Vol. 12 Issue 1 Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore 06 September, 2012

INSIDE

Bangalore University is not

disabled friendly yet due to

lack of funds

> Pg. 2

Dozens of guest houses oper-

ate at Madivala, without any

licences.

> Pg. 2

Late delivery of gas cylinders

and subsequent malpractices

lead to problems in the city.

> Pg. 3

CLEAN OR FAIL!Exclusive by Udita Chaturvedi

STUDENTS are graded for

cleaning toilets, scrubbing

floors and washing up in the

government schools of Kum-

balgudu.

Children as young as six are

using toxic substances to clean

toilets. These students are even

marked on how well they clean

up.

Ms. Padma, Devegere gov-

ernment school principal, said:

“Students are marked in class

for cleaning.

“Since the school opened in

1995, we have never hired any

staff for cleaning.

“The government schools

don’t have enough money and

the government doesn’t give

them any money for hiring clean-

ing staff.”

Bhagya Lakshmi, teacher at

Gollahalli government school,

said: “The classrooms, school

toilets and utensils for mid-day

meals are cleaned by the stu-

dents themselves. There is no

staff hired for this purpose.”

The total strength of Deveg-

ere government school is 39 stu-

dents and two teachers. There

are100 students and five teach-

ers in Gollahalli Government

School.

Gollahalli Panchayat Devel-

opment Officer, Mr. Loknath,

said: “The panchayat is only re-

sponsible for providing the

school with infrastructure, water

and electricity while the rest is

handled by the authorities com-

prising of the school teachers.”

Mohd. Zabi Ullah, a student

of Golahalli government school,

class V, said he sometimes does

not enjoy the cleaning routine of

the school.

Students are more or less fa-

miliar with cleaning toilets and

scrubbing floors. They take their

duties seriously.

When asked if they enjoyed

doing this work, they said, “Yes,

this is my school, my home.”

Students take turns to clean

the toilets on a daily basis.

Vanajha, one of the teachers

at the Devegere government

school for five years, said: “It’s a

small school so there is no

money, no staff and the govern-

ment provides us with no money

to hire.”

Afraj (9), a student of Deveg-

ere School said: “The school is

cleaned every morning at eight

and I clean the toilets and the

classrooms on Saturdays.”

In Gollahalli government

school, the junior class students

are mostly assigned to clean the

classrooms.

The senior classes VI and VII

are assigned to clean the toilets

every day.

Even Mrs. Nagaratnam, an-

other teacher in Golahalli

School, found nothing unusual in

students being complete in

charge of the cleanliness.

She said: "The cleaning du-

ties are shuffled between stu-

dents regularly.”

The teachers do not partici-

pate in the process.

Photo: Udita ChaturvediStudents are made to clean toilets instead of engaging domestic help in Devegere School.

“The

school is

cleaned

every

morning at eight

and I clean the

toilets and the

classrooms on

Saturdays,”says

Afraj, a student.

SUSPECTED criminals in New

High Ground police station

are being chained to tables for

up to four days at a time.

A criminal charged with rob-

bery was tied to a table with

chains and handcuffs for four

days in the police station.

Speaking about the criminal,

Mr. Raghavendra, sub-inspector,

said: “He has criminal records

for past 8 years and without

chains it will be difficult to keep

him here.”

Situated in Miller Road-

Cunningham junction, the condi-

tion of the police station is pa-

thetic. The department had to

struggle to get a permanent ad-

dress for more than 5 years. On

July 20, 2011 it shifted to an 80

year old quarter.

There are 105 officers in the

police station and only one com-

mon toilet for both male and fe-

male staff.

Even the criminals use the

same toilet. One of the officers

said: “A leaking roof creates lots

of problems and we have to shift

the furniture and files when it

rains.”

But the major problem which

looms large is the condition in

which the prisoners are kept. For

days they are kept tied to chairs

and tables and for every small

need they call for the station

guard.

According to Article 958, of

the Karnataka police guidelines

manual, each police station

should have properly con-

structed lock-ups; one for female

and another for male prisoners.

But, the New High Ground police

station has neither.

Human rights legislation

state that no prisoner should be

subjected to torture or any form

of inhuman or degrading punish-

ment. This police station violates

all such rules.

“We provide criminals with

everything they need”, said Mr.

Raghavendra. He admitted that

while keeping a watch on the

criminals is an important respon-

sibility and not an easy job, tak-

ing care of them is equally

necessary and difficult.

By Debanti Roy

Criminals treated as chained animals

E-ticket machines accept only

old Rs.5 coin which are not

easily available now.

> Pg. 3

Weather Forecast

A new law to install rainwater

harvesting in government

buildings has been ignored by

the BBMP.

> Pg. 4

Government schools closed

down due to lack of infrastruc-

ture and proper teaching staff.

> Pg. 4

2 The Weekly Observer 06 September 2012 City

Bus crash deaths of pedestrians in

city have almost doubled in 2012

THE number of pedestrians

killed in bus accidents has al-

most doubled from 26 in 2011

to 43 in 2012.

According to recent data

there is a decline in the number

of accidents by BMTC buses.

While the total number has gone

down, the number of fatal acci-

dents has gone up. The total

number of accidents reported

between January and June,

2011 was 184, whereas, in 2012

till June it was 161.

The traffic department states

that in 2011 the total number of

fatal accidents was 25 and num-

ber of pedestrians killed was 26.

In 2012 the numbers went up to

42 fatal accidents and 43 pedes-

trians killed.

Mr. M.N. Sreehari, advisor to

the government and a traffic ex-

pert, said: “Stress is one of the

main causes of the accidents as

well as the careless attitude of

the drivers towards the traffic

rules.” He added: “BMTC might

be under a lot of pressure as the

drivers have a very strong

union.”

According to Mr. Nagaraj, the

Chief Traffic Officer, the drivers

are trained and a test drive is

conducted before they are ap-

pointed.

Mr. Sreehari, said: “The train-

ing is like people in a marriage

hall; everyone comes, eats and

goes.”

He added: “The whole wor

king system needs to work for

the people and real satisfaction

would come when the accident

cases really start to go down.”

The highest number of acci-

dents has been reported at the

Ring Road followed by Hosur

Main Road.

By Nupur Gour

Two buses collide

Bangalore University not disabled friendly

BANGALORE University is not

yet disabled friendly because

there are not enough handi-

capped students to justify the

cost.

According to the university

prospectus the University has

reserved seats for disabled stu-

dents. There are usually one or

two seats reserved for the dis-

abled students in each depart-

ment. There are a total of 53

reserved seats for students

under the physically handi-

capped category.

N. Dinesh, a student at the

University complained there are

no ramps and no facilities for the

disabled students in the univer-

sity.

Director of Students Welfare,

Dr. Rajendra Kumar, said: “We

have provided some students

with mobility facilities like 3-

wheeled scooters. These scoot-

ers have been funded by the

University and cost about Rs.

45,000.” He added: “The stu-

dents do not have to return the

scooters at the end of their grad-

uation programme but can take

it with them wherever they go.”

“Only two students have

been given these scooters and I

was one of the two.” He added:

“I had applied for a three-wheel

scooter in my first year but I only

got it last month,” said Dinesh.

Hepassed out from the Univer-

sity this year.

Director of Students Welfare,

Dr. Rajendra Kumar, said: “If

there is only one student in a

building, it involves a lot of cost

to build facilities in terms of infra-

structure for them.”

The University lacks ramps,

railings on stairs or fails to pro-

vide the disabled students with

any other facilities, in terms of in-

frastructure or otherwise.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar, said:

“According to the act (UGC) we

do not have provisions for the

disabled but the administration is

considering providing such stu-

dents with proper facilities.” He

added: “We have sent in propos-

als to our supreme body, Syndi-

cate, and now we’re waiting for

their consideration.”

Dr. Rajendra Kumar said: “I

cannot say it’s not a disabled

friendly university but yes, we do

not have the facilities on a prior-

ity basis. I have only recently

been appointed as the DSW and

now we will definitely improve

the facilities for the disabled as

early as possible.”

According to the DSW an ini-

tiative has been made to create

a special cell for the disabled

students that will address their

grievances. A similar cell for

OBC, SC and STs already exists

in the University.

The University has made

many such promises for uplifting

the facilities for the disabled stu-

dents. These promises that are

being made since the beginning

of the year are yet to be acted

upon.

Bangalore UniversityPhoto:Cherishma Shah

Chain snatchers on prowl in the city

A recent report from the Ban-

galore Police shows a drastic

increase in the number of

chain snatching cases in the

city.

Bangalore, the hub for India’s

Information Technology, has wit-

nessed an alarming rise in the

number of chain snatching

cases, leaving people in a state

of fear.

In a recent press conference,

the National Crime Records Bu-

reau (NCRB) labelled Bangalore

the crime capital of south India.

A total of 245 cases of chain

snatching have already been re-

ported to Bangalore City Police.

There were 342 cases regis-

tered in 2011between January

and December.

The Assistant Commissioner

of Police (Crime) said: “Around

10-11 cases of chain snatching

take place in Bangalore but only

five or six of them get registered

everyday.”

The ACP speaking about the

increase in number of chain

snatching cases said: “The peo-

ple should be aware in quiet

places and also in markets and

busy streets.”

The Bangalore city police are

yet to nab the chain snatchers.

By Krishnaprasad S

By Udita Chaturvedi

Photo: Charles Martin

Guest houses are ‘Ghost

Houses’ in Madivala

DOZENS of guest houses

within a stone’s throw of a

council office are operating

without licenses.

According to the Karnataka

Municipality Act of 1976, any

Paying Guest (PG) accommoda-

tion in the city has to obtain a

Health Trade License worth Rs.

3,000 to operate.

The private guest houses do

not have a license and as far as

the regulator is concerned they

do not exist.

Poliyappa, Senior Health Of-

ficer, Ward no 151, Madivala,

says: “There are no records of

issuance of licenses to any PG

in my office register. We know

that there are unlicensed PGs in

the locality, but nothing is done

to close them down.”

There is also no way to de-

termine how many PGs are run

in the locality as most of them do

not have records.

Subbarao, owner of New

Luxury Divya PG for Ladies lo-

cated at Maruthi Nagar, Madi-

vala, said: “I did not apply for a

license because no one en-

quires about it”. The same thing

was said by all the nearby PG

owners.

By Kakoli Mukherjee

The Observer SaysClean or fail!

The scandal of children

being told to clean toilets in their

schools for grades is an outrage.

The students in Kumbalgodu

Government School clean their

classrooms, utensils and toilets

on a rotation basis. Cleanliness

may be next to Godliness but

this seems to be a step too far.

Children are supposed to go

to school to study and not be

subjected to menial labor. Al-

though at some levels of society,

this practice is encouraged, what

sort of message are we sending

out to children?

We think education among

the lower classes of society is a

necessity. In addition to provid-

ing them less-than-quality edu-

cation,assigning them to clean

toilets, is a sign of exploitation

and child labor.

What adds to the outrage is

that children are being brain-

washed into believing that this is

normal and healthy.

Maybe the time has finally

come for the State Government

to sanction a little more than the

paltry amount it usually doles out

so children can have a normal

academic career.

Criminals treated as chained

animals.

The story about how crimi-

nals or person of interest are

kept chained at the New High

Ground Police Station soon after

their arrest is despicable. Al-

though society does want to get

rid of criminals, chaining a per-

son to furniture seems to be an

extreme measure.

It is not only a gross violation

of human rights, but keeping a

tab on them is easier said than

done. Our motto should be to re-

habilitate prisoners for society

after their incarceration, not an-

tagonize them further.

Guest houses or ‘ghost

houses’.

Paying guests’ accommoda-

tion operating without a license

seems to be a trend in the city

these days.

Owners of these accommo-

dations may get away with and

obtain the license but there is a

downside to that too. If an in-

spection of licenses was to

occur, the owners will be at a

loss and boarders may end up

on the streets too.

It is a lot better to receive

your license if you wish to keep

your business going.

If you are a boarder, licensed

paying guests accommodation is

a more viable option.

Photo: Kakoli Mukherjee

A poster of a ‘ghost house’in Maruthi Nagar

New coins in E- ticket machines leave rail commuters stuck

MANUAL ticketing system

has been restored as the e-

ticket machines take in only

old-five rupee coins, which

are not being circulated any-

more.

Passengers have started de-

pending more on the manual

ticket counters as majority of

them have only new-five rupee

coins.

This has led to a drastic drop

in the printing of tickets by the

machines to one or maximum

two tickets weekly.

Hariharan Narayanan, a fel-

low passenger who had come to

drop his wife at the railway sta-

tion said: "The city railway sta-

tion has e-kiosk to dispense

platform tickets.

“It accepts only old-five rupee

coins. What is the use of such a

machine?People hardly have

such specific change, especially

if the conditions are limited to

old-five rupee coins.

“This has led to manual sell-

ing of platform tickets leading to

human congestion, which was

there earlier anyway.”

The machines were up-

graded last after the budget ses-

sion 2012. This means that the

upgradation took place after the

new-five rupee coins were

minted.

C.Narendra, Publicity In-

spector of Railways, Bangalore

said: "The machines were in-

stalled only recently.

“The machine is customized

in such a way that it accepts only

the size of old five rupee coins.

The new five rupee coins are

smaller and thinner and this is

not acceptable by the e-kiosk

machines."

On asking about the delay of

its upgrade, he said that they are

aware of the fact that it has been

put off for a while and are trying

their best to update the ma-

chine's mechanisms. The ma-

chines were introduced much

before June 2007, when the cost

of the platform tickets was Rs.3

per ticket.Post-budget session

2012, the machines were up-

dated as the cost of the tickets

was increased to Rs.5 per

ticket.The change led to the pro-

gramming of the machines to

take in old-five rupee coins.

Photo: Hansa

THE Animal Birth Control Act

has significantly slashed the

number of rabies cases in the

city.

Most of these stray dogs

were not vaccinated against ra-

bies. As a result, it was becom-

ing an epidemic in the city in the

last two-three years. This usually

resulted in the dog being put

down or “culled”.

The reinforced imposition of

ABC had cut the number of stray

dog bites cases to 2 cases a

week in July-August 2012. In the

2009-10 census, the total num-

ber of stray dogs’ bites was

12,897.

This Act has been in prac-

tice since the year 2001 named

as “Animal Birth Control (Dog)

Rules 2001”.

A report titled Presentation

(BBMP, 2010-2011): Presenta-

tion of BBMP’s ABC Program by

Dr Parviz Ahmed Piran and was

authored by the Bangalore

Bruhat Mahanagar Palike.

It gave details on the number

of stray dogs and the total num-

ber of stray dogs bites registered

in the city in till 2011.

Dr. Chennappa, Veterinary

and who has been a part of Dr.

Ambedkar Development Co-op-

eration, said, “Although euthana-

sia has been banned, there are

some extreme cases where the

dog is terminally ill such as can-

cer and other incurable dis-

eases”.

Congress MLA, Mr. Krishna

Byre Gowda, when contacted,

asked for a questionnaire, but

otherwise remained unavailable

for comment.

ABC Act slashes rabies cases in cityBy Aheli Raichaudhuri

Bribe demands cause delay in supply of gas cylinders

LPG gas suppliers are ripping

off customers in the city by

demanding bribes.

Delay in delivery coupled

with malpractice in the supply of

LPG gas cylinders in Bangalore,

is affecting the middle income

groups.

Long delay and malpractices

in LPG gas supply are causing

inconvenience to the residents

of Bangalore city.

Distribution agencies on the

outskirts of Bangalore are mak-

ing extra money by converting

domestic cylinders into commer-

cial ones. While a commercial

cylinder costs Rs.1800, a do-

mestic cylinder costs Rs. 415

only.

This malpractice, which oc-

curs four days a week with bulk

cylinders, is causing delay in the

delivery of LPG cylinders.

Officials in Karnataka Food

and Civil Supplies Corporation

Limited (KFCSCL) admitted that

distribution agencies like Hin-

dustan Petroleum and Bharat

Gas have been practicing the il-

legal conversions for long.

“The agencies situated at the

outskirts of Bangalore have ille-

gal connections and that too

inter-state ones,” said Chan-

drasekhar, Consumer Adviser,

KFCSCL.

"People are not transferring

their ration cards when they are

changing the state and they are

the ones perpetrating these mal-

practices" said M.C Gangadhara

deputy director (KFCSCL).

Areas including Neelsandra,

Vannerpaet and Ring Road are

severely affected.

By Reshma Tarwani

Photo: Hansa V

Ashoka trees at point of extinction asthere is lack of funds for its conservation

LACK of proper funding is sig-

nificantly affecting the sur-

vival of India’s oldest

medicinal plant, the Ashoka

tree.

Irregularities in the distribu-

tion of funds for the conservation

of Ashoka trees are threatening

the survival of the species.

According to a spokesperson

in the Karnataka Forest Depart-

ment (KFD), Vanmahotsav

scheme had approved an

amount of Rs. 25 lakhs for the

conservation project of Ashoka

trees (Saraca Indica) in 2008.

However, they have received a

sum of Rs.10 lakhs only till date.

Mr. Ravindra, an associate of

Indus Herbs, told that the medi-

cinally important by-products re-

ceived from the Saraca Indica

tree are facing extinction in the

market.

The Ashoka tree was listed

as endangered species by Inter-

national Union of Conservation

of Nature (IUCN).

Two thousand metric tons of

the Ashoka tree products were

being used for commercial pur-

poses in 2008, the trade figures

suggested.

Dr. Prabhu, working at the

KFD said: “The ecological imbal-

ance has created irregular polli-

nation which has affected the

growth of Asoka trees.”

“They have also been cut

massively for timber and medic-

inal purpose,” he added.

The Patoli region near Dan-

deli in Karnataka had large acres

of Ashoka trees.

Patoli region faced biotic

pressure due to agricultural and

village development affecting the

growth of this species.

The vital medicines obtained

from the Saraca trees are used

to cure ovarian bleeding, uterine

infection and hemorrhoid dysen-

tery.

Bramhi and Amla trees were

sold in large numbers at the Lal-

bagh Horticulture event. These

act as a stress relieving agent.

Other endemic trees of Kar-

nataka facing similar threat are

Punar Puli, Hippai and Kedigai

trees.

By Sneha Banerjee

Photo Corner

Even though India has been declared a polio-free nation,

those already affected find their livelihood in what little they

can do - creativity.

By Kakoli Mukherjee

By Hansa V

E-ticket machine, city junction

E-ticket machine, city junction

A stitch in time. A Bangalore tailor waiting for customers.

City The Weekly Observer 06 September 2012 3

Photo:Satyajith G D

4 The Weekly Observer 06 September 2012 City

IIJNM PUBLICATIONSOpp. BGS International Residen-

tial School

Nityanandanagar, Kumbalgudu

Kengeri Hobli

Bangalore - 560060

India

Ph.No: +918028437907

Email:udita.c@iijnm.org

Website:www.thesoftcopy.org

For private circulation only

The Weekly Observer

Editor

Udita Chaturvedi

Chief Sub-Editor

Sneha Banerjee

Photo Editor

Krishnaprasad S

Page Designer

Hansa V

Sub-Editors

Debanti Roy

Nupur Gour

Kakoli Mukherjee

Reshma Tarwani

Aheli Raychaudhuri

Rainwater Harvesting remains

a myth in most parts of the city

POOR monitoring of drugs

due to dispute between drug

officials is risking lives in the

city.

The drugs are monitored in-

efficiently due to the conflict be-

tween the drug inspectors and

the pharmacies.

Karnataka State Pharmacy

Council registrar, Bhagavan P.S,

said: “There are two types of

people who monitor the pharma-

cies. Firstly, the drug inspectors

who keep a constant vigil on the

pharmacies and solve all their

problems. And secondly the

pharmacy inspectors who peri-

odically inspect the pharmacies

and act more like advisors.”

He added: “In case of any

problems, they counsel the phar-

macies against the violations of

any laws.”

On the functioning of the

pharmacies, he said: “The phar-

macies operate under two acts.

The drugs and cosmetics act,

which regulates the import, man-

ufacture, distribution and the

sale of drugs and the pharmacy

act which regulates the people

who are dispensing the drugs.

He added: “Two people are

appointed from two different

agencies to do the same work, it

becomes a little difficult for them

to discharge their duties as

many times their opinion

clashes.”

On being asked about the el-

igibility criteria for being a regis-

tered pharmacist, he said: “A

person is eligible to register with

the council if he holds a diploma

or bachelors or a doctoral de-

gree in pharmacy from a recog-

nized university.”

“A pharmacy needs to have

three licenses, one issued by the

drug controller, one by the mu-

nicipal corporation and one by

the council. The certificate is-

sued by the council is to be re-

newed on a yearly basis. A

pharmacy is expected to have all

three licenses at any given point

of time and is expected to pro-

duce it on demand. No cases of

problems have been reported so

far in the city,” he said.

On the action being taken

against violating pharmacies he

said: “I hold the authority to with-

draw or suspend their council

certificates and those pharma-

cies can be tried in a court of

law.”

By Pushkar Banakar

A new law to install rainwater

harvesting in government

buildings has been ignored by

BBMP.

The Bangalore Water Supply

and Sewage Board (BWSSB)

had threatened to disconnect the

water supply if they failed install

the apparatus before March 31,

2012.

According to the BWSSB

statistics, there are 2,523 gov-

ernment buildings of which 74

have installed the apparatus to

save water.

A workshop was conducted

in May this year by the BWSSB

Chairman, Mr. Gaurav Gupta, for

BBMP officers on the technicali-

ties involved in rainwater har-

vesting and ground water

recharge.

Engineering consultant chief

S.R Das said: “Rain water har-

vesting will help us to solve the

problem of drought to a certain

extant.”

In an attempt to enrich the

groundwater level in the city,

rainwater harvesting was made

mandatory after an amendment

to the BWSSB Act in August

2009.

“Our objective is to install the

rainwater harvesting,” said Mr.

Gupta, when asked why the

board has not taken measures

to disconnect the water connec-

tions.

Later, an amendment to the

Act gave the government the

power to fix the deadline. A pro-

posal has been sent to the gov-

ernment to remind them of the

implementation.

By Satyajith GD

Rainwater collection tank in Nelamangala.

A large number of government

schools have had to be closed

down due to lack of infrastruc-

ture and proper teaching staff.

Recent reports suggest as

many as 1000 schools a year

have closed in Bangalore alone

over the past decade.

Statistics revealed by the

Karnataka State Human Rights

Commission and the Govern-

ment Education shows that a

number schools were shut down

between the year 2008-2011

which included primary, second-

ary and higher secondary

schools.

"We are taking all necessary

measures to improve the infra-

structure of the schools and re-

cruit more teaching staff.

Suitable measures have been

taken to improve the quality of

education imparted," said Mr.

Pradeep S. Rajanal, Administra-

tive Joint Secretary to Govern-

ment (primary and secondary

education department).

"There has been improve-

ment in the conditions of the

schools and few years down the

line we aim to solve this issue to

a large extend," he added.

NGO's like The Samajik Pari-

varthan Janandolan, Lovedale

Foundation and a few more like

The Dream School Foundation

are also playing an important

role to solve this issue.

They aim to provide quality

education to all students irre-

spective of caste and creed so

that students coming from poor

families don’t become victims of

child labour.

The Karnataka State Human

Rights Commission has now

taken charge of the large scale

closure of government schools

owing to lack of infrastructure

and proper teaching staff.

They estimate that about 850

schools were closed last year

and 500 schools between the

years 2008-2011. According to

their report, a total of 10,000

schools have closed in the last

decade.

Shri Ramappa Hanaman-

tappa, an active member of The

Karnataka State Human Rights

Commission, added: "The condi-

tion is likely to improve in the

coming years."

‘Clash’ between health chiefs risking lives in the city

By Shromona Bose

Photo: SR Das

By Sidharth Shekhar

10,000 schools lost in a

decade: State Human Rights

Commission estimates

Just A Thought...

Photo: Udita Chaturvedi

Almost thousand schools have been closed in the last decade