Prof. Kanchan K. Malik and PhD research scholars Treesa Reena John and Vamsi Krishna Pothuru from the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, participated in the two-day SPARC (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration) Conclave organised by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and held at the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in Kolkata on March 8–9, 2026.
The conclave was hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, the National Coordination Centre for the SPARC initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The two-day event brought together nearly 400 faculty members, researchers, and students from universities and research institutions across India, along with international collaborators and academic leaders associated with SPARC-funded projects. The event was inaugurated by Mr. Armstrong Pame, Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India, in the presence of Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee, National Coordinator of SPARC, and Prof. Sudeshna Sarkar, Joint National Coordinator of SPARC.
As part of the conclave, Prof. Kanchan K. Malik, the UNESCO Chair on Community Media, presented during a technical session, drawing on the SPARC project “Community Media, Participation & the Decolonisation of Knowledge Systems” and fieldwork conducted at Nityananda Janavani (NJ) in West Bengal. Her presentation highlighted the role of Indian community radio in preserving and promoting local knowledge systems while amplifying the voices of marginalised communities. Prof. Malik also foregrounded the epistemic concerns at the core of the project, emphasising how community radio can function as a voice infrastructure that enables indigenous communities to articulate their knowledge systems, sustain their languages, and assert culturally rooted ways of knowing and being.
The project is a collaborative initiative involving Prof. Pradip Thomas and Prof. Elske Van de Fliert from the University of Queensland, Prof. Vinod Pavarala from Mahindra University, and Prof. Kanchan K. Malik and Prof. Vasuki Belavadi from the University of Hyderabad.
Research scholars Treesa Reena John and Vamsi Krishna Pothuru also presented a poster titled “Local Knowledges and Community Radio in India: Learnings from the Field.” The poster drew on insights from two Indian community radio stations (Sangham Radio in Telangana and NJ) and three Australian community radio stations (4EB, Triple A, and 4ZZZ), as well as reflections from their April 2025 visit to the University of Queensland, Australia.
Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee, National Coordinator for SPARC, remarked that the initiative has funded and represented higher educational institutions across all states of India, describing it as “One Nation One SPARC.” The conclave also featured presentations highlighting several “SPARCling moments” – notable achievements emerging from SPARC-supported collaborations.
