GENRE: Voices

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…

Media reports indicate that the Centre and state governments are looking at options for a graded exit from the lockdown. This note lists certain factors to be kept in mind before deciding that strategy. The consequences of the lockdown have been felt most sharply by urban daily wage earners like street vendors, auto drivers, migrant workers, and marginalised and stigmatised communities like sex workers and transgender communities, nomadic communities who earn as they move, frontline workers engaged in cleaning and health, farmers and landless farm workers. There has been a severe impact on food security, livelihood, security and health. Besides,…

COVID-19 has caught us all unawares, but in the last few weeks Bengaluru has sprung on its feet to tackle the crisis. BBMP has set up a war room to centrally oversee the situation, police are working overtime, and so are hospitals and medical staff. Besides, innumerable citizens are doing their bit to distribute money, medicines, food and other essentials to those in need. It’s heartwarming to see how the city has come together yet again. But what we have now is an adrenaline-filled system - both formal and informal - that’s working overtime, doing whatever it takes to cope…

To lockdown or not to lockdown, that is the question. There are other questions too. To lift the lockdown totally in one go, to lift it partially, or to prepare a calibrated lifting of the lockdown, starting April 15. The pressure cooker comparison may not be far off the mark. As the lockdown continues, the slow build of pressure among people cooped up in their homes can be seen. As also the hope and anticipation of freedom. The social fallout if those hopes are dashed, are in no way predictable. The question is how to enable the gradual release of…

In this series, various individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In this first part of the series, a volunteer of Whitefield Rising collective describes the measures they took. March 10, 2020, marked the seventh anniversary of the citizen movement Whitefield Rising (WR). But celebrations were muted – rather, non-existent. Anxiety and an eerie silence had gripped Whitefield as news trickled in about the arrival of COVID-19 in our neighbourhood. An MNC employee who returned from the United States via Dubai a week ago had tested positive for the…

Trained and accustomed to catching criminals, maintaining law and order and regulating traffic, there is nothing in its experience or training that qualifies the police force to deal with a contagion like COVID-19. “Curfew” is perhaps the only term in the police vocabulary that comes close to defining what the doctors have prescribed: social distancing. Little wonder then, that the police went about addressing this social/humanitarian challenge with law-and-order tools. The results were there for all to see. Citizen Matters spoke to a former head of the Karnataka State Police, S T Ramesh, about the newest challenge before the police…