GENRE: Voices

Since April 1, Maraa, a media and arts collective based in Bengaluru, has been trying to ensure relief for migrant workers stranded in the city during COVID-19 lockdown. Our efforts have included conducting independent surveys and audits, fundraising, ration distribution and putting pressure on the BBMP to ensure accountability. During this period, several problems have risen that we feel need to be brought to public attention, primarily the government’s lack of response and accountability towards migrant workers. We have used our work in Chinappa layout in Mahadevpura, and Doddagubbi, as case studies to highlight these issues.  We received SOS calls…

Lakhs of street vendors in Bengaluru have been badly impacted due to the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. We are on the 30th day of lockdown, and 90% of the city's street vendors have not been able to carry out their livelihood as they would during normal circumstances.  There are several news reports of migrant workers being stranded without wages and food. However, street vendors are also facing a similar situation. Neither can they carry out their sole means of earning, which is street vending, nor do not have an employer from whom they can demand wages. “If…

In this series, individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In the fourth part of the series, the president of an apartment association describes the measures they took. COVID-19 pandemic has tragically brought home the truth of the age-old Sanskrit saying Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, meaning 'the world is one family’. With this thought in mind, the management committee of Century Saras, an apartment complex in Yelahanka New Town, formed a task force for dealing with the COVID-19 threat immediately after the national lockdown was announced. The task force took the…

This article is co-authored by Jillian Du, Robin King and Radha Chanchani The COVID-19 pandemic has created a disruptive new normal for everyone through shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines. But for the billions of urban poor, these guidelines aren’t just burdensome; they’re essentially impossible. Social distancing is a critically important response to the pandemic, but it also assumes that residents have adequate space, services and social safety nets to survive such an order. This is simply not the reality across cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. More than 1 billion people live in slums and informal settlements globally. As much…

Co-authored by Angarika Guha and Senthil S Amidst the shiny offices and gated complexes of a prominent IT corridor in the city lies Chinappa layout, Mahadevpura, home to close to 600 migrant workers from West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. Scattered across the area, they live inside blue tarpaulin tents, small concrete sheds, inside godowns filled with plastic, scrap metal and tin, or between the bamboo poles in construction sites. Bricks, tiles, garbage, waste, scrap, cooking, cleaning, sifting, constructing, clearing - their work is crucial to the daily fabric of life in the city. The lockdown caught them unawares.…

WithBengaluru, a citizens' initiative that came together to support vulnerable groups during the lockdown, has reached dry rations to over 11,000 families. The team has also written a letter to the Chief Minister, asking the government to use anganwadis, mid-day meal programme and the PDS effectively, and to transfer Rs 1500 per family to tackle the food crisis. The national lockdown due to COVID-19 is having a huge impact on various groups of people. The lockdown is particularly detrimental to the millions of internal migrants, many of whom work in the informal sector and as daily wagers. The sustenance of…

Vivek Trivedi, 43, Social Development Officer at the Municipal Corporation** Chandigarh, is the man behind the resettlement of over 10,000 street vendors and hawkers operating in Chandigarh since the 90s. By regularising these vendors and giving them licences and specified work spaces, he has been responsible for generating revenues of Rs 24 crore for the cash strapped Chandigarh MC. An urban and social development expert, Vivek had earlier worked as Project Director with the United Nations Development Program and various social sector organisations of the union government. He is a fellow of the Al Gore Climate Leaders Program and has…

குடும்பத்தார்கள் வீட்டில் இருக்க வேண்டும், அவர்களுடன் நேரம் செலவழிக்க வேண்டும் என்று விரும்புவதுதான் பெண்களின் பொதுவான மனநிலையென உலகத்தால் பார்க்கப்படுகிறது. அவ்வாறிருக்க, தற்போது கொரோனா  தடுப்பு நடவடிக்கையான இந்த ஊரடங்கினால் முழுநாளும், முழுக்குடும்பமும் ஒரு வீட்டுக்குள் முடங்கிய நிலையில், தேநீர், சிற்றுண்டி, உணவு, மருந்து, இத்யாதி என ஒவ்வொருவருக்கும் வேளா வேளைக்கு தேவைப்படுகின்ற சூழ்நிலையிலும், அவர்களின் மனநிலை அப்படியே தானிருக்குமா அல்லது சலிப்பு மேலிட்டிருக்குமா? அல்லது இந்த யதார்த்தமானது இது சார்பான வேறொரு கண்ணோட்டத்தைத் தந்திருக்குமா? கற்பனையே செய்து பார்த்திருக்க முடியாத ஒரு நிலைமாற்றத்திற்குள் உட்பட்டிருப்பது நாம் மட்டுமல்ல முழு உலகும் தான் என அறிந்து மனங்கள் அதை ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள ஆரம்பித்திருந்தாலும், உண்மைகளானது ஒவ்வொருவரின் முன்னால் நின்று  முகத்தில் அறைவதால் முதிர்ச்சியும் முரண்பாடும் சேர்ந்தே பிரசவமாகின்றதென பெண்கள் பலரது அனுபவங்களைக் கேட்கும் போது புரிந்துகொள்ள முடிகிறது.  இந்த வழக்கத்துக்கு மாறான சூழல் வாழ்க்கையில் இதுவரை படிக்காமல் விட்ட பக்கங்களை நமக்கு…

In a recent interview with Citizen Matters, S T Ramesh, former Karnataka DG&IGP (Director General and Inspector General of Police), had pointed out the challenges as well as the shortcomings of the police in enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown. Ramesh had opined that the police was able to reduce social contact but failed to keep essential services unhindered. We caught up with the current DG&IGP Praveen Sood for his take. Over a phone interview, Sood said that the situation with respect to COVID-19 escalated so quickly that the police were caught off-guard. There was no specific protocol to follow, and no…

There is no doubt what we are facing today is a way of life that is alien to us and it is an undeniable fact that people are frightened under the current circumstances. It is important to be well informed and follow guidelines, but some of the anxiety exhibited in the past few weeks has been disproportionate. People are paranoid about touching their own furniture. Too much information leads to difficulty in processing all the information. I believe it is important for us to stop obsessing about Coronavirus and reading Corona news through the day....people read more and interpret what…