Big FM's RJ Sid spearheads 'Chhora Ganga Kinare Wala' campaign

Radio jockeys are getting involved in social activities, banking on their huge popularity. First it was Radio Mirchi's RJ Naved. Now, RJ Sid will help clean the ghats of the Ganga in Kanpur

Sarmistha Neogy | Mumbai | June 6, 2014

Theirs is the voice loved by the masses. The RJs have their own magic. In a recent trend, Radio jockeys are getting involved in social activities, banking on their huge popularity. The latest to join this group is RJ Sid from 92.7 Big FM who is spearheading the campaign 'Chhora Ganga Kinare Wala' to promote the importance of environmental cleanliness and an attempt to take the tag away from Kanpur of being the 9^th most polluted city in the world.

Last month, BestMediaInfo.com spoke to RJ Naved from Radio Mirchi, Delhi, who tried to promote communal harmony through his hugely popular show 'Radio Murga'. Through his live on-air prank, he conveyed a telling message to all his listeners: 'stop being influenced by politicians'. He wanted people to realise that they get affected with what the politicians say, who very cleverly sow the seeds of hatred in the minds of Muslims and Hindus, to meet their selfish ends.

On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, the 'Chhora Ganga Kinare Wala' campaign was launched and will continue for more ten days. RJ Sid, will not only shift his live studio to Kanpur, but will also be cleaning the Ganga ghats with the help of listeners across the city, thus restoring hygiene as well as the holiness of the river. RJ Sid will be doing live shows on a daily basis to update people about the status of his campaign.

We contacted and asked what prompted him to start this campaign, RJ Sid said, “I have been in Kanpur since my childhood and this place has turned from good to bad and from bad to worse. I realised that instead of merely reacting to the reports on how the environmental level of Kanpur has deteriorated, I should do something more fruitful. So that is how the idea to launch 'Chhora Ganga Kinare' campaign came in, to spread the message that 'If I can, you can'.”

“The campaign started in Parmat ghat near Anandeshwar Temple in Kanpur, which is approximately 500 years old, and is also the base camp for 92.7 Big FM. The response so far has been tremendous with NGOs, school kids, local authorities and prominent personalities all coming forward to take part in this initiative. Another incentive for the people is that I have never made any public appearances in the last three years of my RJ life; so, for the first time during this campaign, people will also get to see the face of the man behind the voice which they have been hearing for so long,” added RJ Sid.

The campaign was promoted on 92.7 Big FM even before its launch and it will be supported digitally. A separate Facebook page has been created and is being updated on a daily basis to urge people across the country to join in and be a part of this unique initiative.

Commenting on the initiative, Ashwin Padmanabhan, National Business Head, Big FM, said, “Being a 'Life Banao' radio station, we are humbled to take this project to clean up the Ganga ghats and what better medium to use than the power of FM radio. The initiative to clean up the Ganga ghats has been taken up multiple times by the local authorities and the people but with very little results mainly due to lack of will. We are confident that our initiative will encourage the residents of Kanpur to be more responsible towards their environment and that we will receive unprecedented support to bring about positive changes in the city's environment.”

On being asked if RJs have turned more responsible towards society, Sid said, “There was a time when people thought RJs to be always blabbering crap – 'yeh log to bakwas karte hain' was the usual attitude of people. I am really happy to see how this idea is gradually fading as more and more radio stations, along with their RJs, are doing serious stuff. The entire voting campaigns executed by the radio stations were such a huge success that it boosted the voter turnout by a good percentage. I feel that it is every RJ's responsibility to use their popularity to do something in return for the people who love them so much.”

Sarmistha@BestMediaInfo.com

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