Indian 'National Roadmap' for ham radio

In a significant move, the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Govt. of India, convened a joint meeting of the different Ministries, Government Departments and different Amateur Radio bodies in India on December 6.

The meeting which was held at the behest of the National Disaster Management Wing of the Ministry of Home Affairs aimed at removing the bottlenecks of ham radio promotion in India and to bring up a 'National Roadmap' for ham radio promotion.

Brainstorming sessions on the following aspects were held:
(1) Amateur Radio in Education (School/College/Technical Institutes);
(2) Amateur Radio for Volunteer Groups under youth development schemes;
(3) Amateur Radio Promotion and related legal, security and regulatory aspects. The Assistant Wireless Adviser to the Govt. of India, WPC Wing was also present.

It was informed consideration for an amendment of the Indian Wireless Telegraph (Amateur Service) Rules is in the pipeline and there may be just two categories of ham radio licences in India, 'Restricted' and a 'General Grade' licence.

The meeting was convened and presided over by the Director, Ministry of Home Affairs, who strongly felt that that the grievances of amateur radio enthusiasts in India are genuine and that these attract serious attention. He also expressed his feelings to do away with the age old rules and regulations pertaining to ham radio in India.

In this regard, an elaborate report is submitted to the NDM (Home Ministry) by VU2NCT club station of Vigyan Prasar, which is available at
http://www.qsl.net/vu2msy/VU2NCT_Suggestions_to_Home_Ministry.pdf .

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia

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