GENRE: Voices

They run into multiple pages. The “lockdown relaxation” notifications that greet citizens of Karnataka every week or other. But even with this prodigious verbiage, they fail to impart any clarity on what is sought to be conveyed. This lack of clarity can be observed in local WhatsApp groups being full of questions like “But does this mean I can’t do this ?” in the days following publication of the notification. Graphic credit: Anirudh Koushik (Click to view full image) The problems in these notifications can be divided into four main categories: The "Spock" category ("Illogical, Captain!" for Star Trek fans)The…

In part 1 of this story, we saw the economic impact on informal waste workers’ livelihood and the entire informal recycling sector due to the lockdown. We now see what policy changes have been proposed in the waste recycling sector and what action Bengaluru has taken on the ground. Let’s start with understanding the informal waste recycling sector -- this Indian ecosystem is quite unique . A formal study on Recycling Hubs showed Bengaluru’s informal recycling value chains crisscross the formal and informal segments of the economy at many different levels. Recycling sector - Value chain. Graphic source: Valuing Urban…

 “I don’t even know who my family were,” says Reena Kinnar, a 24-year-old transgender person, living near Delhi Gate, “They never came to see me , they don’t even know whether I am alive or dead. After being rejected by my family, I found solace and refuge with other hijras who were also struggling to survive.” This conversation, a part of a survey that I conducted on trans people in Delhi earning their living on the streets, reflects the realities of many like Reena. The survey was conducted across areas like New Delhi railway station, Rajghat, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place,…

Besides health, the socio-economic distress caused by the pandemic is likely to leave a deep impact on the urban milieu. Urban agglomerations are often characterized as organic, dynamic life systems quite capable of being able to adapt, respond to opportunities and absorb adversity. Their vibrancy is argued to be inhibited and even distorted by state interventions. The disparities and inequalities that characterize several Indian cities might lead one to question these beliefs even during regular times. However, the pandemic has thrown up several new questions on the resilience of cities. Whether this be the exodus of migrant workers, loss of…

In Part I and Part II of our focus on urban jobs and livelihoods, we had examined the need for and feasibility of an Urban Work Guarantee scheme. Citizen Matters also spoke to two eminent economists on the various issues concerning creation of such a scheme. Amit Basole, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Employment at APU (Azim Premji University), has been advocating an urban employment guarantee programme since 2019, and particularly since COVID lockdowns. Dr Jos Chathukulam is lead author of an EPW paper about Kerala’s experiment with its Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme. That such a scheme is…

Sweeping changes at the helm of affairs in government brings with it sweeping changes in ground realities as well. In the mid-nineties, even though the IT revolution was already well underway, Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, then called Madras, did not sport a presentable or attractive enough look for a capital city. In fact, it was way behind other state capitals and metro cities in terms of the first impression it made. Soon after their victory in the May 1996 elections, then CM M Karunanidhi renamed the city as Chennai and initiated a host of projects under the umbrella…

With COVID, lockdowns, unemployment, heartbreaking journeys of migrant workers back to their villages, news of illness and death making headlines every morning, this year has taken its toll on all of us. Hunkered down in our houses, distanced from family, friends and colleagues, we had few reasons for cheer. But even amid this seemingly incessant gloom, we found some inspiration from the citizen engagement and impact that we saw in several spheres. Though the government failed us consistently and abysmally, warriors among us arose to take control of the situation. Men and women across the country organized toolkits, Twitter drives…

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”― George Orwell, 1984 How do we use language to shape and control thoughts? How do we use language for behaviour change? How do we use language for affirmative action? How do we use language to respect the person as a whole rather than as a trait,  a diagnosis or a condition?  In the early days, before the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, one term that repeatedly made the rounds was 'social distancing'.  Benign as it sounds, to behave responsibly by maintaining a certain physical distance from the…

This is a time of immense grief and loss for me. Unable to face the harsh reality of my mother gasping for each breath in the ICU, I was drowning myself in work. Coincidentally or so I think, I was working on a report analysing asphyxiation of Vrishabhavathi, Arkavathi, and Cauvery rivers, and suffocation of aquatic lifeforms the rivers supported. As the dissolved oxygen graph took shape, I realised: The million times I had held the dissolved oxygen meter underwater to measure oxygen saturation levels across rivers was no different from the million times we plugged the oximeter to my mother’s…

The COVID pandemic has exposed our hollow development strategies aimed at achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs), to which India is a signatory. This hasn’t just brought to the fore the need for revisiting our strategy to move forward for a better and equitable world harmonious with nature. At the same time, it has also thrown light on how the present processes will not help in achieving any landmark advancement in attaining close proximity to the sustainable development goals. Instead, what we are witnessing is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. To elucidate further, here are a few critical areas that require immediate intervention if we…