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Chennai Central results on May 23 saw the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran emerging the winner. He beat his nearest rivals Sam Paul (PMK) and Kameela Nasser (MNM) with a comfortable margin. Chennai Central is a diverse constituency with a wide cross-section of voters belonging to all socio-economic classes. There is cultural diversity as well - a sizeable Hindi and Urdu speaking population, apart from Telugus and Malayalis.  It has a significant Muslim population - over 2 lakhs - in Chepauk – Triplicane and Egmore assembly constituencies. Chennai Central Parliamentary constituency is comprised of six assembly constituencies — Villivakkam, Egmore (SC), Harbour,…

Dr Kalanidhi Veeraswamy of the DMK has won from North Chennai. He is the son of veteran DMK leader and former state minister Arcot Veeraswamy. A doctor and graduate of Stanley Medical College, this is Kalanidhi’s political debut. Citizen Matters had interviewed Dr Kalanidhi during the election campaign in April. Here he talks about his plans for improving North Chennai, from closing the Kodangaiyur dump yard to decongestion, from creation of jobs to infrastructure for fisherfolk. What are the problems that people put forth to you over the course of your campaign? The information we got from assembly constituencies and…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship “Madam, all I want now is a job that will help me meet my monthly expenses. That is all.” The worry in Sridhar’s voice and the desperation on his face as he says this, cannot be captured in words. Sridhar’s story is similar to that of many, who in their late teens or early twenties moved to Bengaluru in search of a job, often leaving behind ageing parents and small plots of farmland in their villages. Every year, thousands migrate to Bengaluru in search of a livelihood, to support themselves and…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his campaign speech in Aligarh on April 14th, invoked three main development indicators, "bijli...kanoon vyavastha...sadak” (electricity, law and order and roads)**." Development or "vikas" has been one of two constants in his campaign; the other being "karobaar " or business. In his Aligarh speech, he specifically mentioned how this election was a fight to get "nyay" not only for youth, women and farmers but also for "chote karobaari" or small business owners. Yet, in Aligarh, vikas and chote karobaari clashed head on when shops belonging to small business owners were demolished to widen roads as…

Thiruvallur Parliamentary constituency is comprised of six assembly constituencies -- Madhavaram, Poonamalle, Avadi, Ponneri, Gummidipoondi and Thiruvallur. Once part of the Sriperumbudur constituency, Thiruvallur was carved out as a separate constituency in 2008 after delimitation. A total of 20 candidates are contesting from various political parties and as independent candidates from Chennai South. The Election Commission of India has rejected 17 applications for the constituency, while two of them withdrew after filing the nominations.  According to the election commission of India’s website, the constituency has a total of 1946242 voters: 961864 male, 984032 female and 346 transgenders. Thiruvallur shares its…

The National Coalition for Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization, comprised of a group of people across different parts of the country, is involved in exploring questions pertaining to the city and whom the urban is meant for. The Coalition has recently put out a charter, endorsed by 150+ organizations and 2 lakh signatories across 40 cities, that lays out a number of steps that can be taken to make development in cities more inclusive and sustainable, keeping the real ‘Citymakers’ - urban poor and worker groups - and their rights at the centre of discourse and action. Right to Housing and…

“We want policies and schemes that are people centric, not nominal ones that our elected representatives decide,” say volunteers of Chittoor People’s Action Committee (CPAC). CPAC is a pro-active citizen movement and the voice of the people in Chittoor, a city crying out for basic amenities and infrastructure.   CPAC has interacted with more than 5000 citizens from Chittoor, Gangadhara Nellore and Puthalapattu constituencies, to deliver a data-centric, in-depth citizens' manifesto.  The manifesto is the end product of various surveys and workshops such as Nenu Bharath Aithe (inspired from a political drama movie starring Mahesh Babu). The volunteers of CPAC…

India is in the midst of an acute unemployment crisis. Unemployment rate is at a 45-year high of 6.1 percent in 2017-18 as per the leaked Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). According to the NSSO data, unemployment rate in urban areas is 7.8 percent with open unemployment of about 20 percent among the educated youth. In addition, majority in urban India work in the informal sector and are thus exposed to a host of risks and precarities. This, along with continued ecological degradation and crumbling urban infrastructure needs urgent attention. To address…

In February, the Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited – MSPDCL announced a whopping number of total vacancies within the company --- 622 for various posts across departments. The jobs advertised included those for Computer Operator, Junior Technical Assistant and other vacancies. Other than two positions which required a Bachelor’s degree, the vacancies were mostly for undergraduates and specified no requirement for technical or higher education. Given the open call and the large number of vacancies, the response was overwhelming. Unemployed youths – men and women thronged the MSPDCL office located in the state capital Imphal. The large number of applicants swelled to…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had on January 21st released new tenders for Solid Waste Management( SWM) in Bengaluru city. However, the tender faced criticism from different quarters including several BBMP Corporators, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and BBMP Contractors. As a result a committee was been constituted to study the tender and recommend changes, and the committee has now decided to go ahead with no changes in the tender. What does the new tender say ?  The new tender calls for proposals in all 198 BBMP wards for daily "Primary door-to-door collection and transportation of segregated wet waste,…