the weekly observer vol 14 issue 8
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'Our food was safe' claim mid-day meals NGO managersTRANSCRIPT
ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 8 Tuesday, September 23, 2014
The Weekly
Abused women cannot have their day in Karnataka's courts
Just four per cent of the
3276 cases of domestic
violence filed in Kar-
nataka last year resulted
in convictions, according
to the National Crime
Records Bureau.
Statistics from the bureau
also show that of the
118,866 cases of domestic
violence filed last year in
India, only 16% resulted in
convictions.
Helpline co-ordinators in
Bangalore have also stated
that thirty percent of do-
mestic violence cases regis-
tered with them are also
found to be false. Between
April 2013 and March 2014,
1010 cases of violence
against women have been
reported with Vanitha Sahaya
Vani, a womens’ helpline in
Bangalore.
As of July 2014, just 82
cases of violence against
women had been prosecut-
ed.
Of the 21,669 dowry ha-
rassment cases filed from
January 2011 to August 2013
in Bangalore, 7,220 cases
were proved to be false. Of
the remaining 14,449 cases,
some are still being investi-
gated and charge sheets are
yet to be filed in others.
“We receive several do-
mestic violence related calls
every day, most of which
pertain to dowry harassment.
Out of the 92 dowry ha-
rassment cases in November
2013, only 20 were found
to be true,” said Dipa, a
Woman Police Constable in
Bangalore.
The IPC 498A is a crim-
inal law, whereby the offence
is 'cognizable, non-com-
poundable and non-bailable'.
The perpetrator can be pun-
ished for a term which may
extend to three years. More-
over he shall be liable to
pay a fine.
Rathi (name changed), a
private counselor, said: “Sec-
tion 498A is a very important
weapon for women. Ego
clashes in working couples
often lead to false complaints
being filed under the sec-
tion.”
She added, “At times,
women are not in favor of
living in joint families. They
also want their husbands to
contribute money towards
her family. If the husband
refuses, the wife often files
a 498A case against him.
(Continued on Page 3)
Raya Ghosh
Dr.Sujata, Counselor of
Vanitha Sahaya Vani,
The operations director
of a foundation at the
centre of the Bangalore
mid-day meals scare
claims his company fol-
lowed all safety rules.
Fifty children ate con-
taminated food and 300
pupils in total were rushed
to hospital last Friday after
a lizard was found in school
food served under the na-
tional scheme.
Prashanth Kumar, Man-
ager of Operations, Akshay
Patra Foundation, claimed
that the same batch of food
was sent to many schools
yet there were no reports
of ill health at any other
school.
He said: “We have deliv-
ered the same food to 21
government schools in the
vicinity. We haven’t received
any complaints from them.”
Vinay Kumar, General
Manager of Operations at
the NGO, said that there
was almost zero chance of
the lizard slipping in during
transport because the school
is 12 kilometers away and
the lids are sealed tight. “We
are delivering since 12 years.
This has never happened
before. The lizard must have
fallen from the wall while
serving food,” he said.
Zareena Khanam, prin-
cipal of Gorvernment Urdu
Model Primary School, said
that they found the dead
lizard after serving about
three quarters of the rice.
“The lizard probably got in
during packing of the food,”
she added.
Shahnaz Unnisa, a
teacher at the school for
three years, said, “Around
10 children stopped coming
after this incident as the
parents are scared of sending
them. Most of these children
come to school for these
meals because this is the
only proper meal they get.
They loved this food.”
Vinay said, “We have
not sent food to the primary
school after Friday because
many children are not staying
back for lunch, but are going
home as their parents are
scared.” He said that the
higher secondary students
are still eating food from
their kitchen.
There were seven vessels
of food, and the rice with
the lizard was served to
around 50 children. 300 chil-
dren were hospitalized as a
precaution. Syeda Asiya Jee-
lani, 40, and Syeda Tabassum
Khatoon, 33, were serving
the food.
BBMP High School, in
Pillana Garden, has the food
from the same kitchen.
Chandra Naik, principal of
the school said that they
have not faced any problems
with the food.
Zeenat Parbeen, mother
of four, all of whom were
hospitalized, said that this
has never happened before.
“All my children were ad-
mitted, but they got dis-
charged in a day.”
‘Our food was safe’ claim mid-day meals NGO managersShruti Suresh
Soumya Chatterjee
Samreen Tungekar
Zareena Khanam
Pupils at Government Urdu Model Primary School
The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20142
Right before Narendra
Modi’s visit to Bangalore,
the route from the Old
Airport Road to Raj
Bhawan was completely
renovated.
While several complaints
regarding potholes and
garbage on Old Airport
Road have been ignored by
the BBMP for years, the en-
tire process of renovation
took just three days in the
run-up to Narendra Modi’s
visit to Bangalore.
Street vendors in the area
were also instructed to stay
clear of the road during the
time Modi’s fleet passed the
area to reach Raj Bhawan.
A vendor from Mu-
rugesh Paliya said, "We were
given a circular that we
should clear the road as
Narendra Modi passes. We
were asked to park our stalls
down the road. Afterwards,
we can get back to our usual
business."
Dickenson Road was
cleaned and garbage was re-
moved this morning.
A police officer on
duty,Naveen, said, "The
cleaning process was going
on in Dickenson Road. We
have cleared the garbage
that was strewn along the
pavement."
The renovation began on
Friday night and is being
done by RNS Infrastructure
Limited on a contract with
the BBMP.
Janardhan Reddy, super-
vising the entire process,
said: “The construction is
done during the night. A
fresh coat of tar was done
in three days and the painting
of the footpath is still on.
Before Murugesh Paliya, we
were working near HAL po-
lice station.”
He added, "I don't have
any idea regarding how
much funds were allocated
for this work.."
While commuters appre-
ciated the work done, many
Bangloreans tweeted about
civic irresponsibility on
BBMP’s part and con-
demned the system of fixing
roads only when a VIP is
visiting.
Venu Gopal from Ac-
centure tweeted last night,
“Potholes on Old Airport
Road to Raj Bhavan are cov-
ered up for Modi's visit. Mr.
Modi, please visit my locality
too.”
This is Modi’s first visit
to the state after becoming
Prime Minister. He is going
to visit ISRO near Peenya
to witness the entry of Mars
Orbiter Mission on Septem-
ber 24. He will also be in-
augurating the Integrated
Food Park in Tumkur right
after arriving today.
Pulaha Roy
Saheli Sen Gupta
Modi-fied for PM’s visit
Govt's cancelled projects leave Nelamangala residents without drinking water
Due to repeated failures
of government projects
to take off, the residents
of Nelamangala near
Bangalore are supplied
only borewell water..
“Everyone here drinks
mineral water. You can’t
drink the borewell water
that is supplied,” said Chikka,
a local bakery owner. Dr.
M Jayaprasad, ENT surgeon
and director of JP hospital
in Nelamangala said that
borewell water contained
high percentages of dis-
solved salts and he often
gets cases which could be
caused by its consumption.
“Hypertension and kidney
stones can be caused by
consuming this water, but
most of the people don’t
consume it.” On being asked
whether poor people were
forced to consume the
borewell water, he admitted
that it was a possibility.
A doctor at the Primary
Health Centre in Nelaman-
gala, who is in charge of
doing the MRI scans, said
that a few cases of kidney
stones had been detected.
There have been many
proposals by government
bodies in the last 10-15 years
to ensure supply of surface
water to the town, but all
have been scrapped due to
various reasons, according
to a document. A BWSSB
project planned to transport
water from Bangalore, but
was scrapped later. Another
project involved transporting
water to Nelamangala and
90 other villages from Kun-
nigal kere, a lake, forty kilo-
meters away from Nelaman-
gala. However, this project
didn’t take off because the
cost of the project which is
110 crore, wasn’t sanctioned.
One proposed project
was supposed to provide
surface water to Nelaman-
gala and en route villages
from Hemavathy canal,
which is at a distance of 64
kilometers from Nelaman-
gala. This project was pro-
posed two years ago. How-
ever, the project has hit ma-
jor roadblocks, according to
Ravi B, the Junior Engineer
of water supply department
for Nelamangala. He said,
“We sent the project to Ban-
galore Urban Water Supply
Board(BUWSB), for ap-
proval, and it has been with
them ever since. It is a 24
crore project, only for Nela-
mangala.” He said that the
main reason for the delay
was the inability to acquire
land needed for the project.
He also said that the project
might not get approval.
Nelamangala has a pop-
ulation of 37,232 according
to the 2011 census. As per
the govt website www.nela-
mangalatown.gov.in/, the
main activity of the town is
manufacture of silk cloths
by using power looms and
various small scale and large
scale industries are also set
up in the area.
Laxmigowda Nityananda
Anand, Deputy Chief En-
gineer of the water board
for Bangalore, stressed on
the importance of Nela-
mangala. He said: “Nela-
mangala has had water short-
age since twenty years. It is
an important town for Ban-
galore as it is a potential
satellite town. Yet it does
not get surface water. The
main reason for this is the
lack of water bodies near
the town.”
Elaborating on Nelaman-
gala’s importance, Anand
said, “Since there is no land
available in Bangalore, gov-
ernment can develop indus-
tries in the nearby areas.
Bidadi is one such area which
was successfully developed..”
Regarding the project that
Ravi talked about, Anand
said, “The cost of the project
is too much considering the
population here.. The per
capita cost is not justified,
and so it is difficult for this
project to get approval..”
Tushar Kaushik
Workers on Old Airport Road before Modi’s arrival
The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20143
Getting blood from a stoneCustomers demand refunds from online ‘scam’ site
An online shopper who
thought he was buying a
computer tablet claims
he opened up the box to
find he had purchased a
heavy stone.
The�website,�100bestbuy,
has� 30� complaints� every
month�to�various�consumer
forums�across�India.
Almost�all�of �them�were
victims�of �“contests”�held
by�the�shopping�site.
On� June� 24,� Pan-
chanathan� from�Bangalore
took�part� in� a� contest.�He
paid�Rs.�699� to�participate
and� the� prize� was� a� Sony
Xperia�phone.�The�site�then
asked� him� to� pay� Rs.� 12,
999�more� to� get� a� combo
gift�of �an�HCL�Tablet�and
a�Polo�Watch,� and� he�was
assured�that�50�per�cent�of
the� money� would� be� re-
turned�via�credit�points.
He� did� not� receive� the
products� in� the� stated� 10
day�time�limit,�sent�several
mails�to�the�site�but�got�no
reply.� He� said,� “I� went� to
their� office� later� and� they
said� the� product� is� out� of
stock.�They�were�supposed
to�deliver�it�to�me�once�the
stock� got� refilled.�Or� else,
my� money� was� to� be� re-
funded.”
Paanchanathan� added,
“The�customer�care�initially
neither�picked�up�my�calls
nor� talked� politely.� When
they�spoke�to�me,�they�said
the� initial� payment� of � Rs.
699�was�meant�only�for�par-
ticipating�in�the�contest.”
On�July12,�he�received�a
courier� from� 100bestbuy.
But� the�parcel�contained�a
heavy�stone�instead�of �the
tablet,� packed� inside� the
original� packaging� for� the
tablet.�There�was�no�watch.
He�went� to� their�office
again�with� pictures� of � the
parcel.�When�he�threatened
to� file� a� police� complaint,
the�site�promised�to�return
him� 13,698� credit� points
and�asked�him�to�buy�some-
thing�else�instead.�
“I�bought�a�pair�of �shoes
and�a�very�low�quality�tablet
with� the� credit� points.� It
was�a�horrible�experience.�I
never� want� to� shop� from
this�site�anymore,”�he�said.
Other�customers�too�par-
ticipated�in�the�same�contest.
After� paying� the� amount,
they� were� either� called� or
mailed� and� asked� to� pay
more�in�order�to�win�combo
gifts� like� Lenovo� mobiles,
wrist�watches�and�tablets.�
The� customers� claimed
that� the� site� promised� to
give� 100� percent� credit
points�of � the�extra�money
spent�by�them.�They�said�if
they�didn’t�want�to�partici-
pate�in�the�contest�and�want-
ed� their� prize,� they� were
kept� waiting� for� over� five
months� to� get� either� the
product�or�the�credit�points.�
“They� took� Rs.� 10,000
and�then�returned�the�money
in�the�form�of �credit�points
which�they�said�can�be�used
in� the�next�purchase.�Why
should�I�want�to�stick�around
with� a� site� that� is� nothing
but�a�sham?�I�would�simply
want�my�money�back,”�said
Vijay�Bharti,� 37,� from�Hi-
machal� Pradesh� who� paid
Rs.10,698�on�August�6,�2014.
Vijay�Bharti�took�part�in
the� same�contest� and�paid
Rs.�9,999�extra�for�a�combo
gift� of � a� � Lenovo� Mobile
and�Power�Bank.�He�claimed
that� their� combined� price
wasn’t�more�than�Rs.�5,000
on� the�market.�“I� received
the� gifts� on� September� 8,
2014� after� making� about
200�phone�calls�to�the�site
that� cost� me� at� least� Rs.
500,”�he�said.
The� company�does�not
mention�the�rules�of �credit
points�on�its�website.�When
customers� tried� to�use� the
credit� points� that� they� re-
ceived,� they� then� got� to
know�that�they�couldn’t�use
more� than� 10� percent� of
the�credit�points�at�once.
“In� order� to� use� your
credit� points� entirely� you
need� to� spend� almost� Rs.
50,000.�They�set�a�trap�for
the�customers,�forcing�them
to� stick� to� them� even� if
they�don’t�want�to.�On�top
of � that,� the� prices� are� so
high� that� even� after� using
the� credit� points,� you� feel
cheated,”�said�Mohan�Babu
from�Bangalore.�
He�paid�Rs.�12,999�for�a
mobile�and�a�camcorder�on
March� 6.� He� claimed� that
he�never�received�the�mobile
and�the�camcorder�that�was
delivered�wasn’t�functioning
properly.
“I� wanted� my� money
back� and� hence,� I� started
to�make�calls�and�send�mails.
After� six� months� I� finally
got�my�money�back� in�the
form�of �a�check,”�he�said.
A�customer�care�execu-
tive� of � 100bestbuy� denied
all� the� allegations� and
claimed� that� the� site� was
good� and� offered� smooth
delivery.�He�said:�“The�cus-
tomers�are�obviously�telling
blatant�lies.�We�haven’t�ever
cheated�nor�will�we�ever�do
it.”
The stone that was delivered to the customer
Paanchanathan, instead of the tablet he ordered
(Continued from page 1)
Women�who�find�their�hus-
bands�involved�in�illicit�re-
lationships�may� also� file� a
498A.”
Some�case� studies�were
provided� by� the� helpline.
Srikala�(name�changed)�was
involved�in�an�extra-marital
relationship.�When�her�hus-
band�started�suspecting�her,
she�filed�a�case�under�Section
498A,�which�turned�out�to
be�fake.
Another� case� study� re-
vealed� that� cases� are� filed
under� 498A� due� to� failure
of �love�marriages.�Sumalatha
(name�changed)�filed�a�case
against�her�husband�under
the�pretext�of �being�harassed
for�dowry.
“Not� all� women� are
misusing�this� law.�Most�of
them�are�physically�abused
by� their� husbands� and� in-
laws� to� death.� However
some�of �them�are�dissipating
this� law,�thereby�leading�to
disintegration�of �their�fam-
ilies,”�said�Rani�Shetty,�Co-
ordinator�of �Parihar,�Vanitha
Sahaya�Vani.
“In�case�victims�are�beat-
en�to�death,�an�FIR�can�be
filed� with� the� permission
of � the� sufferer.�But� if � the
cases�are�found�to�be�fake,
then� senior�police�officials
intervene,”� said� Bharathi,
Assistant�Sub-Inspector.
Due� to� the� decrease� in
conviction�rates,�in�July�2014,
the�Supreme�Court�directed
the�state�government�to�in-
struct� the� police� -� “not� to
automatically�arrest�when�a
case�under�Section�498A�of
IPC�is�registered�but�to�sat-
isfy� themselves� about� the
necessity� for� arrest� under
the�parameters�provided�un-
der�Section�41.”�
Sharangee Dutta
Raya Ghosh
Paanchanathan,
a customer
The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20144
OBSERVER Team: Editor - Shalini Raja, Chief Sub Editor - Tushar Kaushik, News Editor - Samreen Tungekar, News Desk - Subash Aravindh,
Sub Editors - R. Suharika, Sameer Deshpande, Sharangee Dutta, Design Head - C.L. Ramakrishnan, Design Desk - Vignesh S.G, Picture Editors -
Saheli Sen Gupta, Ridhi Agrawal, Reporters - Shruti Suresh, Soumya Chatterjee, Proofreaders - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, Raya Ghosh
State stadium in need of funds to keep it in race
Tipu Sultan Palace a fire risk, lacks safety measures
Sri Kanteerva Outdoor
Stadium, visited by 500
people every day, dis-
plays patched running
tracks, dirty bathrooms
and has no changing
rooms for athletes.
Athletes and coaches
complained about the sta-
dium facilities. Many ath-
letes who were seen
practicing in the outdoor
stadium said that the toilets
were not maintained well.
The girls said that there
were no changing rooms.
Shilpa Sundar, an Inter-
national level long jumper
said: “I have been coming
to Kanteerva Stadium for
the past 10 years for my
practice. The development
here is stagnant. The new
running tracks have worn
out faster than the old ones.
Bathrooms here have only
become worse.” She added
that the facilities are obso-
lete and long jump pits are
improper.
Prajna Rao, a National
level short distance runner,
said, “The indoor changing
rooms are very bad. There
is a need to renovate the
stadium.”
Aiyappa, a coach at
Kanteerva Stadium said: “I
have been training children
here for more than 15 years.
There are no proper toilets
for them. The funds are not
being used properly.”
Beedu, a senior coach
said: “This stadium is open
to everyone. As against
other stadiums, Kanteerva
does not have any identity
cards issued for users.”
On highlighting the is-
sues to the Deputy Director
of the stadium,Ramesh
M.C said: “We provide a
good arena for sports peo-
ple. The stadium is given to
public and private institu-
tions for use. Wherever the
usage is more, the property
needs to be maintained,
which we are doing. Since it
is a government property,
people think they have the
right to do whatever they
want. Public should have
sense.”
According to the Direc-
tor, the maintenance of the
stadium is borne by the
State Management Com-
mittee selected by the De-
partment of Youth
Empowerment and Sports.
The revenue collected when
the stadium is given out for
activities is used for its
maintenance. The stadium
was in need of more funds.
He said that since infra-
structure needs branding,
they don’t know what can
be done with the existing
structure as renovation can-
not be done at one step.
Ramesh added, “Issues
raised by the general public
are being addressed. The
coaches have been inti-
mated to submit a list of
athletes training under them
so that identity cards can be
issued in order to enhance
the security.”
As per the latest plans
of the Department of
Youth Services and Sports,
Rs.43.30 crores will be
spent for Youth services
and sports in Karnataka
with plans to upgrade Sri
Kanteerva Sports Complex.
Girls’ bathroom in Kanteerva stadium, Bangalore
Fire extinguishers at
one of the state’s major
tourist attractions are not
maintained or inspected
regularly.
Tipu Sultan Summer
Palace is maintained by the
Archeological Survey of
India (ASI) but fire extin-
guishers have not been re-
charged and sand buckets
lie empty across the site,
which attracts 350 tourists a
month from around the
world.
The beams of the roof
are made from wood as are
the railings of stairs and
balconies.
Some fire extinguishers
at the palace displayed
safety stickers stating that
they had last been
recharged last March.
The stickers state that
they were last re-filled on
March 12, 2013. The buck-
ets, which are supposed to
contain sand for fire safety,
were empty. An attendant,
Venkatappa, said that all de-
cisions are taken by ASI cir-
cle office in Koramangala.
Sukanya, Assistant
Archeologist at ASI circle
office, said she was not
aware of the extinguishers
not being refilled regularly.
She said, “I will speak to
T.M. Keshava , Superinten-
dent Archaeologist about
this problem.”
Tipu Sultan palace is
under Chamrajpet Fire Sta-
tion. B.V. Kimappa, Head
Constable at Chamrajpet
Fire Station, said that they
can take action only when a
fire breaks out.
The entry fee for the
palace is Rs5 for locals and
Rs100 for foreigners. The
security said that approxi-
mately 350 tourists visit
every month. “There has
not been a fire recently, so
we don’t care about the re-
filling,” said Sanjay Braiya,
security head.
Tipu Sultan, known as
the Tiger of Mysore, was
ruler of Mysore State from
1782 to 1799. His reign was
highly controversial, and is
contested among historians.
Fire extinguisher
Ridhi Agarwal
Sameer Deshpande &
Soumya Chatterjee
Tipu Sultan Summer Palace, Bangalore