Articles by Santoshee Gulabkali Mishra

Several parents in Mumbai are upset with the decision by the government to set up a review committee to suggest amendments to the Fee Regulation Act, 2011. They say while the a 3-month review committee may restructure school fees, the school administration has already started restricting students from attending e-learning classes, if fees are not paid. "In 2019 a committee was set up to recommend amendments therefore this new committee formation wasn't needed at all," says Anubha Sahai, President India Wide Parents Association. "The government has always supported schools' decisions on fee hike, both in private and aided schools. Parents…

Numbers of tuberculosis patients are sharply rising in Mumbai. And that is good. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data, the city records 45,000 new patients a year on average. However, last year, it was down to less than 1% of that. The health department authorities at BMC say that Covid-19 and Tuberculosis (TB) have similar symptoms. Therefore, if TB patients go unchecked in times of the pandemic, the number of patients of Covid-19 may also increase as they are difficult to differentiate. TB is a bacterial disease, which mainly affects the lungs. The bacteria that causes TB spreads when an…

After the anti-CAA protests last year, for the first time Mumbai's Azad Maidan was teeming with people throughout this week. On Sunday, farmers affiliated with the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) marched 165 kilometers from Nashik to reach Mumbai. They farmers spent the night in Azad Maidan. Farmers gather in Azad Maidan on 16 January 2021. Photo: Kisan Alliance Morcha On Monday, several other organisations joined them in support. On India's 71st Republic Day, they unflured the flag and hosted programmes with leaders of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government agreed to the…

Kurla (East)'s Qureshi Nagar is defined by its assortment of big and small slaughterhouses. The neighbourhood gains its name - Kasaiwada or a settlement of butchers - from the many abattoirs. In the past few years, the government has passed some cow slaughter legislations which have affected the people of Kasaiwada immensely. Since the slaughter of bovines became political, many in the neighbourhood were forced to pick up other odd-jobs, mostly in the unorganised sector. The vagaries of life have kept the people of Kasaiwada from paying much attention to their children's education. Young boys of Kasaiwads studying English. Photo:Santoshee…

As talks of vaccines acquire a shrill pitch, it is time to look back at some of the essential workers who saw us through the hard days of the lockdown in the past few months. The mortuary and ambulance staff of King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, one of Mumbai's biggest public hospitals, spoke to Citizen Matters about their life experiences in 2020 - an extraordinary year which was filled with fear and trepidation. But, they could not stop. The 'leader' Senior Mortuary Attendant, Kashinath Raghunath Mugdar, is an old hand. Having witnessed the mortuary overflow after the 1993 communal riots,…

'Abhi koi Randi ya Dhandhewali nahi bolega, Izzat milega ," says Anita Thapa, a sex worker in Pune’s Budhwar Peth. Anita was reacting to the latest National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommendation designating sex workers as 'dignified workers' of society. On October 7th, the NHRC issued a 11-page advisory recognising sex workers as informal workers, making them eligible for the various Central and state benefit schemes. The advisory titled 'Human Rights Advisory on rights of Women Context of COVID-19', includes a recommendation that sex workers facing domestic abuse from partners should be identified and reported. Check the detailed advisory here. The…

Drawing inspiration from protests in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, hundreds of women sat in protest against anti-Muslim citizenship laws, on a road in South Mumbai's Nagpada since the night of January 26 around 11 PM - in what came to be called Mumbai Bagh. Although the protests were suspended in the wake of the COVID19 outbreak, they continued symbolically. Today, the protest site on Morland Road near Hotel Arbia has pictures of women leaders and has only one slogan on placard "hum kal yaha the" (we were here yesterday). The site where anti CAA protests were held pre-lockdown. Photo: Santoshee…

An interview with Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G-North Ward. He received acclaim from the WHO which cited Dharavi as an example in how to manage the fight against the virus. By the end of March, three positive COVID-19 cases were reported in a two day period in Dharavi, one of the largest slum clusters in Mumbai. Soon after, on April 1, the first death from the virus was reported when a 56-year-old resident of Baliga Nagar in Dharavi died. The person had no travel  history. Within eight days of the first death, as the city reported 320 positive…

“Ab to dus rupaye wala customer bhi chalega, kam se kam chai aur pav to khane ko milenge is lockdown mein (Now, even a customer who can pay ten rupees will do. It can get me some chai and bread at least during this lockdown),” says Beauty Biswas, a sex worker at Kamathipura, Mumbai’s notorious red light district, located virtually at the centre of the city.  The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the sustenance of these women in Kamathipura. The area is home to about 4500 -5000 sex workers, who have been rendered jobless and penniless since the lockdown was clamped.…

As yet, there is no Standard Operating Procedure from the Centre or the state on this. But as uncertainty around reopening of schools drags on, at least some private schools in Mumbai have launched online classes to try and complete the syllabus of the current academic year. But the online learning system and the way it is being implemented by schools, is finding little support from parents. According to a survey conducted by the India Wide Parents Association (IWPA), a four-year-old Mumbai-based pan-India parents association, 80% of parents it polled are not in favour of virtual classes for their children.…