CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Hello Dr Saleem, At the outset a big thank you for reaching out to citizens on this serious issue that we face on a day to day basis. Just to give you the context, every day I travel from Jayanagar 5th block to Iblur in 30-40 minutes. It takes me another 20-30 minutes (there have been days when it has taken as long as an hour) from Iblur to Adarsh Palm Retreat in Bellandur. I am guessing a good 3-4 lakh people are employed in IT companies between Iblur and Marathalli junction and another 3 lakh people pass through this…

Ward offices say they don't have the addresses of the voters, which poses a problem when there is a need to print the voter id card once again. File pic. Being a responsible citizen who has not missed a voting opportunity in the last 20+ years, I was horrified to discover recently that my voter id was missing – did I leave it in the bank while opening an account six months ago, or was it in one of the photocopying shops, or was it at the mobile phone outlet…? I went back to all places where I had used…

CIVIC, a non-governmental organisation in Bengaluru has registered its concerns regarding new garbage tenders published in June 2015 by the BBMP. Here is the summary of the letter sent by CIVIC to the BBMP Administrator T M Vijayabhaskar. Overall concerns 1.     Outsourcing of garbage disposal to contractors needs to be discontinued and contract PKs regularised CIVIC feels that outsourcing of garbage disposal by BBMP to contractors should be discontinued as garbage disposal is a “core” and “perennial” activity of BBMP which cannot be outsourced as per the Contract Labour (Abolition & Regulation) Act. CIVIC suggests that the current contract workers…

Pic courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Bengaluru-based Centre for Internet and Society has participated in the Expert Committee for DNA Profiling constituted by the Department of Biotechnology in 2012 for the purpose of deliberating on and finalising the draft Human DNA Profiling Bill and appreciates this opportunity. CIS respectively dissents from the January 2015 draft of the Bill. Based on the final draft of the Human DNA Profiling Bill that was circulated on the 13th of January 2015 by the committee, the Centre for Internet and Society is issuing this note of dissent on the following grounds: The Centre for Internet and…

Illustration: Suneeva Saldanha  A recent development in the Horticulture department managing Cubbon Park provoked me to write this article. The Horticulture Department has been approached by BSNL to make Cubbon Park and Lalbagh Wi-Fi enabled (Source: TOI). As part of the Central Government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative, funds will be supplied from the Centre to setup Wi-Fi hot-spots in cities with a population of over a million. "These two sylvan spaces, bang in the middle of an intensely busy city, are best protected from the trappings of modernity. Urban Parks world over, be they in Kyoto, Bonn, New York or Vancouver,…

Blood donation camp at SJR Park Vista. Pic: Indira PC  A voluntary blood donation camp was organised at SJR Park Vista, one of the 300+ residential communities on Sarjapur road, on June 27th. Held for the first time, the camp was initiated and organised by a resident, Indira PC, with support from the Residential Welfare Association and club-house management. The NIMHANS blood bank team, under the supervision of coordinator Beena Jayson and Dr Sukanya, conducted the camp. A total of 31 units of blood were collected from 31 donors (including donors from SJR Redwoods), which would go to the NIMHANS Blood Bank. Prior…

Many years ago, my mother took my sister and me to sample the iftar fare along Sachapir Street and Taboot Street in Pune. We feasted on hot mutton samosas on a cold wintry evening. The smoke from the charcoal ovens lent a romance to the air that exists only in the deep recesses of my mind. Every stall was a wonder and our appetite was insatiable. Sadly, I do not remember whether we visited these stalls when I was in school or college. I do not remember whether we went back to the stalls the next year. I just remember…

A couple of years ago, the government came up with a hare-brained plan to construct underpasses on Sarjapur road. The sole reason for this was to benefit a private builder developing a large area on the wetlands of Bellandur lake. The residential areas along the way would have been decimated, but that was of no concern to the powers that be. Citizens went to court and finally a negotiated settlement was arrived at between citizens and the government. A government-appointed commission, in its final report, stated that the real problem was on Hosur road and that had to be treated…

As a part of decongesting traffic from Silk Board junction to Madiwala checkpost, the traffic police have converted some two-way roads into one-ways. Now the vehicles going from Silkboard to Koramangala or Diary Circle can move easily on both sides of the road. One may thank the police for this initiative, and for facilitating smooth traffic flow on these roads. But the main problem is for commuters who are moving towards Silk Board or Hosur road, from Dairy Circle or Koramangala water tank. They have to go towards Krupanidhi College junction and then take a right onto the Madiwala market…

I have enjoyed my transition back to Bengaluru, the city I carry very close to my heart. As I start meeting people and understanding local surgery referral patterns, the irregularities are glaring. I have been blatantly asked by doctors how much I would be willing to pay the referring doctor for a patient. Take for example a patient who is referred for an advanced procedure that costs 10 lakhs. The referring doctor in Bengaluru asks for a percentage, commonly referred to as a "cut". In plain words, a bribe. This is completely unethical and against the standards that doctors agree…