The Observer Volume 20 Issue 24

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The Observer An IIJNM publication

Remembering Nehru’s long abandoned vision of India on his 57th death anniversary | P 3

Vol 20, Issue 24

Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in

Poor struggle to feed kids as midday meals halt due to closure of primary schools in Bihar | P 4

Want their jobs back, lockdown comes in the way

Why they migrated l Got Covid, left Hyderabad fearing expensive treatment l Want their people around them in time of crisis

Money factor

By Mahitha Owk

L

Labourers who moved to their villages before the Karnataka and Telangana governments imposed a lockdown are stuck there | Courtesy:KPN just left with a phone call saying they are going to their village for treatment. It has been almost a month now and the building looks like a bhoot bangla.

We are unable to find a replacement for them.”

Epaper:https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs

Thursday, May 27, 2021

As unskilled workers return to villages, demand in cities rises avanya Pilli, with her family, moved to her native village near Ballari after staying in Hyderabad for five years.

“My husband has tested positive for Corona virus. I can not afford medical expenses in the city, so we have moved to our village,” she said.

Lavanya and her family, who moved to the village before the Karnataka and Telangana governments imposed a lockdown, are now stuck there.

As people like Lavanya have migrated to their hometowns, the demand for unskilled labourers has grown in cities.

Besides doing other jobs, Lavanya and her family work as security guards and caretakers of the apartment block they live in. Bharathi M, the secretary of the apartment, said: “They

@theweeklyobserver

Bharathi has been trying to find a new watchman, but the candidates she interviewed demanded Rs 15,000 a month, three times the amount they paid Lavanya and her family.

India is a country where un-

News Briefs States to receive 11L vaccine doses soon More than 1.84 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs. They will receive over 11 lakh doses within the next three days. The Centre has so far provided more than 22 crore vaccine doses.

Delhi HC waives duty on black fungus drugs

l Candidates are demanding more salaries than those of workers who left l People are willing to pay more, but not what the workers are demanding

The Delhi High Court has allowed duty-free import of amphotericin B, a drug used to treat black fungus patients. The court said the medicine is required to save the lives of thousands of people.

They just left with a phone call saying they are going to their village for treatment. It has been almost a month now and the building looks like a bhoot bangla. We are unable to find a replacement for them.

Bharathi M, secretary of an apartment block, about her security guards

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said the company continues to engage closely with Jio on the initiative of building an affordable smartphone. Google had picked up a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore.

skilled people are readily available to work for low wages.

As these workers want to go back to their hometowns, the demand for labourers in cities has been increasing.

Continued on page 6

The Delhi High Court has agreed to hear petition to restrain media from sensationalizing the case of wrestler Sushil Kumar, arrested in connection with the death of a 23-year old man. The court agreed to hear it on May 28.

Google and Jio to build affordable smartphones

HC to hear plea to stop media trial of Sushil

Despite Centre’s order, there are Yaas leaves four dead, no creches in pvt firms’ offices 50,000 homeless Many companies still don’t know how to enforce it

By Upasana Banerjee Kolkata: Several companies have been found flouting the government’s directive to provide for creches for children of female employees.

Aditi Gupta, a mother of a three-year-old child, informed The Observer: “I worked for many years before I had my first baby, but after his birth, I left my job as I had no one to take care of him.

My workplace didn’t have the concept of creches. People who live with their in-laws are lucky;

The Maternity Benefit Act is to boost women’s numbers in workforce | Courtesy: Deposit Photos they have at least someone to look after the child.”

Several reports, including one by the International Labour Or-

ganisation, say that in 2019, only 21 per cent of the women in India were part of the workforce. The numbers were higher in the other BRICS countries: South Africa, Brazil, Russia and China.

Parliament amended the Maternity Benefit Act in 2017 to provide relief to the thousands of women who are forced to leave work to take care of their children. The guidelines are for companies with more than 50 employees.

The Maternity Benefit Act is meant to boost women’s numbers in the workforce. Though most of the other regulations were put into force, the guideline to establish creches remains unfulfilled.

Even when facilities are provided, they are often not used.

Continued on page 5

20L have been evacuated from low-lying areas

Courtesy: Biplab Jana

By Abhisek Dutta

A

s cyclone Yaas whiplashed India’s east coast with a wind speed of 140 km per hour, West Bengal and Odisha reported four deaths and 20 lakh people evacuated. Hundreds of villages in Odisha and West Bengal are marooned, leaving more than 50,000 people homeless in West Bengal alone.

“The figure may rise as reports are yet to reach us from interior areas,” West Bengal minister Bankim Hazra informed Reuters.

Odisha’s Bhadrak and Bala-

sore districts are among the worst affected as the cyclone made landfall near Dhamra port in Bhadrak. East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal suffered the most.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee told reporters her state is the worst affected. Flood water broke river embankments in more than 100 places across the state.

Continued on page 4

CITY

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The Observer Thursday, May 27, 2021

NGOs in a financial jam as funds are being diverted to Covid relief Some have laid off staff, others have cut salaries

By Padmini Dhruvaraj Bengaluru: Several non-health NGOs are facing a severe financial crisis as most of their funds are being donated to Covid-19 relief, resulting in job losses.

Arjun Chaitanya, a co-founder of Sasya Sankalpa, a rejuvenation and sapling- planting NGO, said: “We had to let go of the organiser’s team of five as we have not conducted any events since the first lockdown in 2020. The co-founding team have pitched in to conduct Covid relief programs.

We are trying to get more funds.”

A large number of CSR funds and donations are being diverted to healthcare and relief.

Chandrakanth Singh, division head of the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, J.P. Nagar, said: “We are a pan-India organization, but still haven’t received any funds. The CSR fund is being provided to healthcare facilities, and since all the IT companies are working from home, they say they don’t have any funds.”

A few NGOs have reduced their employees’ remuneration citing work from home. “We didn’t lay off anyone, but have reduced

News Quiz 1. India has signed a 3-year work programme with which country for cooperation in agriculture?

2. Which Indian state is the top recipient of FDI equity inflows during 2020-21?

3. India’s National Sports Awards includes how many sports awards presented by the President of India?

4. Where is Kuno National Park situated in India?

5. United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture between which two aerospace companies?

6. Which institution has set up a dedicated portal – CovAid, to track aid coming from individual organisations?

7. Kundoli Proposed Reserve Forest, where 18 elephants have recent died due to lightining, is situated in which state?

Answers on Page 6

Words of the day Blithesome : with light-heartedness or unconcern : gay, merry.

Frugal: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources.

Flotilla: a fleet of ships or boats especiall navy organizational unit Heliacal: : relating to or near the sun, the last setting of a star Altruism: unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.

Abjure: to reject solemnly, to abstain from, avoid.

NGOs and their staffs are essential as they play a vital role in health, human rights and enviroment.| Courtesy: Sadhrusam NGO their salaries. However, if the situation persists, we might have to remove people,” said Singh.

Samarthanam, which provides education to thousands of disabled children every year, could help the schooling of only 600 children since the pandemic.

“During lockdown, our school suffered a ration problem as well.

A lot of them did not provide us, and a few could not help even if

they wanted to,” Singh said.

NGOs that have healthcare as one of their goals have completely shifted to Covid relief.

Sapna P, marketing manager of Smile Foundation, said: “We are focusing only on health right now. Earlier, we focused on social (issues) and education. Now since health should be in focus, we have our workers on healthcare relief.”

Mallikarjun K, a group head at

the Centre for Environment and Sustainable Growth, said: “For one year, we have not conducted any project. The government has not provided us with any work.

Thankfully, we have only temporary staff, so we are not responsible for anything.”

Owing to a shortage of funds and the lockdown, various surveys that the NGOs conduct have also been halted. “We used to conduct a pan-India survey for disabled children every year, but because of Covid and shortage of funds, we are unable to do so,” Singh said.

According to a survey conducted by The Nudge Foundation, an NGO based in Bengaluru: “The reduced funding is likely to lead to closures and job cuts, potentially even more than the past year as many NGOs have eaten into their reserves.

NGOs have increasingly seen burnout and mental health issues in their teams.”

NGOs play an important role in the economic development of developing countries. Saving NGOs and their staff is essential as they play a vital role not just in health but also among human rights, environment, poverty eradication and employment.

These organizations plays the role of mediator between people and the government. padmini.d@iijnm.org

Twitterati Talk @kaushikcbasu Today's data (NYT Tracker) show India has dropped rank in terms of % population fully vaccinated.

With 3.1% it's now behind 75 nations. This is governance failure since India is one of the biggest vaccine producers. Good days will come but this vaccine lapse will be remembered.

@Chellaney China's stance at the annual meeting of WHO's decision-making body has dimmed prospects of a thorough inquiry into Covid's origins in China. By reversing Trump's decision to leave WHO, Biden frittered away US leverage to reform WHO and rid the agency of China's malign influence.

@IJaising

The legal profession is threatened by competent women lawyers .

Yesterday while arguing a Case for reservations in the High Court of Bombay, a bunch of male lawyers refused to allow me to argue uninterrupted. The Judges made no efforts to stop them .

Male chauvinism on display.

@mkvenu1 The credibility of Modi government’s intent to guarantee citizen’s privacy & right to dissent is so low that people would trust Twitter more than the govt itself though all such platforms do need some regulation.

Parents, do not give your children vitamins; they can sometimes cause severe damage

By Nishita M. Agath

W

ith Covid-19 cases rising, several worried parents have started giving immunity boosters like vitamins C and D to their children.

Hetal Kukadiya, a mother of a three-year-old in Rajkot, said: “My neighbour suggested I give vitamin C tablets to my child. My child… has not faced any side-effects or other illness. I believe immunity boosters reduce the risk of being infected by Covid.”

Minal Godhaniya, a mother of a five-year-old at Porbandar: said, “I give Divya Amla Rasayan of Patanjali Ayurved to my girl.

We believe it will improve her immunity and further prevent her from getting infected.”

According to Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, developement the intake of vitamin C tablets depend upon the age. Children aged one to three years should consume 400 mg vitamin C tablets.

Those in the 4-8 age group should consume not more than 650 mg. However, parents give vitamin C tablets without considering their children’s age or consulting experts.

Devashree Joshi, from Ahmed-

Parents should give vitamin C to children only after consulting doctors as overdose has serious effects.| Credit: Nishita Agath abad said: “I have a four-year-old than giving vitamin C supplechild. He often gets cough and ments. Parents must consult the cold with changes in weather. experts before opting for any supTherefore, we give him vitamin C plements to be used.” tablets for better immunity….”

“It can cause more harm than Doctors warn unnecessary con- good to those below five years. It sumption of immunity boosters may cause diseases such as could cause serious diseases. arthritis, rheumatic diseases, etc.

Dr V.K. Rathod, a Rajkot pedi- at an early stage. Also, it disturbs atrician, said: “Taking vitamin C the growth of a child to higher exregularly doesn’t reduce the tent. A well-balanced diet is chances of getting a cold. Further, enough to strengthen immunity.” always recommend giving a vitaVitamin C tablets might cause min C-rich diet to children rather severe side-effects like mouth ul-

cers, red eyes, nausea, muscle pain and fever.

Preeti N. Odedara, a homoeopathist at Porbandar said: “A child gets all nutrients from the food he/she consumes. If he/she doesn’t have any deficiency, then one must not give any supplements.”

Parents who face such issues blame information published in newspapers and on the social media platforms.

Deepali Mehta, a mother from Ahmedabad, shared: “I didn’t consult any doctor before giving vitamin C tablets to my 4 old. For the first few weeks, he didn’t have any side-effects. However, after consuming regularly, he got mouth ulcers. The doctor said it is due to vitamin C tablets.”

Pharmacies have experienced a rise in the demand for immunityboosting supplements.

Manoj Kishore, an employee at Miraj Medical Stores, Porbandar, said: “The demand for vitamin C tablets has increased by around 80 per cent. Earlier, people used to buy them only if they has any deficiencies or on prescription by doctors. However, now most of the people buying vitamin C tablets don’t have prescriptions.” nishita.a@iijnm.org

CITY & NATION

The Observer Thursday, May 27, 2021

3

Biomed waste is dumped unsegregated BBMP waste collectors don’t touch waste from houses that have Covid patients

By Padmini Dhruvaraj Bengaluru: In several parts of the city, biomedical waste produced by home-isolated Covid-19 patients is being dumped in Bellahalli, near Yelahanka, as unsegregated waste.

Rahul Hipparkar, the driver of a BBMP garbage-collection truck, said: “All the waste collected, except for a certain category of plastics, is taken to Bellahalli. We dump the waste of all 198 wards in the dumpyard.”

The waste generated by homeisolated Covid-19 patients is supposed to be discarded by family members.

Salim Pasha, a BBMP waste collector, said: “We don’t touch waste from houses that have Covid patients. They’ll have to throw it in the auto themselves which we dump later in truck.”

In the wake of the pandemic, waste collected from houses with Covid patients is treated as biomedical waste. The biomedical waste is supposed to be placed in yellow non-chlorinated bags and incinerated.

P. Vishwanath, chief engineer, solid waste management, BBMP, said: “Covid patients who are home isolated will be provided yellow bags. All their biomedical waste, like masks, gloves, PPE kits, sanitary waste and injections, should be dumped in that.

It will be collected separately by our waste collectors in auto tip-

Biomedical waste is supposed to be placed in a yellow non-chlorinated bag , and family members should discard the waste in autotippers. | Credit: Padmini Dhuvaraj pers and incinerated. We have four incineration plants.”

However, home isolated Covid patients said they were not provided any yellow bags to dispose

of their biomedical waste.

Naveen Kumar, one such patient, shared: “I was not provided with any bag. We disposed of biomed waste on a dry

waste collection day.”

Timamma V, a pourakarmika, said: “A lot of them throw used masks on the road. We have to pick and throw them in the

Nehru’s vision for India long abandoned ‘Cong abandoned his ideals, BJP reaping benefits’

‘Blamed for all ills’ l ... in recent times the violence and conflicts we have seen are saddening. Nehru stood against all this.

Anil Kumar Chaudhary of Congress l A leader who is dead for years, who can’t defend himself, is blamed for every poor decision taken today.

K.P. Singh of Swaraj India

By Dhruv Raghav New Delhi: Fifty-seven years after the passing of India’s first Prime Minister, the country has travelled far from Gandhian ideals and Nehru’s vision.

“Nehru was not just a mass leader. There are several mass leaders today as well, but he was a visionary. He had a long-term vision for India’s prosperity.

He built a nation and its premier institutions from scratch which at the time was not easy. His initiatives like the Non-Aligned Movement bolstered India’s international political significance,” said K.P. Singh, a member of the national executive of Swaraj India.

Nehru started his political journey with Annie Besant’s Home Rule League in the late 1910s.

Nehru and Gandhi worked closely during the Non-Cooperation Movement. He promoted communal harmony and was a part of the Lucknow Pact, which talked about HinduMuslim unity.

Singh added: “Having worked

so closely with Mahatma Gandhi, he was truly secular. His secular principles were abandoned back in the 1970s, by his own party, when his daughter decided to place a religious leader, (Jarnail Singh) Bhindrawale, in Punjab’s politics. Later, under her son, Rajiv overturned the Shah Bano ruling and got the gates of the Babri Masjid opened. Today, what we see as the culmination is BJP reaping benefits of what the Congress started.”

While Nehru built a modern India, he also made mistakes that have been criticized.

“We socialists do not agree with every decision of Nehru. He made

Courtesy: Rahul Gandhi

mistakes which was natural in his long tenure as Prime Minister. But today, any shortcoming and incompetence of the incumbent government is blamed on Nehru. This mudslinging culture and personal attacks in Indian politics are new. A leader who is dead for years, who can’t defend himself, is blamed for every poor decision taken today,” Singh regretted.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a tweet, paid a tribute to Nehru.

Anil Kumar Chaudhary, president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, said: “Nehru’s vision of India was

national building and development. He focused on building dams and public institutions. He stayed away from religion and caste politics. He believed in keeping the nation together and moving forward. A country whose Prime Minister kept the country first while legislating has changed. Today, the government legislates for a particular family or community.

“Communal tensions have gripped India. This is not our claim, but media houses the world over have said this. Secularism is the soul of our nation, but in recent times the violence and conflicts we have seen are saddening. Nehru stood against all this. He stood as much for secularism and communal harmony as he did for nation-building,” Chaudhary added. dhruv.r@iijnm.org

BBMP truck. We have only been provided with gloves and masks, and no sanitizer.”

According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the state generated 2,401 tonnes of Covid biomedical waste between March 2020 and November 2020. Almost all of it was scientifically incinerated or buried deep.

According to BBMP’s 2016 SWM rules, household waste is categorized as dry waste, wet waste and sanitary waste.

The sanitary waste will include all the domestic biomedical waste like medicines, empty chemical bottles, diapers and used sanitary napkins.

However, even the sanitary napkins are not being collected separately and are being mixed with dry waste.

Ahana Shetty, a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, said: “Only wet and dry waste is collected, so we discard sanitary waste as dry waste.”

According to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board, Karnataka is the fifth largest biomedical waste-prod ucing state, with 16.91 tonnes per day.

If PPE kits, syringes, masks, expired medicines, glucose bottles and medical equipment are not disposed of properly, they could prove hazardous to the environment and cause harmful diseases like HIV, typhoid and cholera. padmini.d@iijnm.org

Citizen’s Voice WhatsApp is right in opposing IT rules With the new IT rules threatening the existence of multiple social media platforms, it’s only fair for WhatsApp to stand up against what’s being asked of them. To protect users’ privacy, challenging a dictatorial regime seems appropriate.

Aayushi Parekh

Govt should be friendly to social media users

People use social media to express their opinions, communicate with their friends and families, and reach the world at their fingertips. A possible ban on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp would take away Indians’ power to raise their voices and connect with their near and dear ones with ease. Even their businesses might get affected.

Anushmi Tripathy

Courageous people become reporters

A vehicle carrying TV reporters from Kolkata was swept away in flood waters in Digha on May 26.

They were fortunately rescued.

Later, people on social media criticized news channels for putting their reporters’ lives in danger.

They should know that reporters fight to be assigned such difficult situations. It is this courage that has made them reporters.

Abhisek Dutta

BIHAR

4

The Observer Thursday, May 27, 2021

No school meals, kids struggle for food Rice & pickles or chapati & onion is now their food

By Nishant Kumar

S

ince government primary schools and anganwadis are closed, the Bihar government has not distributed rations for underprivileged children.

For most children in schools and anganwadis, the midday meal used to be the first meal of the day, but now the burden to feed them has fallen on their already-struggling poor families.

“We send our children to primary school to eat at least one meal per day,” said Pintu Kumar, a daily-wages worker. “It’s not that we just want our kids to have a meal; we also want better education for our kids. It’s just that ensuring meals two times a day in the off-season is very difficult.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when labourers are not working or earning, the condition of their food has deteriorated.

“For the past six months, our daily meals have been reduced to only rice and pickles or chapati and onion,” said Pintu Kumar.

“The struggle is not that we are eating rice and pickles, but that both our kids have to eat the same, without pulses or eggs.”

A 2018 Niti Aayog report said that the midday meal programme

The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the suspension of midday meals across the country and issued a directive to all state and UT governments to provide dry rations. | Courtesy: Suraj Shah in Bihar has proven to be a substitute rather than a supplement for home meals. Midday meals are the reason for improved enrolment, retention and attendance in government schools.

The nutrition in food in midday meals is not entirely up to the benchmark set by the Bihar government, but the children and parents do not complain much.

The National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, has recommended that a child in the age bracket of 3 to 12 years must have an intake of 1,060 to 2,190

kilocalories a single day.

“Kids like pulao which is served on Monday, eggs on Wednesday and once-a-month chicken,” said Sonu Kumar, an anganwadi teacher in Sitamarhi, Bihar. “The children are always regular except in emergency situations. Inspections by the child development welfare officer are frequent. If a child is not present, the anganwadi centre and the child’s father and mother, both get into trouble,” she added The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the sus-

pension of midday meals across the country and issued a directive to all state and UT governments to provide dry rations. Many governments have started complying, but reports say the Bihar government is distributing rations meant for children among people in quarantine.

The state government has ordered distribution of ration to schoolchildren for three months and direct bank transfer (DBT)) to their accounts, or to those of their guardians, in lieu of the midday meal scheme. As per the

order, “children from classes 1-5 will be offered 8 kg of ration and Rs 358 via DBT calculated on a daily average of 100 grams. Similarly, students from classes 6-8 will be offered 12 kg of ration and Rs 536, calculated on a daily average of 150 grams. Both calculations are for 80 days.”

Sweta Mishra, whose children study in a government primary school, shared: “I have received Rs 2,000 which was due for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi but not any money for rations.

Some powerful people have got dry rations like rice, wheat and pulses, but not the majority of the deserving people like us.”

Abhilasha Kumari, child development welfare officer, said: “Since the government issued that order, we are working to provide rations to children’s fathers through direct benefit transfer.”

On the question of people not receiving money through DBT, she said: “If they don’t have an Aadhaar card or a bank account, it is difficult to pay even the people who are deserving. It needs a concerted effort on the part of people to have an Aadhaar card and a bank account to avail of government welfare schemes.”

As midday meals have become one of the primary weapons in the fight against malnutrition among underprivileged children across all states of the country, the government would do well to implement the scheme efficiently. nishant.k@iijnm.org

Thanks to Covid, hardly anyone goes Homes, villages submerged; to see tigers at the Valmiki Reserve Odisha CM promises relief

By Nidhi Kajaria

C

V

almiki Tiger Reserve, a wildlife sanctuary located in West Champaran district of Bihar, has witnessed a drastic drop in tourist footfalls since the outbreak of Covid-19.

H.K. Roy, field director at Valmiki, informed The Observer: “It’s the only tiger reserve of Bihar and, it has a Ramayan background. It always attracted tourists; now we hardly see any.”

Several activities which were conducted earlier in the sanctuary have been stopped due to the lockdown and the second wave of Covid-19 in the state of Bihar.

“Earlier, elephant and jeep safaris were organized by the Bihar Tourism Department, but they have been stopped,” added Roy The Tiger Reserve comprises the Valmiki National Park and the Valmiki Wild Sanctuary. It is the 18th tiger reserve in the country. With 35 tigers, it ranks the fourth in tiger population.

Badal Kumar, an official tourist guide at Manguraha Forest, an extension of the Tiger Reserve, said: “Earlier, on an average, there used to be 5,000 visitors in a month. Now we are hardly attending to 3-4 families....”

Valmiki Tiger Reserve forms the easternmost limit of the Hi-

Continued from page 1 yclone Yaas destroyed 20,000 mud homes. Residents of Sankarpur, Talsari, Jaldha villages, East Midnapore had to flee as the first floors of their homes were submerged.

Swapan Jana, a resident of Jaldha, said: “I have taken shelter in a relative’s home 4 km away. I left my home along with my two children and wife when I saw the water level in the field on Wednesday morning.”

About 2,000 residents of the village left their homes. People who live in two-storey houses have stayed back. The situation is the same for in the tourist spots of Digha and Mandarmani. Stalls on the beach are completely submerged. Hotels are also affected.

Biplab Jana, a shopkeeper in Digha, said: “My shop is under chest-level water. I am trying to clear my shop, I will not be able to talk to you right now.”

Across the East Midnapore district, almost 4.12 lakh people were evacuated from low-lying areas, ensuring that nobody died.

Despite this, nine lakh people have been affected.

Sudipta Porel, additional district magistrate, East Midnapore, informed The Observer: “The cyclone has not affected us much, but due to a full moon, tides were

Valmiki Tiger Reserve, the easternmost limit of Himalayan Terai forests, and is an extension of the Chitwan National Park | Courtesy: KPN malayan Terai forests in India and is an extension to the Chitwan National Park.

According to a report published by the government of Bihar, 800 hectares of forest in the Tiger Reserve will be converted into grassland, making it the largest grassland of India. Recently, the water resource department transferred 200 acres of land to various departments to build an eco-city.

The Bihar government has built eco-cottages for tourists,

which can be booked online. However, to follow Covid-19 protocols, bookings have been stopped.

“Even if the bookings were open before the second wave, it was supposed to be done 60 days before the arrival date,” said Badal.

In a recent development, the Bihar government has extended the lockdown, imposed to curb Covid spread, till June 1. The lockdown has been in force since May 5 in the state of Bihar. nidhi.k@iijnm.org

Restoration of a broken embankment is under way at Hingalganj in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. | Courtesy: Sourav Mani so high that 800 villages were inundated. At least 72 km embankments are breached. Saline water has damaged crops in 8,150 hectares and 50,000 hectares area of fisheries is damaged.”

W.Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee will visit the affected areas on Friday. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has promised relief to affected people within seven days. abhisek.d@iijnm.org

NATION

The Observer Thursday, May 27, 2021

5

­Possible­social­media­ban­worries­users Say it will lead to a breach of their basic rights

By Mahitha Owk Hyderabad: The big question today is: Will social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter be banned in India?

On February 25, the Centre announced rules for these platforms and gave them time till May 25 to comply with the rules, which these platforms have not so far.

Meedini Kode, a lawyer commenting, informed The Observer: “The provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 79 of the Act clearly say that whosoever is not following the rules will be liable to punishment under any law including the provision of the Act and the IPC.” In response, WhatsApp has filed a petition against the IT Rules, 2021, which has asked social media platforms to identify the originator of the information.

WhatsApp has argued that this will lead to breaking end-to-end encryption and to breach of privacy, and violate the fundamental rights to privacy and free speech of the users.

The government has said imposing these rules will help in regulating these platforms.

“Of course, we know that this would happen. Why will these

As per data cited by the government, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram users, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter. | Courtesy: Pexels companies give up so easily?

WhatsApp's argument is strong; it cites a 2017 ruling by SC supporting privacy in a case very famously known as the Puttaswamy judgement,” said

Meedini. In the Puttaswamy judgement, the court said the privacy of an individual must be preserved except in some legal and exceptional cases.

Prof. Kakumanu Ravi Kumar

of the Department of Mass communication, St Francis College for Women, said: “Freedom of speech and expression is the fundamental right of every citizen, the government shouldn’t try to take it away from the citizens. We are already in the world of rising data, where there is very little or no privacy, now these rules will remove the leftover privacy too.”

In the fight between the government and these social media platforms, why should citizens be concerned? Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a US-based non-profit rights group, commented on the issue terming the whole act as ‘Draconian’ and said “These rules have already been used in an attempt to censor speech on the government.

Within days of being published, the rules were used by a state in which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is in power to issue a legal notice to an online news platform that has been critical of the NDA government. The legal notice was withdrawn immediately after public outcry, but served as a warning of how the rules can be used.” EFF here is referring to the notices that the Manipur govt has sent to journalists under the new laws.

While all this is going on, users of these platforms are worried it will be banned forever.

Madhu Kumar, an avid user of these sites, said, “I really don’t think we can survive without

these social media apps. If the government bans them then it will really be problematic, especially when everything is becoming online.” He also said that these apps are a lot entertaining and help him relieve his stress by connecting him to people.

Another user, Harini Rajasekar, said “These social media sites are not just entertaining platforms, but a good source of information. Now if the government wants to control everything by banning apps, then what type of democracy is this? Where is freedom of speech, expression and right to privacy in the country?”

She also said that she supports the WhatsApp move.”

Worried that they may never use these platforms again, thousands of users on Instagram posted their pictures as their Instagram stories saying “In case of Insta being banned in India from tomorrow, just letting you all know that this is my favourite photo/first photo/last photo on Instagram.” Who wins in this legal war between these digital platforms and the government of India is yet to be known.

As per data cited by the government, India has 53 crores WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crores Instagram users, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter. mahitha.o@iijnm.org

Covid Diary

Covid-19 adds to the problems of A eulogy to basketball, the sport that made me better women working in corporate sector Continued from page 1 atatdru Bhattacharya, an HR officer of Supertron Electronics Pvt. Ltd, said: “We provide all benefits starting from 12 weeks of maternity leave to mediclaim facilities, but we are not yet proficient enough to create a creche system. Let the state notify it, then we will think about having such facilites.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many women out of work as they had to be the sole caregiver for both children and the elderly. This has made their jobs more vulnerable than before.

Soumitra Sinha, an IT professional who is the mother of a sixyear-old, said: “It’s very frustrating sometimes as if we have nothing else to do. Working was so liberating for me. I want to get back to work as soon as the situation gets better.”

Many companies are still confused about the Act, and don’t know how to implement it. They think it doesn’t consider the financial burden on the company, and the physical and transportation costs to bring children to and from the worksites.

An HR executive of Impact IT Pvt Ltd. informed The Observer: “Even though we are a fairly big company, to bear the cost of having child creches is something we

S

By Padmini Dhruvaraj

O

ne of the wisest human minds once said, “When love knocks at your door, let it in.” Instead, I decided to grab it, dribble it, shoot it and sometimes even pass it. Unfortunately, I could never dunk it.

BASKETBALL. A sport that changes one’s personality.

Every time I thought, “This is it”, I was pulled back. But after a hasty exit from the IIJNM hostel on April 28, it feels like this will be it.

The rusty basketball court beside a green stretch is where we all ran to after our quick snack in the evening. Neither the swel-

tering heat nor a thundershower nor assignment deadlines stopped us from playing.

Despite jammed fingers, multiple sutures, muscle tears and a ligament stretch, I could not keep myself off the court.

Playing basketball not only helped me to build a sturdy personality, but also boosted my confidence, increased my patience level and tamed my anger.

And now, little did I know that it’s already time to say goodbye.

After every perpetual gut wrench, I ran up and down the court for salvation. The squeak of the shoes, the rattle of the ring, the swish of the net, I’ll miss playing. padmini.d@iijnm.org

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many women out of work as they had to be the sole caregiver for both children | Courtesy: Pexels don’t consider. It will cost us more than we can afford.”

More and more mothers are resigning their jobs or relocating to live with their parents so that their children are taken care of.

Sujit Chakraborty, grandparent of an 8 year old child said, “We have greater bonds with our children and grandchildren so the concept of creche in the workplace is still not acceptable by our society. It will take time.” Many con-

sultants advise employers to sensitize male workers to cooperate with their colleagues who might be pregnant or have a child at home to ensure a balance is maintained at the workplace.

According to a World Bank report, women who have at least one child under the age of six years have a lower participation in the workforce of corporate offices and private firms. upasana.b@iijnm.org

6

NATION/ SPORTS

The Observer Thursday, May 27, 2021

Social distancing defied at vax centres

It was like a game of musical chairs, says youth who was vaccinated in a Rourkela centre Rourkela: Social distancing is not being properly followed during the vaccination drive at some places in Rourkela. While some hospitals have an excellent crowd-management system, others seem to have failed to do so.

Shubhashree Dash, a 20-yearold student who was vaccinated at the Rourkela General Hospital (RGH) on May 13, said: “Chairs were placed in close proximity.

There was a complete violation of social distancing. It was raining that day, so the police told us to stand under a shed. People rushed to stand under it. It was clumsy. People were elbowing each other so that they could get vaccinated first. I asked a policeman to tell the people not to push me, but he ignored.”

Covid-19 vaccination in Rourkela is under way at 12 centres, with a maximum capacity of 500 for the age group of 18-44 and 200 for people above 45 years.

The vaccination drive for people aged 18-44 years started on May 10, after a delay of 10 days.

Owing to a lack of vaccines, the drive is being conducted on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Ashutosh Dash, 23, took his vaccine from Employee’s State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Model Hospital on May 13. “I had heard a lot about the manage-

As of May 27th, more than 59 lakh people have been vaccinated in Odisha so far, with more than, 4 lakh people getting the vaccine under phase 3. But the police should look after the protocols| Credit SP Rourkela ment of the ESIC hospital, but the scene was quite different there. There was no proper social distancing maintained, and the chairs were placed close to each other. The police and volunteers were not working properly in maintaining social distancing. It was like a game of musical chairs: when one person got up, the other sat down. Being someone who witnessed the death of close relatives due to Covid-19, the scene was terrifying. At least the police should take some steps towards maintaining the protocols.”

According to a report in the New Indian Express, in many parts of Rourkela, vaccine wastage is reorted due to people not turning out at vaccination centres even after registering themselves for jabs.

Pralay Kumar, a 20-year-old student who took his vaccine shot at the Reserve Police Line camp on May 18, said: “There were chairs at a proper distance inside the tent where the vaccine was being administered. But there was no one to keep a check on social distancing. As a result, people

were sitting iin groups. It’s all up to you, whether you want to follow social distancing or sit in groups. There is no one to tell you anything.”

Subham Nayak, 25, who took his vaccine at the Ispat General Hospital (IGH) on May 18, was happy to see the arrangements.

“They allow only persons scheduled for that specific time, and make others sit in a different lobby. Social distancing norms are properly taken care of. The ward has two rooms: one for verifying registration and the other for ad-

United fans unhappy, Labourers get no response from the Andhra govt as it loses to Villarreal

By Ashutosh Acharya

illarreal beat Manchester United to win the Europa League final on Wednesday. In the longest penalty shootout in the history of a major European league final, 22 shots were taken and 21 scored. Manchester United’s goal keeper De Gea missed the last shot at the goal, which resulted in United losing the game.

“Usually, UEL Finals are not so hyped up, but because Manchester United has a huge fan base from around the world, a large number of people watched the match yesterday,” Sidheswar Sahoo, a football follower, informed The Observer.

Manchester United and Villarreal were tied 1-1 in 90-minutes and they were not able to score goals in the extra time, after which the match went to penalty shootouts.

“Except the penalties, most of the game was slow and boring. I was expecting Manchester United to win…, but due to a wrong decision of Ole, who didn’t substitute anyone till the 90tth minute, we lost the game,” said Sourav Behuria, a Manchester United fan.

The manager of Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, is being blamed by many fans for not using substitutions until the

V

extra time, even though his team was not scoring any goals.

“I personally felt that Manchester United had an upper hand over Villarreal, as they ranked second in the Premier League this time, while Villarreal ranked seventh. Surprisingly, Villarreal, which is known to play a defensive game, scored the first goal; but they went back to playing their defensive game. I also felt that Ole didn’t urge the players to score the next goal in the extra time and was waiting for the penalties,” Sahoo added.

While Gerard Moreno scored the goal for Villarreal at 29 minutes, the equalizer was scored by Cavani at 54 minutes, which led to the penalties.

There have been mixed postmatch reactions by the fans on social media. “I feel like that Villarreal’s win backs up my point that Arsenal got rid of Emery too quickly. With more time I think he could have done well. Remember he was only 90 minutes from being the saviour who got us back in the UCL. But that's football for you,” Tom Young, a football follower, tweeted.

Yellow Submarine struggled through a tough second half to give their manager Unai Emery a fourth title in the Europa League as they need to learnmore. ashutosh.a@iijnm.org

Continued from page 1 adhavi Ginjipally’s maid of six years has gone back to her village as her family tested Covid positive and she couldn’t afford treatment in Hyderabad.“Although I am doing work from home, there is a lot of stress without a maid. I don’t have a problem paying a little more than I did to the previos one, but what they are asking for is too much.”

Besides the fear of expensive Covid treatment, another reason for these workers to migrate is the fear of isolation and the feeling that their families are not around them for support.

“If anything happens to us in the city, who will take care of us?

In our village, we at least have our parents and other relatives who will help us,” said Lavanya.

Though they want to return, the lockdown is acting as a barrier.

“We need a job; we can’t live here forever. We were planning to go back after our health stabilized, but by then a lockdown was announced. I just pray that I don’t lose that job. If I do, we won’t have a house to stay in.”

According to Human Development Index data, states that one in five Indians is unskilled, putting India in the 129th position among 162 countries.

Mallikarjun Rao, who needs

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labourers for his under-construction house, said workers are demanding high wages. “I can’t stop work despite the lockdown because I have one year to finish construction. After that, I have to start paying my EMIs and completely depend on the rent I receive.”

Suri Babu, a daily-wages labourer from Andhra Pradesh said: “We are stuck here. Work all around the city is paused. To survive, we are asking for more money. What is wrong with that?”

He is scared the Telangana government will extend the lockdown beyond this month .

P. Rama Rao, president of the Hyderabad Building Workers Association, complained: “We are not receiving any help from the government, as we did in the first-wave lockdown. We have appealed to authorities and told them our problems, still have got no response from them.” The workers don’t have money, jobs and food. If the situation continues, he said, the country will witness more hunger deaths than Covid-19 deaths.

Covid -19 cases in Telangana have been decreasing, but mucormycosis (black fungus) has emerged as a new worry. Many states, including Telangana, have declared it an epidemic. mahitha.o@iijnm.org

ministering the vaccine. The police and volunteers took proper care of everything.”

As a contrary to Dash’s comment on ESIC Model Hospital’a social distancing scenario, Bismay Mohanty, 24, who was vaccinated at the same place on May 15, had a different story to tell.

“I was standing in a long queue, and even though my slot was from 8-9 am, the first slot, I thought it would take an hour or two before my turn would come.

But after officials arrived…, the process happened quickly. I highly approve of the management and protocols followed to inoculate such a large number of people,” Mohanty said.

People sharing pictures of their vaccination certificates should hide the nurse’s name, which is mentioned there, Mohanty said.

“After all, we must not forget to respect others’ privacy ….”

As of May 26, Sundargarh district, in which Rourkela falls, reported more than 730 Covid-19 cases, out of which more than 300 are from Rourkela in Orissa.

More than 19.1 crore people have been vaccinated in India so far. It is estimated that it will take three and a half years for all Indians to be fully vaccinated at this rate. Therefore the residents of the town is quite worried about when they will get their jab. ashutosh.a@iijnm.org

Quiz Answers 1.Israel 2.Gujrat 3.Six 4.Madhya Pradesh 5.Lockheed Martin and Boeing 6.Nitiayog 7.Assam

By Ashutosh Acharya

Across the Nation BTA Certified Blockchain Security Professional (CBSP) 22–29 May Bengaluru, Karnataka International Conference on Finance, Bank & Economics Sun, 30 – Mon, 31 May Bengaluru, Karnataka Book Writing & Publishing Masterclass Sat, 8:30 – 10:30 pm Bengaluru, Karnataka Computer Vision withOpenVC Sat, 4:30 – 7:30 am

Team Observer Editor: Queeneerich K Copy Editors: Nishita Agath, Dhruv Raghav, Abhisek Dutta, Upasana Banerjee, Queeneerich K, Abhishek Saini, Padmini Dhruvaraj, Nishant Kumar, Nidhi Kajaria Reporters: Padmini Dhruvaraj, Upasana Banerjee, Mahitha Owk, Ashutosh Acharya, Dhruv Raghav, Abhisek Dutta, Nishita Agath, Nidhi Kajaria Page Editors: Upasana Banerjee, Nishant Kumar, Padmini Dhruvaraj, Abhishek Saini