The Weekly Observer

The Weekly

Observer Volume 14 | Issue 1 BRIEFS

Health fears over pollution causing factories Three ready mix concrete factories in Donnanekundi are working without license.

Page 2 Scavenging prevails despite court order 27 deaths were registered in Karnataka state in the last eight months due to manual scavenging.

Page 3 Admin report pending for last two years

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Abuse claims at beggars’ colony Elizabeth Mani Inmates of Beggars‘ Rehabilitation Centre in Summanahalli claim they are tortured by the guards.

Beena Das, a widow, is a native of Mothra, a small village in Uttar Pradesh, who came to Bangalore to collect her husband’s pension. She was apprehended by the police as they mistook her for a vagabond and was incarcerated in the beggar’s colony. She has three children back home whom she hasn’t seen for eight months.

She is one of ten beggars who claim they are regularly assaulted by guards. said: “They beat us every day with lathi and iron rod if we don’t listen to them. My whole body has marks of their beatings.

“I don’t want to die here because they don’t even give us a proper fu-

neral or inform our families. Please release me.”

Most inmates were incarcerated on the basis of their appearance without running a proper background check.

Even the elderly are not spared from doing hard labor. They complain of severe brutality by the guards even over trivial errors; there is negligence on hygiene as well., they claim.

Subramani, 64, another inmate of beggars colony, said, “We have to work either in kitchen or garden, I’m old and it’s difficult for me to work, hence I started begging. If we don’t get up early in the morning or use too much soap for washing clothes or taking shower we are punished”. He added that soap is provided only once every three days.

Rame Gowda, Superintendent of Beggars Colony, said, “Inmates have to work

Beenadas claims she was physically tortured by the guards and eventually fled the colony. for three shifts and earn Rs 10 a day.” He added, “An inmate is allowed to stay one to three years after which we find their families and send them back home.”

The inmates claim they are kept against their will and are forced to do manual labor at low wages. If they attempt to escape, do not cooperate or misbehave, they are severely abused, physically and verbally.

Chinnapappa, a former

inmate of beggar’s colony, said, “When I was in beggars colony the police on duty used to beat us if we didn’t do the assigned work.

At the beginning when they arrested me I did not cooperate and they broke my right hand and I ran away.”

She is now destitute and lives in a graveyard at Banashankari.

Rame Gowda said, “We are not torturing the inmates. They are happy here..”

Ganesha idol makers denied salaries Elizabeth Mani

The BBMP Admin report has been pending for the last two years.

Page 4 Ganesha idol makers claim they have not been paid

Migrant workers making Ganesha dolls claim they have not been paid. The proprietor, Mr. Srinivas, who has three more factories across Bangalore and employs 100 workers, is “yet to decide” when to pay their salaries, they said.

According to Nimai,

from Kolkata, said “We came in June but our salaries are still due. The boss is yet to decide when to pay us but I guess it’ll only be after the Ganesh Chaturti..” Suman Barman, 18, said, “I don’t know my salary, my boss knows.”

Mr Srinivas, owner of the Kumbalgodu factory, said he pays workers daily..

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Weekly Observer

Empty beds at rehab centers for children Kimaya Varude Only 35% of beds at Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers in two government hospitals are full, even after the recent BBMP camp to detect malnutrition in children.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) conducted eight screening camps to identify malnourished children between 2012 and 2014. According to news reports, 3,837 children were classified as malnourished.

Of these, 466 children are undergoing treatment at NRCs set up by government hospitals across Bangalore. But, only five out of 14 beds were full at Victoria and Bowring Hospital’s

Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre at Bowring Hospital NRCs. Seema, a nurse at Victoria Hospital’s pediatric ward, said: “Many parents have their own reasons for not getting their children admitted to NRC. We are ready to treat the children, but very few get admitted.”

The children are mostly

from slum areas of D. J Halli, S.K Garden and Pantarapalya. They were sent to NRCs established by Bowring Hospital, Victoria Hospital and Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health for treatment.

Many parents who get their children admitted in

these wards are daily wage earners. Shobha, a resident of Pantarapalya whose 6 year-old son Nitin is malnourished said: “I can get my child admitted when I have holidays. Also the hospital is located far away from my home.”

Mr. Y. Mariswamy, a state organizer at Samajika Parivarthana Janandolana says the government should conduct public awareness drives regarding Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers.

“People in general, especially parents do not know the importance of NRCs. The government must allot proper financial aid to empower NRCs. Anganwadi workers in the slums must refer the malnourished children to NRCs,” he said.

Health fears over pollution causing factories Nikhil Babu Three ready mix concrete (RMC) factories in Donnanekundi working without license are causing problems to residents.

Doddanekundi in Bangalore is a zoned industrial area but many plots have been converted for residential use. At least 200 families live there.

“Every 15 days my daughter falls sick and it’s a regular cycle,” said Bharat, of Athiya Elixir apartment.

“Because of the cement dust we don’t usually open our windows, if it is kept open for a day then we would have to clean the entire apartment all over again,” she added.

“We have not renewed the BBMP health trade license of Concrete India,

Whirl of dust as a result of construction work Bharat Cements and ACC because of complaints from people about pollution,” said Mrs. Kalpana, Deputy Health Officer of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, Mahadevapura.

But the Karnataka Pollution Control Board has renewed the No Objection

Certificate for the companies. “I also know that there are several problems in that area but we haven’t received any complaint, so what am I supposed to do?” said Mr. Shanmugappa, Environmental Officer of Mahadevapura pollution control office.

The cement dust is raised by trucks that ply in front of the apartments.

“Kids get allergic many times and we have closed ventilations to isolate our building from the road,” said Mrs. Sindhu, who runs Hello Kids, a preschool next to Bharat Cements.

Dr. Purushotham Reddy, pediatric of RXDX Hospital, Whitefield said,” In the long run air with cement content can cause Asthma and even Pneumoconiosis.”

Concrete India and Bharat Cements claimed that they have license. ACC declined to comment.

BBMP has cancelled the health trade license whereas KSPCB has renewed the pollution NOC and the factories continue to operate, leaving the people in dust.

Tobacco consumption increases TB cases: docs Apoorva Choubey Tuberculosis caused by the use of tobacco has increased by 8% in the past year.

Under the National Tuberculosis Program, 1400 cases of TB were registered last year between April and June in Bangalore, out of which approximately 500 were tobacco induced. In 2014 around 1500 cases were diagnosed out of which more than 650 cases were due to smoking.

Dr. Anil S, Joint Director of Lady Wellington TB centre, said, "Tuberculosis is a highly contagious airborne disease. It is usually found in people who have less immunity like smokers and HIV positive.”

Rajeev Gandhi Chest Hospital treats 50 patients of TB per day out of which 10 to 12 are tobacco induced.

Ajit Kumar, a patient , said, "I have been suffering from TB since three months. I was a chain smoker before and that led to my disease."

Dr. Akshata, Head of Pulmonary Medicine, in the hospital said, “TB cases due to smoking have increased from 10 to 20% this year.”

The British Medical Journal states that Professor Stanton Glantz, the director of the University ofCalifornia, said, “Tobacco increases the probability of Tuberculosis by seven percent. Death rate due to TB will increase by 26% in 2050.”

Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Weekly Observer

Police fail to curb child begging Punita Maheshwari The head of a prominent NGO in Bangalore blamed a “mental block” in the functioning of traffic police for delays in fighting child begging in the city.

Dr. George P.S, Executive Director of BOSCO Yuvodaya, Childline, said “In February 2014, we organized a workshop where 43 sub traffic police inspectors were given a threefold advice i.e. to discourage children from begging and contact Childline to report such cases and also keep a watch on the child till the rescue operation.”

However, the idea of the workshop reached only 20% of the desired number.

Explaining the failure of the purpose of the conference, George said, “Unfor-

tunately, the inflexibility installed in the system did not allow fetching the results.I can assure that combined effort could solve the problem in one month period.”

Childline received 142 child begging cases from April 2013 to March 2014.

Nagamani C.N, Bangalore Convener for Childline said, “Even after the workshop in February, we did not get an enthusiastic response from Bangalore traffic police.”

Traffic Police officer, Rajaji Nagar police station said, “There is a lack of clarity in the instructions to deal with the child beggars.

We recommend them to NGOs but to investigate every child beggary cases is practically impossible.”

Maruti, a child beggar in Yashwantpura, does not

Child beggars in Yeshwantpura consider traffic police as a “threat” to his “profession”. “My parents send me to work as beggar at the traffic signal; I earn about Rs. 200-250 daily.”

Maruti narrated an incident, “I was beaten up by a traffic police official at Yashwantpura Traffic signal. This is a regular exercise. To avoid it, we just change our positions when

Divya Kishore

Chunchaiah, 50, died while working in a manhole.

Courtesy - KSCSK came forward for the rehabilitation,” said a senior official, Social Welfare department, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, BBMP. Manual-scavenging is being practiced in railway department, where workers

School demands cash from RTE students Nikunj Ohri

we smell trouble.” shutosh Pratap Singh of Deshpande Foundation believes directly links to human trafficking. “Government should get involved and pilot child beggar rehabilitation in the beggar homes and then aim to make a policy for their inclusive development.” he said.

Scavenging prevails despite court order At least 27 manual scavengers have died in the past eight months despite an act banning the practice.

Among the deaths recorded, two were in Bangalore and one in Mysore.

Mr. R. Venkatesh, Karnataka State Commission for Safai Karamcharis, said, “Chunchaiah, 50, died while working in a manhole in Agrahara, Bangalore on 14th January this year.”

“State Municipal Corporation department gave his family a compensation of three lakh rupees and free housing and education for his children. The other died person is unidentified,” he added.

“We identified 90 manual-scavengers but only 60

3

are appointed through contractors.

“I am working here as a scavenger on railway tracks.

We are not provided with any machine for cleaning,” said a worker at Bangalore city railway station.

But according to the

railway officials, their department is not responsible for it.

“We don’t hire them; they are not our employees, so we can’t say anything,” said Mr. T.P. Anthony, Deputy Senior Manager of Bangalore city station.

The Manual Scavenging Act, 1993, prescribes stringent punishment for the offenders which include five years of imprisonment.

“There was also a recent case of manual-scavenging around August 7 in Anekal Taluk, Bangalore but when the officials of KSCSK reached there the pit was sealed by the offender,” said Mr. K.R. Mohan, State Secretary, KSCSK. He added, “The offender was not identified.”

Five parents have complained that Greenwood International School demanded a hefty amount for admissions of their children under the RTE Act. Mr. Rajesh Kumar, one of the 27 parents who have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against few schools, said, “I want my child to study in a good school so that he doesn’t have to do things that I do for a living.” However, the parents haven’t filed PIL against Greenwood School because they are scared as the school is owned by an influential person.

There is no admission fee for students applying under the RTE. But, according to Dharmendra Sen, the school demanded a sum of Rs. 225,000 as fees from him. The school fees otherwise, is Rs. 500,000 for a year.

He was told that children of VIP’s study here and they have to pay for the admission. Mr. Girish SV, another parent who was also asked to pay the amount said, “I was told by the Principal that the school is backed by an ex-minister.”

When the parents visited the school, they weren’t allowed to carry their bags and mobile phones inside the school premises.

Mrs.Suman Hegde, Public Prosecutor said, “It is their child’s fundamental right, and the parents should be bold enough to complain.”

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Weekly Observer

Migrants forced to stay in public park Agnivesh Harshan Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike owned Bismillah park in S.G Palya is illegally used by authorized contractors to house migrant workers.

About a 100 people reside in the park. They live inside tarpaulin tents without any basic amenities such as water, electricity and sanitation.

"The workers come from small villages in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and are hired by the BBMP authorized contractors at menial wages for construction in the park. They become park inhabitants for a little over 3 months and wander away in search of work and a new wave of settlers replace them." said

Sai Dhobi, head watchmen of the park for the past 8 years.

"The women earn around Rs. 120 and men Rs.240 per day and they are asked to encroach into the park by the contractors so as to save up on accommodation expenses. They live in separate settlements within the park depending on their language and place of origin", he added.

G. Manjunath, BBMP counselor in charge of the park said, "I know it’s not legal but they are migrant workers and will be sent away as soon as the construction work is complete."

B.S Manjunath Police inspector of MICO layout station said, "This is the first time I am hearing of

Pulaha Roy

Encroachment of Bismillah Park in S.G Palya such a thing, The BBMP has not informed the local police station of such a scenario, as soon as a formal complaint is registered they will be removed from the vicinity."

"There are women and children among us, we cut park trees for fire wood and

bring the water from the municipal taps and since there are no toilets we defecate in the open or use the public toilets. No one knows the exact number of people living inside the park as each settlement is hired by a different sub contractor." a settler said.

Drink drive deaths on the rise Aadhira Anandh Fifteen deaths due to drunken driving have been recorded in the last six months according to the report provided by Traffic Management Centre.

This is an increase considering the 13 deaths reported annually for the year 2013. “Drunken driving has become a greater concern nowadays due to the party life the city is seeing” said Mr. Victor Simon, Inspector of Traffic Police Rajajinagar.

According to the officials, the majority of people who commit this crime fall under the age group of 18-

ACP Kanak Kumar, Traffic Departmant 30.

When asked about the increase in death cases, B.C Kanaka Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Police, Bangalore said, “We

Annual admin report missing for past two years

are not able to have complete control on drunken drivers due to the shortage of policemen in the city as there are 800 vacancies.”

Gk Mohandas, 36, an

auto driver, said that “An incident happened with me when a two wheeler came and rammed into my auto as the person driving it was completely drunk.” He said, ”Despite police patrolling, people know where the accidents are happening on a larger scale and they avoid that route and take other.”

Professor Sreehari, ¬Traffic Engineering Expert and Advisor to the Government of Karnataka said “Drunken Driving has become a serious offence.The effective way to bring the situation under control is to perform random checks at random places.”

Bruhat Bangaluru Mahanagar Palike’s Administrative Report has not been published for the last two years.

“The report is pending because we don’t have the necessary details from the East and the South Zones.”

Said Mr. Prashant, Assistant Statistical Officer of BBMP. The administrative report was last compiled in the year 2010-11.

“We have tabled the report before the committee and are awaiting their approval. The 2012-13 report should be ready in a month’s time.

“The Administrative Report doesn’t fall under the Public Disclosure Scheme. Hence it is not mandatory for us to follow a strict deadline and any stipulation as such.” added Mr. Shankarappa.

Mr. Srinivasan, an exAssistant Statistical Officer of BBMP, said: “Administrative Report reflects the BBMP as a whole. It gives an overall picture of the BBMP. It can be discussed in the public domain and uploaded for the public use as well. So yes, it definitely falls under the PDS.” Mr. Srinivisan added, “According to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act the Commissioner is to be held liable for it.”

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Aadhira Anandh, Chief Sub Editor - Punita Maheshwari, News Editor - Pulaha Roy, News Desk - Elizabeth Mani, Sub Editors - Aparna Singh, Apoorva Choubey & Darshan Rane, Design Head - Kimaya Varude, Design Desk - Divya Kishore & Nikunj Ohri, Picture Editor - Devdatta Sukhdev, Pictures Desk - Natasha Singh, Reporter - Nikhil Babu, Proof Readers - Agnivesh Harshan & Asmita Kunda