Civic

For Sukumaran Menon K, the outcome of a two-year-long protest against injustice is more trouble and misery. Sukumaran hails from a small town called Triprayar located in Trissur, Kerala. He came to Bangalore 49 years ago to join Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). Now, seven years after his retirement, Menon is on the footpath asking for justice. He sits on fast on a stone bench on M G Road near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi from 8 am to 6 pm, holding his faded umbrella under the scorching sun. Menon's Samadhana Satyagraha started on March 21, 2011. No government official…

It's 9.40 pm. I wait patiently outside Dr. Ashwath Narayan's chamber in his house. I was supposed to catch him at 9 pm; but was told that 'doctor is running 15 minutes late.' Here I am, waiting for him to finish his interview with another media person. The assistant sitting at the desk politely explains the situation: "We were on a padayatra; it got late when we returned; then the doctor attended this scheduled meeting, hence the delay." Quite understandable, given the fact that the 'doctor' is trying hard to retain his constituency for the second term. Finally at 9.45…

"Ticket!!!" he screams at me, looking scandalised about the fact that the bus had already left from the bus stop and I didn't have a ticket yet. "13 rupees. Ticket!!!" he exclaims, as I pull out a 20 rupee note, due to the lack of loose change. He throws me a look venomous enough to turn Medusa herself into a stone. Ashamed of myself for not carrying change, I quietly allow myself to be pulled, pushed and generally tossed in every direction as the driver ensures that the speed breakers don't fulfil their purpose. Volvo buses usually have some space…

Dinesh Gundu Rao, three-time MLA of Gandhi Nagar constituency in the heart of the city, is considered one among the youth leaders of Congress party. Son of ex-chief minister of the state Gundu Rao, he is an engineering graduate. He is contesting from Gandhinagar constituency for the fourth time. In a telephonic interview to Citizen Matters, he shared his views on the development of his constituency. Dinesh Gundu Rao Pic courtesy: dineshgundurao.com What were the topics of your focus in your constituency?The prime focus was development of each ward; ensuring proper facilities- roads, drains, water, garbage, footpaths, safety, education, cleanliness,…

With the onset of summer, many of the parks in the city have dried up. Most parks maintained by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) were using up water from the bore wells on their premises. But over the last few months, many borewells have been drying up. Wipro Park in Koramangala has been drying up. Pic: Navya P K Parvathi Srirama, Joint Secretary of Koramangala 4th block RWA, says that compared to December, there is much water shortage now in parks. Parvathi, also a ward committee member of Koramangala, is in charge of monitoring parks in the area. Swabhiman…

Narendra Babu's phone keeps ringing. Some are from his office, but many are by the voters of his constituency. One such phone call is from a worried woman whose child has to undergo an operation; she doesn't have funds. Her husband is an auto driver. They are not sure how to get government aid. He tells her to meet him along with all related documents if any, at his office on Monday or Thursday, during the official public meetings.The venue is Anushrutha Foundation, his NGO, a little ahead of his office-cum-residence. Another woman who has come to the NGO wants…

What is the root cause behind ineffective political leadership? Lack of training, among many other reasons, plays a major part. So will training the change-agents and policy makers change the course of politics too? Yes, says Prof Rajeev Gowda, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). He is planning to prove it by offering Political Action Internships, scheduled from 11 April to 9 May. Rajeev Gowda Prof Rajeev Gowda is one among those Bangaloreans who grew up in Bangalore, and later watched Bangalore expand beyond limits. He has been a part of the Centre for Public Policy (CPP),…

Last September, after a long delay, the BBMP had invited new tenders for garbage collection and transportation in 91 packages. The 198 wards of the city are covered by these 91 packages. But the new tenders have come to effect in not even half of these; only 43 packages have new contractors now. In the remaining 48 packages, work is still being done by old contractors by extending their previous contracts.But a bunch of new tenders - 12 of them - were approved by the state government on March 20, 2013. The government's approval came on the day when the…

Owners of an apartment complex in Sarjapur woke up one morning to find that their builder had claim to a large portion of the premises inside the complex which he was planning to turn into a commercial enterprise. Even worse, the builder was telling the court that they were not qualified to even contest the claim, as the owners' association had been registered wrongly. Instances such as these are not altogether too rare in Bengaluru, as highlighted in an earlier article in Citizen Matters. Prevailing ignorance about existing laws and the deliberate flouting of rules by builders and developers have…

"Not only did I have to point out the corruption, I had to do the complete investigation and support it with proof. It took me two full years to gather all the documents required to expose the corrupt BBMP engineers," says S R Venkataram, 82, a veteran RTI activist.Venkataram realised the power of RTI early on, "I started using the powerful RTI tool soon after it was enacted in 2005 which enables any citizen to fight corruption and ensure good governance in Government offices." Venkatram S R, RTI Activist with his neatly documented set of RTIs. Following up on public…