A community news programme run by village women has been making waves in the northern Indian state of Bihar. Ever since its launch earlier this month, "Appan Samachar" (Our News), as the programme is aptly called, has become popular in over a dozen villages in Muzaffarpur district.

The programme is shown once a fortnight. Sometimes it is shown on a projector, other times on hired video players and a large TV set. The centre of operations is a gloomy room at the remote Ramlila Gachi village on the crime-ridden banks of the Gandak river.

In this bleak lawless boondocks of one of India's poorest states, three young girls and a newly-wed woman cycle around to gather news for their programme. Carrying a low range Sony Handycam, a tripod and a microphone with the channel logo, they bump along on the dusty narrow village tracks to talk to people and shoot their stories.

Khusboo Kumari is barely 15, but she reads and anchors her 45-minute news programme at breakneck speed.

Anita Kumari is a little older and she has already made a name for herself in the area with her telegenic personality. Young camerawoman Ruby Kumari and script-writer Ruma Devi, who got married recently, go along with their duties professionally.  The unique programme is the brainchild of a local social activist, Santosh Sarang.
Mr Sarang says the women decide what is going to go up on the channel -- they choose stories, subjects, shoot and edit. The first edition of this fortnightly news programme was broadcast on a projector and featured such issues as witchcraft, empowerment of women, poverty and farm problems.