Articles by Navya P K

Last September, after a long delay, the BBMP had invited new tenders for garbage collection and transportation in 91 packages. The 198 wards of the city are covered by these 91 packages. But the new tenders have come to effect in not even half of these; only 43 packages have new contractors now. In the remaining 48 packages, work is still being done by old contractors by extending their previous contracts.But a bunch of new tenders - 12 of them - were approved by the state government on March 20, 2013. The government's approval came on the day when the…

A massive Rs 2,300 crores industrial project is coming up in Agara, adjacent to Koramangala, along Sarjapura Road, the first of its kind here. But it might be coming at a cost to the people staying nearby. The project, by Manipal ETA Infotech Pvt Ltd, is a township that includes an SEZ, retail outlets, hotels, office buildings, two residential apartments etc. The project is a joint venture between Century Real Estate and Mantri Builders - while Century is providing land, Mantri is taking care of the construction. A SEBI document of 2011 mentions Sushil Mantri as Chairman and Managing Director…

The debate about including IT/ITES industry under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act has been going on for a while. Here is what IT employees think about their work conditions and about the IE Act. Pic: Wikimedia Commons Most employees that Citizen Matters spoke to, opined that the Act will help employees. There was skepticism though, on a government department's interference in the industry and on its ability to actually help employees.While most employees complain about favouritism, overtime without compensation etc., some complain about being affected by serious malpractices. Ravi (name changed), who used to work in Yahoo, the multinational…

For the past 12-13 years, IT/ITES industry in the state has been exempted from a key labour law which is applicable to other industries. From coming April, this law - The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, aka IE Act - is supposed to be applicable for all IT companies in India. While the state Labour Department is waiting for IT/ITES companies to start implementing this, the industry is said to be actively lobbying for exemption. Pic: Wikimedia commons The crux of the IE Act is that each company will have to define its employment conditions in ‘Standing Orders' (SOs),…

Residents of Sobha Daffodil apartment in HSR Layout Extension have been waiting for water for the last 4-5 months. They had paid around Rs 10 lakh to the BWSSB for water from Cauvery Stage IV Phase II project; they got pipelines laid and meters fixed. But no water comes here yet. Pic courtesy: BWSSB.org "We paid a few crores some 3-4 years back too, for water. In the last few months, we went to the local BWSSB office some 10 times. Every time, we were told that water will come the next day or next week, but there has been…

Bengaluru has already lost thousands of acres of land to encroachers. But if you know about a case of encroachment, there are many government bodies where you can complain. Here is a list of whom you can contact, and how. 1) BMTF (Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force): The state government had formed BMTF in 1996 to check land grabs and building violations in Bangalore Metropolitan Area (BMA). BMA includes Bangalore urban and rural districts, and part of Kolar district. All encroachments of government land/water bodies in these areas - even those that come under BBMP, BDA, BWSSB etc - will be…

Every year, the state AG (Accountant General) prepares audit reports on state government and some of its agencies. This year's reports were presented on February 14th in the Karnataka legislative assembly. The same evening, CAG held a press conference to distribute the reports.There are five reports this time. As usual, the reports are full of CAG's exposes, all leading to loss of hundreds of crores of rupees. The reports come in a study bag, overall weighing somewhere around 7-8 kgs. A bagfull of exposes, you might call it. The CAG's bag, full of exposes. Pic: Subramaniam Vincent. Except two smaller…

When 900 families of Ejipura slum were thrown out last month, it was chaos for the families. While most have dispersed across the city, trying to find housing, about 55 families have moved into a Slum Board quarters in Kudlu, along Hosa Road (off Sarjapur Road). About 80 families (450-500 people) remain in the footpath near the Ejipura site as they could not afford alternate housing. Many families stayed out for days initially, even though most flats in the complex were vacant. Pic: Navya P K Most of those who are in the Kudlu quarters, reached here by accident. They…

Ever since the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) started functioning more actively, especially after current chief Rajvir Sharma took over, the state government has been at loggerheads with it. Its latest attempt to cut down BMTF's powers has gone awry, and has become another embarrassment for the government. BMTF is a police force which can investigate grabbing of public land, and building violations, in Bangalore Metropolitan Area. It can book cases against government officers who abet such crimes. It can also file criminal cases on associated crimes, like document fabrication. On February 2nd, Karnataka's Urban Development Department (UDD) issued an…

Parks are for public use and cannot be given to private parties. But in 2005, BDA gave away 1525 sq m of park site to Indiranagar Club. This was one of the examples of illegalities by the BDA, in a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).The site, located along 7th cross road of HAL 2nd stage layout, was adjoining the club, and is now within club premises. BDA gave the site on lease, on the condition that it will be maintained as a park, and that no permanent structures will be put up in the site. But…