Articles by Agnee Ghosh

As we look forward to observing World Disability Day on December 3rd, it is pertinent to question whether Bengaluru is satisfactorily accessible, in terms of public spaces, buildings, mobility, public transport, for persons with disabilities or if there is a lot left to be desired. “The most difficult thing is accessibility to resources and information for people living with disabilities,” says Parinitha P, a resident of Bengaluru and a Person with Disability (PwD). Disabled-friendly infrastructure - only on paper The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWDA) notified the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for…

The COVID pandemic has certainly raised the focus and discourse around issues of mental health among various groups and subgroups of the urban population in India. However, large sections of our urban population still remain beyond the ambit of these discussions and more importantly, out of reach of any form of mental health care services.  In an earlier report from Chennai, we saw how lack of affordability, social stigma and other issues deter the urban poor from seeking support for mental health issues. But there are pockets where people are not even aware, or conscious of the possibility of seeking…

“Homeless people in Chennai do not want to come with me,” says Nandhini, a social worker working for the Hope Charitable Trust in Chennai. “I have been spit on, verbally and physically abused by people going through a mental health episode when I approach them and ask them to come with me to get proper treatment. There are many stories I can tell you where the same people later became my friends when they got help and got better,” says Nandhini.  Nandhini reminisces about the time when a girl named Priya from a well-to-do family in Chennai was rendered temporarily…

Harshal Modi, a resident of Mumbai, has been using his scooter to travel to his factory everyday. After the state government reinstated the local trains, he hasn't switched back to using them, citing issues with last mile connectivity from stations. “It is more convenient to travel by scooter because there’s no issue of waiting for an auto to reach the station and vice versa. It takes such a long time to get an auto in Mumbai,” says Modi.  As the population of India's cities continues to develop rapidly, there has been an increase in the number of commuters making many…

Rakhi Sahu, a kindergarten teacher in Bhopal, is pleased that children are happy to be back in school. But where she sees worrying learning gaps from the two years of school closure is in basic manners or etiquette. “It has been difficult to teach them basic manners like sharing toys with other children or how to sit or conduct themselves in classrooms,” says Rakhi. “The children who are coming to school now after the lockdown have a blank slate in terms of social or behavioural skills”. “Many children have had a hard time adjusting to being back in school full time,”…