local resources.
	Necessitating a co-operative spirit and a willingness to risks…… etc.

SITE and direct broadcasting made it possible to take TV programmes to remote and inaccessible villages, with most exciting consequences for development. However, there were some who were conscious of the need for local programmes and were also worried about the centralization inherent in the technology of direct broadcasting. Looking for technological options that could not only reduce but meaningfully complement this centralization, they conceived the idea of “limited rebroadcast”, giving birth to the Kheda System. This involved the setting-up of a low-power TV transmitter in Pij village (about 60km. South of Ahmedabad) and linking it to a studio and earth station complex at Ahmedabad, so that it could relay local programmes (originated from the studio) or the “central” satellite programmes received at the earth station. This integrated decentralization is also in keeping with the national philosophy of unity in diversity.

The Kheda Communications Project received the IPDC-UNESCO prize for Rural Communication in 1985.