Articles by Navya P K

A private car should ideally carry four to five people. But a recent survey in Udyog Vihar Industrial Area in Gurugram showed that it carries only 1.6 persons on average. The survey was conducted by the IT company Nagarro among over 2600 of its own employees. Among the survey respondents, 42 percent were using private cars to come to office, contributing to the infamous congestion in the city. The majority of them did not carpool. A quarter of the car users sometimes parked their cars on the street next to office, which could also congest the road. Another 19 percent…

Sushil was attending 10th standard at the school in his village, when his parents decided to move to a city. They had found seasonal work in a brick kiln there. Sushil’s only option was to move to the kiln site and work alongside his parents. He had given up hopes of completing high school education, when he realised that other child labourers at the kiln were going to a ‘classroom’ located within the site. This learning centre was set up by Aide et Action, an NGO that works for the education of migrant children. Sushil attended classes there, and later,…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship An ambulance on the ready, a medical centre with a doctor and two nurses visiting on alternate days, home healthcare services for those who need it - these are some of the medical facilities at Athashri, a retirement community in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Athashri, a retirement home for senior citizens aged above 65 years, has good medical facilities, says H Kishore, president of the resident welfare association here. The apartment has 118 units, of which nearly 80 are occupied currently. About 15 residents here are availing the home services of care…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When 80-year-old Rukmini Amma fell and broke her leg at her home in Rajajinagar, her husband, 86-year-old Srikantan, called their neighbours for help. Neighbours helped Rukmini Amma get admitted to hospital, and informed her son who lives in Pune, and daughter who’s in Canada. Both rushed home, and helped her get the best treatment and surgery, and brought her back home. When it was time for them to go back, they weighed their options. Finally they brought a new person home - 55-year-old Kuppamma, a trained geriatric care personnel, who…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When 78-year-old Shyamala (name changed) had a heart attack in the middle of the night, there was no one around to help. Shyamala was widowed, and had no children. “She was wailing from pain all night, but no one heard her. At around 5 am, neighbours came over, and Shyamala had to crawl up to the door to open it,” says Shyamala’s former neighbour G Ramachandra. Shyamala’s condition was critical, and the neighbours took her to a hospital where she was operated on. But afterwards, Shyamala was worried of living…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship When Shobha Suryanarayan, a volunteer with Acharyas for a Better Community (ABC), first approached Vijayanagar Lower Primary School in Whitefield, the students could barely string together a sentence in English. The school had over 50 children from classes 1 to 5, but there was only one teacher and a headmistress (HM) to teach all of them. Children in classes 1, 2 and 3 would sit together; they were taught by the HM once she finished her official work. Children in classes 4 and 5 would sit together, and were taught…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship “My children go to a private school Madam, it is close to home, they learn English and mathematics”, says Selvi with a big smile on her face. Selvi, a Marathahalli-based domestic worker, like many others from low income households in Bangalore, finds private schools a better choice for her child. Research has often pointed out that there is not much difference in the learning outcomes of children in government schools and in private schools. Yet in Bengaluru, like many urban centres in the country, children across income groups are flocking…

Bhubaneswar municipal corporation has been razing down dozens of land encroachments ahead of the Hockey World Cup to be held there in November 2018. About 250 families living in slums around Kalinga stadium where the world cup would be held are facing the threat of eviction. Municipal authorities are trying to use police support to do it, but the residents are insisting on proper rehabilitation before eviction. The land freed after all evictions will be used to create a land bank for development projects, say municipal authorities. As per a recent report ‘Forced evictions in India in 2017’ by the…

It was in 1997 that Bangalore city corporation issued the first municipal bond in India, backed by a state government guarantee. The next year, Ahmedabad issued bonds worth Rs 100 crore, without government guarantee. But the momentum didn’t pick up - bonds worth only about Rs 1500 cr have been issued overall since then, and there have been no issues in the more recent years. Last June, however, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) became the first city to issue bonds after a long gap. Bonds worth Rs 200 cr were issue to fund PMC’s 24X7 water supply project. Then again, in…

In Part 1 of this series, Citizen Matters had talked about carpooling startups in various cities and how people are availing these facilities. Despite the emergence of a number of players in the field, however, there are various challenges that these companies are grappling with. The biggest challenge carpooling entrepreneurs face is that the concept itself is not yet so popular in India. Concerns about privacy and security are common, so is the general feeling of discomfort in travelling in a stranger’s car. Hence a large part of these entrepreneur’s efforts are invested in popularising the concept and getting the support of…