pourakarmika

Manjunath Prasad has been appointed as BBMP Commissioner. Pic Credit: KPLCL Manjunath Prasad back as BBMP Commissioner On Saturday, state government removed B H Anil Kumar from the post of BBMP Commissioner, and appointed N Manjunath Prasad instead. Manjunath Prasad has served as BBMP Commissioner previously. He has proposed divisional management of COVID-19 instead of the current practice of zonal management. As per the plan, a KAS official would be in charge of each of the 27 divisions in the city, with control rooms and adequate resources. They would also be tasked with ramping up ambulances and manpower. Source: The…

You see them every morning, all across the city. Pourakarmikas, pushing their rickety handcarts, sweeping the streets and collecting the garbage that residents, shops and others have just left by the roadside for them to clear. Bangalore actually needs many more of these unrecognised and overworked workers, who provide a truly essential service, keeping the city clean. But have you ever wondered what does their work mean to them? Is it a choice or a compulsion? Pourakarmikas toil in working conditions that are far from perfect, as numerous reports and studies have shown. Hired by contractors selected by the city…

Even as Bengaluru's waste generation has grown by 1,750% in 15 years, collection and management of the same have not kept pace. Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is planning a repeat of last year's trip to Singapore for many of its pourakarmikas in a few months, says Hari Shilpa, Assistant Commissioner of Administration, BBMP. They have issued notices to zonal level officers to send lists of potential candidates for the trip. Like last year, the four-day programme would probably include comprehensive sessions on safety gadgets and equipment, environment, beautification, the 50-year history of Singapore, water conservation, reuse and processing, collection…

KSNDMC warns of possible flooding in September Bengalureans felt the ripple effect of floods in Kodagu District (where a rainfall of 768mm left villages ravaged) on August 24, when the city received 43 mm of rainfall till 9 pm. Areas such as Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, Hebbal, Sadashivanagar, Kengeri, Adugodi and Mysore road received very heavy rainfall. Once the rain started, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) issued warnings by dispatching messages through their mobile application to certain key areas. The centre has forecast heavy rain in the immediate future, and has intimated the same to BBMP. Scientists warn that 80 mm…

Pourakarmika kills self due to non-payment of salary for six months:  As many as 3,385 waste-pickers who had joined the BBMP's workforce recently and have less than one year experience with the civic body, did not receive salaries for the last six months. This allegedly led to Subramani, 37 year old resident of Vyalikaval, committing suicide on July 8th. BBMP has claimed to have released Rs 27 crore on July 10 subsequently to ensure that others are paid their dues and that such incidents do not recur. Meanwhile, the civic body is also planning on-ground verification of workers, because the list includes…

Several hundred pourakarmikas gathered at the BBMP Head Office today to demand four months salary. The BBMP, which is the principal employer of these pourakarmikas decided to pay the workers directly from January 2018, and to rid the contract-system that was prevalent earlier. The biometric system that was put in place to identify the number of workers in the city, so that the BBMP can pay them directly has been ridden with discrepancies, thus creating a situation where powrakarmikas who turn up for work every day were marked absent and had their salaries cut. The State Government and BBMP also…

I thank God for small mercies. I still hear tiny birds chirping, crows cawing and squirrels screeching early in the morning when I wake up. I look through the window and see a squirrel gnawing at an unripe pomegranate in the garden. I smile to myself and feel happy that we are still left with a few pleasant things in the mornings. I enter the kitchen, pick up the bin with the "wet garbage" and leave it outside the gate.I pick up the morning newspaper and glance at the headlines. No, I shall not go deep into the text. It…

Early in the morning a Paurakarmika stands near my gate and calls. I peep out. "Amma, coffeeg enadru kodtheera?" (Will you give something for coffee?). She asks. I bend over the gate and show her the foot path and the drain. "Idanella yaar clean madowru? Regularag clean madidre enadru kodbahudu." (Who is supposed to clean all this? If you do this work then I could give you something). I say. "Mori clean madowru berevru barthaare." She says. I feel a bit annoyed. She pushes all the muck that is on the foot path into the drain and walks away sulking.…