Governance | Citizen Matters

Fighting COVID-19 in Dharavi with just a face mask, Mumbai police gets a raw deal

June 1, 2020 Santoshee Gulabkali Mishra

Over 2000 cops in Mumbai have tested positive and 20 have succumbed to the disease. This could have been minimised had the 50000 strong force been better trained and equipped.

Op-ed: Now is the time to think of effective civic technology linking the citizen and state

May 26, 2020 Aditi Ramesh

As the world shifts increasingly online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, civic technology can serve as a mechanism to distribute welfare, amplify citizen voices, and strengthen citizen-state relations.

Lal Dora: The invisible red thread limiting the lives of Delhi’s ‘urban villagers’

May 23, 2020 Paras Tyagi and Antara Vats

Villages like Budhela, Munirka, Mehrauli and others have all been absorbed into the urban limits of Delhi. But what does it mean for the natives and migrants residing here?

Does latest government protocol quell fears over safety of Aarogya Setu?

May 15, 2020 Rishabh Shrivastava

Who can access your personal data from the Aarogya Setu app and for how long? Latest govt rules clarify, but does that address safety concerns?

Looking beyond the cost of a ticket: Should migrant labourers go home?

May 12, 2020 Manasi Paresh Kumar

Watching the heartbreaking images of migrant labourers trying to reach home during the lockdown, it seems cruel to argue that they stay put. But to allow them to go back may be even more disastrous.

When Pune has almost as many COVID cases as Chennai, can we blame density alone?

May 7, 2020 Apekshita Varshney

Many experts have made urban density the culprit behind the spread of the coronavirus contagion in cities. But, it is really more about daily living and working conditions that our cities can ensure.

Why Shramik trains and other promises have brought little cheer to Mumbai’s migrant workers

May 5, 2020 Hepzi Anthony

Mumbai has an estimated 3 million migrant workers. Even if the railways ferry about 2400 people in two trains per day, it will take a couple of months to transport them back home.

How Chandigarh’s four-pronged strategy is helping the city fight COVID-19

April 29, 2020 Raj Machhan

Municipal Commissioner K K Yadav talks about the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the strategies adopted by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to tackle the same.

Learnings from a month-long lockdown: How to deliver food and essentials to citizens

April 28, 2020 Siddhant Kalra

In the first part of our COVID Learning Series, we look at how different cities have been dealing with the challenge of providing essentials for all during the lockdown.

Thiruvananthapuram: Confusion over colour coding leads to chaos after lockdown relaxation

April 24, 2020 N V Ravindranathan Nair

Residents of Trivandrum took the relaxations as a nod to get back to how it was before the corona outbreak and caused traffic bottlenecks at different parts of the city on April 20. In fact, the capital city is a hot spot though Thiruvananthapuram district as a whole is categorised as Orange zone.

“House-to-house delivery is the only way to avoid chaos and crowding”: Social Development Officer, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation

April 17, 2020 Raj Machhan

In a video interview with Citizen Matters, Chandigarh’s Social Development Officer Vivek Trivedi talks about the steps that his department has taken to ensure supply of essentials to citizens during the COVID lockdown.

Five steps that enabled Bhilwara to defeat COVID-19 and become a model containment zone

April 14, 2020 Kavita Kanan Chandra

With hotspots and containment zones on the rise across the country, how Bhilwara, the first such hotspot, handled the situation deserves to be highlighted.

How India’s cops play Good Samaritans and brutal oppressors, dealing with a national emergency

April 10, 2020 Vijaya Pushkarna

Ever since India went into lockdown, the police have been the most visible on the ground trying to enforce it — donning various caps at different times. But lack of adequate training in disaster management often leaves them as much out of depth as anyone else.

Phased exit from lockdown: What does the Centre’s containment plan say?

April 10, 2020 Rishabh Shrivastava

As coronavirus positive cases near the 6000 mark, an immediate end to the nationwide lockdown on April 15th is very unlikely. Instead, states are looking at containment strategies to keep ‘hotspots’ under total lockdown. Here are the basic guidelines from the Ministry of Health that will drive such containment strategies.

Dos and don’ts for WhatsApp users and admins during the COVID-19 pandemic

April 9, 2020 News Desk

A brief advisory issued by the Office of the Special Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra Cyber Police regarding the responsibilities of every WhatsApp user and admin during this coronavirus outbreak