PRESS RELEASE

This petition will be handed over to the Railways officially by the Hosur Payanigal Meambattu Sangham, on October 26, 2017, at 7.30 am, in Hosur Railway Station. To, Honorable Shri Piyush Goyal, The Honorable Minister of Indian Railways, Government of India. From, The Daily Rail Commuters between Hosur and Bengaluru Hosur Tamilnadu. Respected Sir, Sub: Requesting to approve the doubling of track between Hosur and Bengaluru; and stoppage of Express trains in a few stations. We are the proud passengers who commute up and down from Hosur to Bengaluru on daily basis to earn our livelihood. Most of us are…

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 66% of budgeted property tax of INR 2,600 crores collected in H1. Highest in the last five years. INR 1200 crores of Pending Bills cleared. Spends on current year’s works at INR 177 crores. 2422 Tenders for INR 925 crores raised against a residual budgeted spend of INR 5758 crores SECTION I | Analysis of Expenditure BBMP has spent INR 2,030 crores (26% of the total planned capex & maintenance on infrastructure), out of which INR 177 crores is towards works budgeted for the current financial year BBMP has allocated INR 7,788 crores towards various works, out of…

As a result of sustained struggle of contract powrakarmikas, in June 2017, the Karnataka Government took a cabinet decision mandating abolition of contractors and direct payment of wages to workers. Despite this decision, the BBMP has been dragging its feet to implement it and the contract pourakarmikas are suffering at the hands of the contractors on a daily basis!  The BBMP was a mute spectator to the illegal protest and strike held by the contractors on two occasions in August and September 2017, during which period, the workers worked despite serious threats. The Union protested against the illegal action of…

Seven corporators from Bengaluru have welcomed Greenpeace India’s campaign on composting and growing food. They have agreed to take forward the message of segregating, composting and using this compost to grow food. Joining them are more than 14,000 individuals who have pledged to do the same. The initiatives are part of Greenpeace India’s campaign ‘Waste To Food’. The campaign's objective is to ensure that solid waste that the city produces is segregated, composted and sent to farmers to use as fertiliser. This can reduce dependence on agro-chemicals for farmers, improve soil health and also comes back as safer food for…

Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), Bengaluru’s flagship community-funded literary event on the cultural calendar of the city, is all set for a sixth edition on October 28 and 29 at the Hotel Lalit Ashok lawns in Kumara Krupa High Grounds, Bengaluru. Building on the success of over the past five years, this year Bangalore Literature Festival (#blrlitfest) has a “Speak Up, Speak Out” theme and will feature a host of distinguished authors, speakers and artistes including Ramachandra Guha, Perumal Murugan, Paul Zacharia, Ambai, Hardeep Singh Puri, Suketu Mehta, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, NS Madhavan, Girish Karnad, Sonal Mansingh, Gideon Haigh, Twinkle…

The #SteelFlyoverBeda movement inspired citizens to come together and exercise their right to actively participate in governance.  #BekuBedaSanthe is being organized on Oct 15th 2017 by a large number of organizations, civic and social as a mark of one year anniversary. #BekuBedaSanthe  will serve as a platform for citizens across Bengaluru to express what they want for their area and city (ಬೇಕು) and what they do not want for their area and city (ಬೇಡ.) The Santhe is unique due to the broad and diverse set of  RWAs, NGOs, slum rights groups, unorganized sector representatives, civic groups, think tanks  and many others  joining…

Over the last few decades, we are witnessing how in the name of development our communities are being destroyed and our neighbourhoods transformed. This stems from the negligence and continued apathy of public officials and crippling of government institutions. Cities exist for its citizens, and all modern cities work on that fundamental principle. It is thus imperative that we, citizens of Bengaluru, have to take up on ourselves; to fight against massive corruption and institutional failure, misuse of public assets, deeply entrenched vested interests and the nexus of builders with public officials. Swarajya in association with Namma Bengaluru Foundation and…

“I cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples” - Mother Teresa We “Swachh Elita Swachh Bharat” volunteers are working for good environment from 2014. We have completed our 1000 days in month of August 2017. Elita Promenade Apartment is prime complex in J P Nagar 7th Phase, South Bengaluru with 1573 apartments. All the residents’ and Owners Association's participation and co-operation made the programme a great success. Our main initiatives are “Two Bin+One Bag – waste segregation with colour code bins” , “PLASTIC FREE ELITA” and “SWASTHA elita (Healthy elita)”.…

In 1942, it was ‘Vellayane Veliyeru’. In 2017, it is ‘Kollayane Veliyeru’ “Kollaiyane Veliyeru”, a large anti-corruption campaign movement to bring together all those who are against corruption is set to be launched at a public meeting this weekend on October 8th  at 4.30 Pm at Mylapore Mangollai. The event is facilitated by Arappor Iyakkam and is co-organized by citizens and various other organizations. Corruption affects all of us. Every day, from the traffic cop on the roads, to sand mining on our river beds, from RTOs issuing licenses to 2G spectrum, from stretcher charges in government hospitals to illegal…

The survey of street vendors in south zone was to have taken place in the south zone between 25th September and 28th September. The survey has started in several wards but is not complete and in fact has been called off. Additionally there are several issues in how it has been done. In Some wards like ward 170, it has happened as per guidelines however in a lot of other places its not done. Here are some issues: 1) Not enough forms: In ward 123 and 168, there have not been enough forms. We are not sure if the forms…