CITIZEN JOURNALISM

If there is one woman who truly inspires me every single day, it is Vidya. Originally from a village in Uttar Pradesh, marriage brought Vidya to Mumbai 15 years ago. Her husband was already working in the city. As Vidya learnt, the big city offers opportunities that may be lacking in villages and small towns, but life can be quite hard. About six years ago, Vidya's husband deserted her, leaving her to fend for herself and their three children who were at that time aged 9, 4 and an infant. The middle one, a daughter, is a special child, with…

On February 25, 2021, plans were announced from the highest levels of the state government to comprehensively develop Nandi Hills as an international tourist destination. This is to be done through various measures including a clean-up of the area, refurbishment of various structures and heritage sites, enlargement/improvement of the parking areas, and last but not the least, a ropeway to the summit.   My family and I moved home from the heart of Bengaluru to the foothills of Nandi Hills over seven years ago. The contrast in our altered lifestyles could not have been starker. Swapping traffic noise for bird song We…

Another wetland in Navi Mumbai is under threat. Lotus Lake is located in Sector 27, Nerul, very close to the Belapur Sports Ground. The approximately 3-hectare lake derives its name from the thousands of lotus plants that can be seen on its surface, and in fact, lends its name to several shops and buildings in the area. Lotus Lake, Nerul. (Pic: Sunil Agarwal) A notified wetland, but only on paper As per the National Wetland Atlas, the lake is a notified wetland. In its January 2019 assessment, the Thane Tahsildar has marked the Lotus Lake coordinates, officially known as "Darawe",…

Starting March 1, there has been much excitement among our senior citizens – and all because of the Covid vaccine. As one meme doing the social media rounds said, “Children take parents for vaccination!” My parents got the Covid vaccine at Dayanand Sagar Hospital, Kumaraswamy Layout, Bengaluru, on 4th March 2021.  They had registered on the Aarogya Setu app and managed to get an appointment after trying for several hours the previous day. Those familiar with the process would be aware that beneficiaries are asked to select the hospital and date and then choose between “Forenoon” and “Afternoon” slots.  Read…

In September 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) refused permission to Maharashtra’s state and district central co-operative banks (DCCBs) to finance self-redevelopment of co-operative housing societies, stating that such projects would fall under the category of ‘commercial real estate,’ and hence, outside the banks’ primary purview of lending for activities related to agriculture and rural development. For the Maharashtra government, which was banking on support from the state’s co-operative banking ecosystem, this is as a huge blow to a scheme it had presented late last year as the solution to the state’s, and more specifically, Mumbai’s housing crisis. Meanwhile,…

As the world has become predominantly urban, with the impact of climate change being experienced worldwide, protecting forests everywhere, particularly close to urban areas, is critical. Forests, especially those near cities, serve in regulating local temperatures, cycling water and nutrients, as repositories of biodiversity, and as a critical resource for the sustenance of rural, pastoral and forest dependent communities. Forests are also sacred spaces for communities that continue to revere shrines inside such spaces.  Understanding the nature and composition of the forests, the community dependencies on them and the legal provisions that protect them is central to protect such forests…

Bibliophiles in the city finally found cause to celebrate over the last fortnight as the much awaited 44th annual book fair was held on the YMCA grounds, Nandanam. Citizens from all sections of society flocked to the event to check out the new collections and buy their favourite books. The event comes to an end today, March 9th. But how did the book fair in the age of the pandemic go? Plagued by uncertainty due to COVID, the book fair this time, organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) was a much-anticipated event. Usually held during the…

What seems right for us may not seem right for others since it depends on perspectives from different points of view.  Parents want lesser fees but want education in top schools. School managements wants more return on their investment. So, these are two different perspectives. They would not converge on the same terms since their interests are different.  As long as the school management has reasonable expectations, conflicts would be less. But again, the definition of ‘reasonable’ varies. If a school is run without much issues, it means the management knows the art of running schools very well. Schools, colleges…

The education sector, especially schools, are generally viewed by the public as the goose that lays the golden egg. Similar to other key critical sectors necessary for the society at large, like hospitals or colleges, this misconception is prevalent about schools as well. Most individuals leading such institutions are so caught up in ensuring the next generation’s education that they do not bother about the noise outside. There is no lobby either, like in the other established industries, to ensure that no harm is done by policies and decisions proposed by the government. Education is a basic right as per…

This is the tale of a father who feels bad that his daughter has to suffer due to the greed of private schools. Let me share how I got involved with the school fee issue; and how it impacts us parents. My daughter is in the third standard. We were extremely shocked to realise that access to her online classes was blocked by her school on August 5, 2020. She has studied in this school right from Nursery. We soon learnt that many private schools have blocked online education to some kids. Almost all parents have been paying whatever schools…