Articles by Vikas Kumar

Find out how Sarvagnanagar Assembly Constituency is faring and what the major issues in this constituency are. Learn about the candidates, incumbent MLA KJ George (INC), Padmanabha Reddy (BJP) and Mohammed Mustafa, (JDS). Table of contentsAbout the constituencyKey issues in the constituencyKey parameters - How does this constituency fare? SchoolingMobilityCitizen engagementHealthConstituency mapCitizen demandsIncumbent MLA: KJ George, INCWork in the termIn the newsQuestions raised in the AssemblyList of candidatesIncumbent MLA: KJ George (INC)Candidate: Padmanabha Reddy, BJPCandidate: Mohammed Mustafa, JDSFull list of candidates  Past elections results About the constituency Sarvagnanagar constituency is located in the north-east of the city. The constituency derives its name…

It has been six years since the launch of the Smart City Mission in 2016. Yet its core idea, of creating a participatory model for urban governance, remains elusive. Especially for the urban poor. If people had hoped for a better managed, inclusive city with sustainable and resilient infrastructure, that hope has been cruelly belied. Plenty of projects under the Smart City mission are underway in many cities. But few have achieved the objectives they set out for themselves. Which raises the question, what does the smart city mission provide for the urban poor? Have their lives changed at all…

In today’s employment scenario, the race to get a government job, any job, can get real ugly. Recruitment to the armed forces is particularly sought after. The main reasons that tend to turn any government recruitment scheme into a subject of controversy, at times leading to violent protests. A recent Railway recruitment process had to be scrapped for precisely those reasons. Now, a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces has seen violent protests in states like UP, Rajasthan and Bihar. Vehicles and trains were burnt by angry protestors who saw in the scheme a plot to deny them permanent…

The unprecedented price rise in recent months of virtually every essential commodity is forcing poor families in Bangalore to rethink their cooking and food habits. People like Afeena for instance, a resident of Byapanhally who has been doing housekeeping work in Bengaluru for the past 15 years to help support her husband, an autorickshw driver and two children. The average income of her family is Rs 18,000-20,000 a month. “Cooking oil has become very expensive at Rs 200-250 per kg,” says Afeena. “So instead of buying one kilogram, I now buy small quantities of Rs 10-15 which lasts just a…

If one makes an early morning tour of areas like Lingarajapuram, Chikka Banaswadi, Kullapa Circle, Papareddy Palya, Kurubarahalli, Rajagopal Nagar, Peenya and Dasarahalli, they are likely to see groups of workers carrying construction tools and lunch boxes waiting on the roads and side streets, their eyes eagerly scanning the road  for contractors who will hire them as daily wage labourers. These spaces where the workers congregate every morning are known as Labour Stands and are an ubiquitous sight in many Indian cities. Many such labour stands exist in Bengaluru, yet few outside the world of contractors know about them. How do…