GENRE: Voices

As India completes 75 years of independence, it is important to critically examine freedom that is now reduced to mere symbols and performance. While the privileged enjoy comfortable lives, vulnerable communities, like lower-caste groups, live on scraps and do inhumane, caste-based jobs for a living. Generations of people are forced into cleaning excreta in sewers despite several technological and scientific advancements that should make the work of manual scavenging less labour-intensive. The state has repeatedly failed at bare minimum provisions to rehabilitate these workers, despite a ban on manual scavenging. Now, a nationwide campaign called Stop Killing Us is expressing…

Many trans persons such as myself were hesitant to get vaccinated for COVID-19 due to the lack of information provided to us. No concrete efforts were made to dispel these myths about the vaccine among the community. We did not have access to any information on possible side-effects of the vaccine on those who take hormones or are looking to get sex reassignment surgery (SRS). When the vaccines were made available in a public camp, I hesitated to go talk openly about my situation and clarify my doubts. Those administering the vaccine would also likely not know the answers to…

Lallubhai Compound in Mumbai's Mankhurd is one of those areas where nobody wants to live unless they are compelled by their circumstances. All the residents here were rehabilitated about two decades ago by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in buildings built with the sole purpose of providing a roof, everything else was left up to the people. Up until 2009, the area lacked access to clean drinking water, there were no schools and no street lights; late evenings were a big no for women. While some sent their children to schools at Sion Trombay Road, which is about 4 km…

When Bano Abdul Sattar (28) was a young girl living in Bandra east chawls, she could only do jobs that her family deemed appropriate for a woman. She picked up multiple jobs in her early teens; she helped her family run a roadside anda bhurji stall at night, worked as a tailor, and even as a mehendi artist. But this was far from what fascinated her. What captured her imagination when she was young were cars and the thought of driving one someday. And so, at the age of 16, she did just that. "Main na, chupke uncle log ko paise deti thi.…

For a majority of the population, moving homes is typically a voluntary decision made with great deliberation, taking into account the impact on education, employment and health. However, for the millions of slum residents in Mumbai, the same exercise is a result of routine eviction and demolitions. If these families are fortunate, they are moved to slum resettlements. Consider the case of one of the largest slum resettlement drives in Mumbai, documented through the eyes of women by Ramya Ramanath in her book, A Place To Call Home: Women as Agents of Change in Mumbai. An associate professor at DePaul University,…

In Bengaluru, people lose 3-4 hours every day in commute thanks to heavily congested roads. Despite having public transport options including BMTC and Namma Metro, the traffic congestion remains unresolved. The NITI Ayog’s 2018 report estimates that Bengaluru city incurs an avoidable loss of Rs 47,743 crore every year. What is wrong? The real reason is that good mobility relies on a vast number of measures, most of which are missing. A few of these steps were attempted, but they failed due to improper execution. This article explains what these measures are, and suggests how to implement them effectively in…

It is only after paying Rs 10 lakh as fees that one becomes an engineer from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. In contrast to this, I completed my B Tech in 2013 from a government college in Kerala for Rs 26,000. IITs have turned into a gated community of the elites, serving those who can afford their exorbitant fees and filtering out those who can't. The fee hike by IIT-B in July is a testament to that. Soon after the fee hike, the deputy director assured us that all our questions would be answered in an open house…

I wonder what it would be like if protestors stormed Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, like the protestors who stormed the presidential office in Colombo. It is an unlikely scenario, no doubt. But maybe there are lessons there which governments in India need to learn quickly. Especially prudent management of the economy. Which basically means ensuring easy and affordable access to essential commodities and services, creation of new jobs across the socio-economic spectrum and across skill levels, and constantly renewing hope in people that “ache din aayenge”. To quote from Jawaharlal Nehru’s historic August 15, 1947 ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech in…

Water is an essential part of life and its abundance is necessary for food and livestock security. Safe, adequate and equitable water supply, therefore, is required to conserve biodiversity and the environment. But Mumbai is severely lagging in this. In Thane district particularly, situated next to Mumbai Metropolis, the area is abundant in only water supply issues, no water. For the past few years, Thane’s roughly 22-lakh strong population has struggled with adequate water supply. Many parts of Thane, namely Kolshet, Hiranandani Estate, Mumbra, Diva, Waghbil and Kasarvadavli, are either not receiving proper water supply, or are receiving impure water…

The Karnataka government has of late been mulling a solution to the problem of stray dog attacks. Prabhu Chauhan, Minister for Animal Husbandry, has said they are considering making Bengaluru stray-dog-free through vaccination and sheltering. The Karnataka High Court has also issued a notice to the state government on a PIL seeking effective stray dog management. In this interview with Citizen Matters, animal ecologist and conservation biologist Dr Abi Tamim Vanak weighs in on the issue. Dr Abi Vanak holds a PhD in Wildlife Science from the University of Missouri, USA. He is currently a Professor at ATREE (Asoka Trust…