The Observer, Edition 10, Volume 22

The Observer An IIJNM publication

Food ban in Cubbon Park remains ineffective as guards fail to stop people from carrying food | P 3

Vol 22, Issue 10

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Women employees demand them to deal with cases of harassment

By Sneha T.S.

D

Some ULBs are struggling to adopt Jalanidhi portal

By Suryash Kumar

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overnment bodies strive to expand their range of online services, but some urban local bodies (ULBs) are struggling to provide online services to citizens.

According to government data, Mysuru has the highest pendency rate for new tap connections under the Jalanidhi scheme. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) received 730 applications. All of the applications are pending.

Muhammad Mustafa, AEE, Vani Vilas Water Works, Mysuru, informed The Observer: “We are not accepting applications online because MCC has a different hierarchy structure, and we have a specifc structure...We manually submit it on the Jalanidhi portal.

Jalanidhi software isn’t updated for a specific hierarchy.”Portals are not working as they should..

Continued on page 3

A safe environment for women outside their homes will encourage them to join the workforce | Credit: Sneha T.S. vivor to raise her voice,” he added.

“An ICC consists of four members that includes a presiding officer, a senior woman employee, two members among the employ-

ees (preferences is given to people who are legally educated, or to someone who are in social work or activism related to women) and one external member (an advo-

cate). A company not having an ICC can be fined Rs 50,000.”

Radhika Acharya (name changed), who works in an IT company in Bellandur, said: “I started working in the company in 2018. The company did not have an ICC till 2019. There are more than 50 women employees.

It’s only after a few of us approached the HR department that a committee was set up.”

Riya Agrawal, a content writer at EduCart Agra, said: “There are a total of 55-60 female employees in our firm. Though no harassment has happened here yet, I still, think the firm should have an ICC. The working hours of our office are from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm. We do overtime work too; sometimes it extends till 10 pm.

It would be better if we had an ICC at our workplace.”

ICC provides women with a secure work environment so that they can reach their full potential.

Continued on page 3

In private companies, paternity leave remains a grey area

India needs paternity laws for fathers

By Siddhi Chauhan

I

n India, government employees enjoy the benefit of paternity leave, but their counterparts in private companies struggle to get it. In 1961, Parliament passed the Maternity Benefit Act, which gives women benefits and perks during pregnancy.

Aiswarya Saji, an advocate, explained: “There is no general law regarding paternity leave in India. This is why corporate companies always have the freedom to incorporate such laws in their internal management. They can alter the memorandums of understanding which can later be signed by the members and then the law will come into force.”

Website: theweeklyobserver.in Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver

Footpath encroachment jeopardising pedestrians’ safety as they are forced to walk on Avenue Road | P 2

Despite a law, many cos do not have internal complaints panels espite a legal mandate, many workplaces do not have Internal Complaints Committees to deal with complaints of sexual harassment of women employees.

Under Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, an employer who has 10 or more than 10 workers is required to establish an ICC. Advocate Alagammai Thomas, who is a member in an ICC of a company, said it is mandatory for all companies to have ICCs. “If a woman faces harassment at her workplace, generally she hesitates to file a complaint in a police station. Either she is threatened by the perpetrator or she is worried about her future at the workplace. To solve this problem, a company is required to set up an ICC. This enables the sur-

@theweeklyobserver

Saurabh C., a credit officer at the Bank of Baroda, informed The Observer that as a government employee, he gets paternity leave for 15 days. “The rules applied to government banks are also applicable to private bank,so private banks provide paternity leave.

According to the Paternity Benefit Bill moved in 2017, fathers are entitled to take paid leave for a period: 15 days to 90 days.

Since such rules do not bind private companies, they are free to formulate their policies..

While employees of Amazon

and Meesho enjoy paternity leave, their counterparts in other private companies are not even aware of such benefits.

Kavita Sardana, HR manager in Haldari, a Bengaluru-based outlet of ISP Seeds, an agricultural company, said they offer paternity leave but no one applies for it as they are unaware.

Anukul Tomar, a reporting head in Haldari, said he was not given paternity leave. His salary was not deducted as it was adjusted in the casual leave by his company.

Anik Guho, HR manager at LabVantage Solutions, an IT company in Bengaluru, said his company has a policy of providing three days’ paternity leave.

According to a Times of India report, India is among the 90 countries that do not have national policies that can confer upon fathers paternity benefits which can improve parenting experience siddhi.c@iijnm.org

News briefs Govt pushes telecom cos to launch 5G soon The government has unveiled new policy reforms for satellite communications services to ease procedures and streamline clearance processes, and nudged the telecom industry to substantially speed up the deployment of 5G towers. PTI

Will take US-India ties a notch up, says Trump

Former US President Donald Trump has promised that he will take America’s relationship with India to the next level if he wins the presidential election in 2024.

He saidthis during a Diwali speech organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition in Florida.PTI

Rs 10-crore drugs seized in Assam, four arrested

The Assam police night seized drugs worth around Rs 10 crore, apprehended four drug peddlers and seized two vehicles in Karbi Anglong district on Wednesday night. ANI

Minors attacked at Delhi Rohingya camp

The Delhi police have lodged an FIR in a case where several minors of the Rohingya community were allegedly thrashed in the Madanpur Khadar area of Kalindi Kunj in the capital. ANI

US to attend meet on counter-terrorism

India is hostinga UN Counter Terrorism Committee Meeting in Delhi and Mumbai from October 27 to 29. A senior US diplomat will travel to India to attend the meeting and to address important issues between New Delhi and Washington. The theme of the meeting is “Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”.ANI

BCCI announces equal pay for men and women

The BCCI on Thursday announced equal match fee for its centrally-contracted female and male players in a bid to promote gender equality in the sport. As per the newly introduced system, Indian women cricketers will now receive the same pay as their male counterparts for Tests, T20 Internationals and one-day Internationals. Earlier, they received Rs 1 lakh each for ODIs and T20Is. PTI

URBAN MESS

The Observer Thursday, October 27, 2022

Commuters on Chickpet roads find travel dificult

A traffic policeman plays a game on his mobile phone while commuters fill potholes with rocks. | Credit: Vindhya Pabolu

Recent rain has compounded the situation

By Vindhya Pabolu

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oads in Chickpet are riddled with potholes, causing inconvenience to commuters. Poor repair work makes the issue recurring.

Shopowners say the roads have been in a bad shape for a long time here, and rain has aggravated the situation.

Pavan Kumar, owner of Sri Laxmi Electricals, shared: “Roads are the biggest problem here.

They have been damaged lately.

We complained but nothing has changed. Recent rains have damaged the road even more.”

Mrs Swamy, owner of Sri Srinivasa Art and Frames, said: “The situation will never change. We complained numerous times. The

road department arrives, covers it with some concrete mix and leaves....The situation repeats itself the next time it rains. We are tired of this now.”

The Observer found that vehicles parked on the road were hindering the flow of traffic, worsening the situation.

Jagadeesh, an autorickshaw driver, said: “Chickpet has busy roads. A lot of people come here for shopping. It’s sad that we do not have any auto stands here.

We park on the roads.”

On October 8, The Observer found roads uneven and damaged..

Two-wheeler riders were about to lose their balance while manoeuvring potholes. When The Observer revisited Chickpet on October 20, it found that roads were in a worse condition than before.

Wahid Syed, a street vendor, said: “Water had reaches knees during the rainy season. The roads are filled with water. Autos and vehicles are parked on the roadsides which results in blocking and slowing down traffic.”

Prakash B, a daily commuter said: “We know we are not supposed to walk on the roads...Footpaths are half broken; we can't walk on them. It’s dangerous to cross the main road, but there isn’t another way.”

Read full story on our website: www.theweeklyobserver.in

2 DIFFERENT DIWALI FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE

Children in Ejipura slum keep themselves warm by burning debris of firecrackers. Below: A boy in HSR Layout helps his younger brother to light firecrackers | Credit: Yukta Mudgal & Vindhya Pabolu

Avenue Road encroachments are a pain for walkers and shop owners Vendors: We pay cops, so should do business here

By Vindhya Pabolu

P

edestrians find it nearly impossible to walk on footpaths along Avenue Road because they have been taken over by vendors.

They are forced to walk on the road, exposing them to the constant danger of being hit by vehicles.

Shopkeepers say it is getting difficult for them to do their business.

M.K. Diwari, owner of MK Juice Café, said: “Yes, we are having a problem. Street vendors come and start (their business) around 11in the morning. They just block the footpaths. Customers don't come to my shop because vendors put their commodities on the footpaths, restricting people from walking (on them).”

Manvendra Singh of Singh Bookstore said: "These people do not have permission, but they eventually come and sell their items. They pay the police through agents. It is getting difficult to do our business.”

Dinesh Kumar, owner of SMMS Rolex Store and member of the Avenue Road Shops Association, informed The Observer: “We have complained so many times to the po-

Owning to encroachments by vendors, shopowners face difficulty in business. | Credit: Vindhya Pabolu lice, but nothing has changed. We don’t know what to do.”

The vendors have an entirely different take on this.

M.K. Khan, a vendor, shared: “We are not left with any other option. We pay Rs500 every day to (be able to) sell our items.”

Other street vendors who didn't want to be named said since they pay the police money, they don’t see why they should shift out.

The Observer noticed that the footpath was three quarters of a foot wide. People park their vehicles along the road further ob-

structing movement. A parking facility is available nearby, but most people don't use it.

Sai Kumar, a commuter, said: “The footpaths are full of small stalls. We don’t have space to walk, so I drive here. The parking spaces are so far that we are left with no other option than to be here.”

Paramesh, a head constable of the City Market traffic police station, said that every time they see street vendors encroaching footpaths, we chase them away.”

S V Rajesh, Superintending Engineer, Road Infrastructure, BBMP said: “According to the law, it is illegal to place their shops on the footpath. We have moved them multiple times. There are a lot of illegal things going on in that area...”

Doddaya, chief engineer, East Zone, BBMP, said: “There is no news about street vendors paying money to the police.”

“There is a continuous drive against these encroachments. We are trying our best to solve the problem,” he said.

According to an article by Citizen Matters, the Karnataka High Court held that the right to reasonably vend goods on suitable roads and footpaths is a right of citizens under Article 21 and that the majority of road accident victims in Bengaluru are pedestrians. vindhya.p@iijnm.org

Citizen’s Voice Chickpet flower market is filled with garbage

Footpaths are encroached by cars near Majestic

Usually, flowers have a sweet fragrance, but it is the opposite when you visit Bengaluru’s flower market at Chickpet. It is filled with waste which gives a pungent smell due to no airflow into the closed flower market. While I was in the market, the bad smell did not let me stay in the market for even five minutes.

I admire the shopkeepers of the flower market. I doubt why this flower market is in such a closed place. And being in a closed place why isn’t the area cleaned daily?

I doubt if they clean the market at least thrice a week.

Navya Shruti

In front of the Upparpet police station, there is a footpath which is all covered by scrapped cars.

Seven or eight cars were there.

While one goes through that footpath, it becomes hard to walk because of the vehicles.

BBMP officials in 2012 asked citizens that the cars should be removed from pathways or else the person or the owner would be fined, but the problem has not been solved. Few cars are on the footpath as well. This can lead to accidents.

The government should do something to solve this issue as soon as possible.

Ishan Rathi

Quiz

Weather

1.To conquer Punjab, Mahmud of Ghazni defeated?

2. The treaty of Mangalore was signed between?

3. The famous book 'Anna Karenina' written by?

4. Who composed the famous song 'Sare Jahan SeAchha'?

5. The International Court of Justice is located at?

Answers on page 3

Current Weather: 28° Max UV Index: 7 High Wind: ENE 14 km/h Wind Gusts: 25 km/h Humidity: 31% Indoor Humidity: 31% Dew Point: 9° C Pressure: ↓ 1017 mb Cloud Cover: 62% Visibility: 1.6 km Cloud Ceiling: 9100 m

CITY

The Observer Thursday, October 27, 2022

Visitors litter Cubbon Park with food despite a reinforced ban Rodents, snakes have made an appearance

By Yukta Mudgal

O

Workers face harassment even in mega cities Continued from page 1 nik Guho, a senior software developer at Lab-advantage Solutions, Kolkata, said: “We have an ICC at our office. The committee’s main responsibility is to provide an environment which is free from gender-based discrimination.”

When The Observer asked about the internal complaint committee of the committee members, he replied: “The presiding officer and every member of the ICC shall hold office for a period not exceeding three years from the date of nomination as a member.”

Sarika Joseph (name changed), who works as an accountant in a corporation in Delhi, said: “I never even gave a thought to it. I never realized that my workplace does not have an Internal Complaint Committee.”

According to NCRB data for 2021, Delhi tops in incidents of sexual harassment at the workplace among mega and metropolitan cities in the country, followed

by Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. sneha.ts@iijnm.org Read the complete story on www.theweeklyobserver.in

A

Even after reinforced ban onconsumption of food inside Cubbon park some visitors continue to do so and litter the compound of the park| Credit:Yukta Mudgal Cubbon Park. It was either Another visitor, Rishika Rio, a munched by the visitors them- second-year PU student, said: selves or fed to squirrels. Stu- “Parks are for playing and enjoydents, office-goers and families ing, not for eating. To eat, people are regular visitors to the park. should go to hotels. Even when I A few visitors welcomed the eat in the park, I make sure to measure, but most of the people clean it, but I have seen other The Observer spoke with agreed people throwing leftovers.” they bring home food to the park.

The Observer saw a bunch of Uyam A.R., a regular visitor, college-goers celebrating their who was enjoying some snacks, friend’s birthday. They were resaid, food should be allowed be- buked by one of the guards as cause visitors cannot leave the they were using party poppers park frequently. Those who eat and cutting a cake. inside the park must throw their Madan Gowda, who particiwaste in the dustbins. pated in the celebration, said:

ULBs are unable to update the data on Jalanidhi portal as they do not have app Continued from page 1 ani Vilas Water Works supplies water to houses, buildings, schools and other places in Mysuru.

The Mysore City Corporation website shows 730 applications pending because the data isn’t updated as the process is offline.

But Shobha Rani, nodal officer of the Karnataka Municipal Data Society (KMDS), said: “The MCC shows 730 applications pending because they are using a different application for the process.”

Further, Mustafa said: “We are sharing files with Jalanidhi so that they have the file number.

The timeline for disposing of the application is 15 days, and we are building a software that will have a live tracking feature. The software should be integrated with Jalanidhi in a year.”

When The Observer asked him about different Jalanidhi applications having the same mobile numbers, Mustafa replied: “I am not aware of the same mobile number used for different applications. I will get back to you.”

Again asked whether they have an online app, the AEE said: “We accept offline applications, and they are developing an app.”

V

Wonders of the world

The Treasury of Petra Carved directly into vibrant red, white, pink, and sandstone cliff faces, the prehistoric Jordanian city of Petra was "lost" to the Western world for hundreds of years. Located amid rugged desert canyons and mountains in what is now the southwestern corner of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,Petra was once a thriving trading centre and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106.The city sat empty and in near ruin for centuries. It got discovered late. In 1985, the Petra Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and in 2007 it was named one of the new seven wonders of the world.

Source: National Geographic

Tweetcasm Rishi Sunak is off to see the King; unclear if it’s to be appointed Prime Minister or if Charles would like to borrow some money. -@Number10cat

Did You Know?

In about 20 years, the future could look eerily similar to WallE. Artificial intelligence expert Kai-Fu Lee said that 40 percent of human jobs could be replaced by equally capable robots. And drivers might be affected the most

Quiz answers 1.Krakatoas 2.East India Company and Tipu Sultan 3.Hague 4.Mohammed Iqbal

n September 20, 2022, the horticulture department reinforced the ban on food items inside Cubbon Park.

The decision came due to infestation of snakes and rodents in the park. But it has made no difference to people who continue to bring food and eat it inside the park. They fight with guards who stop them from bringing food.

Shashidhar Pillai, a guard, said whenever they prevent visitors from carrying food inside the park, the visitors physically attack or verbally abuse them. “We are struggling so much. When women bring food items, we cannot even fight them.”

Most visitors in the park ask for racks to keep their food packets and bags so that they can collect them on their way back, but the park lacks a deposit facility.

Asked about the racks, H.T. Balakrishna, deputy director of the horticulture department, Cubbon Park, said: “Even though they (the visitors) bring food, they are allowed to carry it, but not eat. So why the need for racks?”

The Observer noted that corn was the most common garbage in

“We will try to clean it, but sweepers should be around us to clean the mess. It feels great to celebrate birthdays in the natural ambience of Cubbon Park.”

Dr S. Umesh Kumar, a senior advocate and president of the Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association, said: “We do not support people eating on the lawns as it is the taxpayer’s money which is being spent to maintain the grass. But instead of banning the food inside the park, why not create a separate space for food?”

As many people visit Vidhana Soudha, they bring lots of food items with them. There are various clubs inside Cubbon park which sell various food items but are allowed to function.

The Observer saw a group of three women and four children enjoying home-cooked food behind Sir Mark Cubbon’s statue.

One of the women, Taslin, said: “Food should be allowed as we bring kids here and they start feeling hungry after sometime.”

H.T. Balakrishna of the horticulture department said: “The ban was always there, but now we have taken stricter measures.

People were bringing food due to which a lot of rats were coming.

They make holes, which promote the insurgence of snakes. They even throw plastic on the ground instead of using the dustbins.” yukta.m@iijnm.org Read the complete story on: www.theweeklyobserver.in

3

The Observer

The Observer spoke with one of the applicants, Sanjay Kumar Sing, whose name was listed under pending applications on the Jalanidhi portal. “I never applied for a tap connection under the scheme. I live in an apartment so did not apply,” he said.

ULBs use the KMDS application. The District Urban Development Cell (DUDC) monitors whether local bodies are using the app correctly, said Swetha, DUDC Nodal officer, Mysuru.

“100% utilization of the portal isn’t there. Only those people who know about the portal will apply

through it for themselves.”

The Bommasandra Town Municipal Council, in urban Bengaluru, had received one tap connection request, which is pending as per data updated till July 2022, which was latest.

When The Observer contacted Priyadarshini K.R., who works with the IT department of the Bommasandra TMC, she said: “We want to reject the application, but can’t reject it. Due to a software bug, we can’t reject it. suryash.k@iijnm.org Read the complete story on www.theweeklyobserver.in

Produced by the Print students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media at Nityananda Nagar, Kumbalgodu, Kengeri hobli, Bengaluru 560074.

Editor: Vindhya Pabolu News Editor: Siddhi Chauhan Copy editors: Shruti Banerjee, Suryash Kumar, Yukta Mudgal, Other IIJNM publications l The Beat magazine l CityCast l The SoftCopy