Guwahati, May 29: Union minister for human resource development Arjun Singh today inaugurated two Gyan Vani FM radio stations for Guwahati and Shillong.

Gyan Vani is an educational FM channel for supplementing the teaching-learning process by reaching the learners through a low-cost popular mass medium. Both stations were inaugurated in Guwahati by the Union minister.

The educational project of the FM channel is being run by Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou).

Ignou officials said Gyan Vani?s mandate is to carve out an identity that is both unique and distinct from India?s other radio broadcast interests.

Each station has been given a measure of autonomy; its programming and delivery of localised content is guided by a local steering committee consisting of different community stakeholders. Each Gyan Vani station has a range of about 60 km and covers an entire city.

The flavour of the channel is local and the medium is English, Hindi or the language of the region.

The broadcast duration varies from station to station but the content pertains to different aspects of education like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, adult education and higher education.

The Gyan Vani FM station in Guwahati will be available on a frequency of 107.8 MHz and the one in Shillong at 105.4 MHz.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the government has provided a building in the heart of the capital city for the FM radio station. It has also handed over an area of 5,074 square feet for the FM radio station in Housefed complex.

He said the facility would go a long way in harnessing information technology for expanding the reach of educational programmes in the region.

He requested the Union minister that the framework of reference for the National Commission of Education should include formulation of appropriate special financial package in view of the enhanced allocation for the education sector in the Northeast.