GENRE: In Focus

Deepali (name changed on request) was 22 when she was diagnosed with drug resistant tuberculosis in 2020. She had already lost about 12 kilograms and was immediately put on a heavy dose of antibiotics, including injectables. “Tuberculosis claimed her appetite, and the medicines prescribed to her had such severe side-effects that she was unable to eat anything and was throwing up after every dose of medicine,” says her mother.  When she could not tolerate the treatment, her family consulted Dr Lalit Anande, a noted TB-specialist, who advised her to eat anything that she found tasty and was easy-to-digest. He increased…

சிடிஸன் கன்சூமர் அண்ட் சிவிக் ஆக்ஷன் குரூப் (சிஏஜி) மூத்த ஆய்வாளரான சுமனா நாராயணன், 2003 ஆம் ஆண்டு சென்னையில் நான்கு சக்கர வாகனம் ஓட்டுவதற்கான உரிமம் பெற விரும்பியபோது, ​​ஓட்டுநர் தேர்வில் தேர்ச்சி பெற, அவர் சாலையில் குறைந்தது 300 மீட்டர் ஓட்ட வேண்டும். .  திருவான்மியூர் வட்டாரப் போக்குவரத்து அலுவலகம் (ஆர்டிஓ) பின்புறம் உள்ள குறுகலான தெருவில் காரை ஓட்டி, போக்குவரத்து சிக்னலில் காரை நிறுத்திவிட்டு, இடதுபுறம் திரும்பி, மேலும் 200 மீட்டர் தூரம் ஓட்டும்படி சுமனாவிடம் கூறப்பட்டது.  "என்னுடைய பெற்றோரின் தலைமுறையில், சென்னையில் ஓட்டுநர் உரிமம் பெறுவதற்கு வாகனம் நிறுத்துவதற்கு கூட அவர்கள் சோதனை செய்யப்பட்டனர்," என்று அவர் கூறுகிறார். இரண்டு தசாப்தங்களுக்குப் பிறகு, திருவான்மியூரில் ராம்* அதே ஆர்டிஓவில் ஓட்டுநர் சோதனைக்குச் சென்றபோது, ​​அவர் 100 மீட்டர் மட்டுமே ஓட்ட வேண்டியிருந்தது.  "இது ஒரு நேர் கோடாக இருந்தது. முந்தைய விண்ணப்பதாரரால் கார் இன்ஜின் ஏற்கனவே ஆன்…

At the recently held BBMP – Work Orders, Budgets and Processes Datajam, a group of citizen volunteers analysed the data available in the public domain, here are their observations and suggestions on BBMP’s expenditure on street lights and surveillance and its links to road safety. To: Sri. Ravindra P N, BBMP Special Commissioner (Projects) Dear Sir, We are a group of citizen volunteers. We would like to share our observations and suggestions on BBMP’s expenditure on street lights and surveillance. And examine its links to road safety. Observations: We looked at road accidents and the distribution of the funds (work…

At the recently held BBMP – Work Orders, Budgets and Processes Datajam, a group of citizen volunteers analysed the data available in the public domain. Here are their observations and suggestions on BBMP’s expenditure and efforts in waste management. To:Dr. Harishkumar, Special Commissioner (SWM) Dear Sir, We are a group of citizen volunteers who would like to share our observations and suggestions on BBMP’s expenditure and efforts in waste management. Solid waste management constitutes 14.7% of the BBMP budget (1643.72 crores). As part of the Shubra Bengaluru Project, BBMP has identified 1,555 Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs) also called as ‘black…

Amid the relentless downpour last week, Dnyaneshwar Paugul, accompanied by his daughter, Yogita, and 6-month-old granddaughter, were travelling from Mumbai city to Bhiwandi after seeking treatment for the little one at KEM hospital. As the local train made its way through the suburbs, heavy rains continued and soon the train stopped between Thakurli and Kalyan on flooded railway tracks. With no sign of the train moving, impatience and anxiety began to rise among the passengers. Some of them decided to get down and walk towards the nearest railway station. Among them were Paugul and his daughter, who held her ailing…

At the recently held BBMP – Work Orders, Budgets and Processes Datajam, a group of citizen volunteers analysed the data available in the public domain, here are their observations and suggestions on BBMP’s cess collection. To:Sri. Nagaraj SherigarBBMP Additional Commissioner (Finance) Dear Sir, We are a group of citizen volunteers who would like to share our observations and suggestions on BBMP’s cess collection. Observations: We attempted to find out how much cess and surcharge was being collected each year by BBMP based on the agency’s cess receipts and where it was spent. The team found that although typically cess forms…

Amy*, a 31-year-old Chennai local, who has received three abortions in her life, remembers using a condom as protection each time she found out she was pregnant.  Now, her gynaecologist, scared that her body can not handle another termination, is requiring her to come in for shots every few months as an added form of birth control.  Amy recalls that she really had no formal education on other forms of birth control, and while she knew they existed, she just really wasn’t considering it.  Talking about sex is still considered taboo and many Chennai schools currently have no formalized sex…

Aarti Krishnakumar, a Chennai local, entered the dating world after her mother’s efforts to arrange a marriage for her did not work out. Unsure of it all, Aarti went on a few dates and found herself in a panic after not getting her period.  When Aarti went looking for emergency contraceptive pills in Chennai, she took many avenues.  First, she visited three generic pharmacies, none of which carried the emergency contraceptive pill. At another pharmacy, Aarti recalls the pharmacist looking at her “as if I had just asked for an alien chip.” Feeling more desperate, Aarti then visited a reputed hospital…

When Sumana Narayanan, a Senior Researcher at Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), wanted to obtain a driving licence for a four-wheeler in Chennai in 2003, she had to drive at least 300 metres on the road to pass the driving test.  Sumana was asked to drive the car in a narrow street behind the Thiruvanmiyur Regional Transport Office (RTO), stop the car at a traffic signal, turn left and then drive for another 200 metres.  "In my parent's generation, they were even tested for parallel parking to get a driving licence in Chennai," she says. Two decades later,…

More than four days after his younger brother died in a flooded sewer in Govandi in suburban Mumbai, 27-year-old Rahul Kumar was still in a hearse, headed to Gogri in Bihar’s Khagaria district, nearly 2,000 km from the financial capital, where the brothers worked as daily wage labourers.  “He did not want to enter the manhole, usko jabardasti utaara gaya (he was forcibly lowered into the sewer),” Rahul said of his brother Ramkrishna, 25, who died along with their uncle Sudhir Das, 35, on June 24. Rahul said they were construction labourers, who had worked earlier on building underground drainage…