Governance

At the entrance of the Jankalyan Society at Dahisar, near the lift, a blackboard asks residents to clear their pending maintenance charges. Signed by the building's Mahila Mandal Sudhar Samiti (MMSS) or resident women's group, the note also urges residents that they would be able to offer better services to residents if maintenance dues are paid on time.  Though a number of garbage bins lie below their building, the provisional committee members of the Society are convinced that their building is cleaner and better maintained compared to other buildings provided by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) Mumbai. Even so, at…

A study conducted by the Chennai-based NGO, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), on World Bank-financed housing projects in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu reveals that nearly four decades after the implementation of the project, a majority of the beneficiaries still await land titles and sale deeds that were promised to them. The study, titled 'Implementation of the World Bank-financed Housing Projects in Tamil Nadu and its Impact on the Deprived Urban Communities', has been compiled based on the existing information and updates available in various citizens’ reports and participatory assessments that were facilitated by IRCDUC…

The Karnataka government launched the Gruha Lakshmi Scheme on August 30th in Mysuru. Under this scheme, Rs 2,000 will be transferred every month to the bank accounts of the woman head of every eligible family. The state government claims that this scheme will benefit nearly 1.28 crore women across Karnataka, making it one of the largest monetary transfer schemes in India. The scheme is part of the five guarantees by the Congress government. The five welfare schemes include: 200 units of free power to all households under Gruha Jyothi 10 kilograms of rice free to every member of a below…

"I was not someone who aspired to become a politician. My dad is the reason I am here now. He has been associated with politics and the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for over two decades. However, I never felt like his involvement in politics was political. It felt more like social service. This made me more interested in politics and when I got the opportunity to contest in the urban local body polls, I went for it," says Nilavarasi Durairaj, the 24-year-old Councillor from Ward 136 in Chennai. Interestingly, Nilavarasi is a full-time MBA student. She balances her studies along…

The irony was too stark and tragic to ignore. Along with millions of fellow countrymen, I whooped with joy and pride at India becoming the first nation to land its Chandrayan 3 lander safely on the moon’s southern polar region. Unfortunately, the day's newspaper was lying next to me and I could not help notice the headline that stared back at me. A young girl had suffered serious injury as an electric pole fell on her. Just a day or so earlier, the same newspaper had carried a similar headline. Then again, the victim, a young man, had been grievously…

More than 2400 families from tenements of BDD chawls, have shifted to transit camps over the past year. This is less than half of the number of 5104 tenements meant to be relocated in the Phase-I of the relocation process. While many families from over 16,000 houses will be relocated as part of the BDD redevelopment project, some might opt for rental accommodation on their, and some will shift to their own redeveloped houses as they get ready. If the scale of the project is not overwhelming enough, the initial experiences of residents at transit camps have added to the…

When the Centre refused to allow the state government to procure rice from the Food Corporation of India, the Anna Bhagya scheme appeared to be in danger. As a solution, the Congress-led state government reduced the amount of food grains supplied through ration shops and initiated cash transfers in lieu of the remaining rice. As per the revamped Anna Bhagya scheme, recipients would now get 3 kgs of rice, 2 kgs of ragi and Rs 170 per person on the ration card. Each household can now get a maximum of 21 kgs of rice and 9 kgs of ragi. In…

In a little over a year, the BBMP has conducted yet another ward delimitation exercise. In June 2022, the civic body announced that Bengaluru would have 243 wards. On August 18th this year, close to midnight, the civic body announced a fresh delimitation exercise that has yielded 225 wards for the city. What are the major changes in the city’s ward boundaries and how can you, the citizen, engage with these changes? Timeline of events Delimitation is an exercise conducted to redraw ward boundaries and account for the change in ward population over time. This is done to ensure proportional…

When the Congress party came to power in May 2023, Priya* was excited. The domestic worker from North Bengaluru says she understands little about politics, but she knew about the five guarantees. Nearly four months after its victory, the state government is celebrating the fulfilment of at least four of the five guarantees. Priya, however, has mixed feelings about the schemes. She agrees that at least two guarantees-free electricity and bus travel-have been fulfilled and she is now registered for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. But the Anna Bhagya or free rice scheme has left her confused. “I thought we would…

"I studied in a government school and grew up in a place where there were no basic amenities. So I know the struggles of the people in my Ward through lived experience and I strive to make life easy for them," says A Priyadharshini of Ward 98 in Chennai, the youngest Councillor in Chennai. Politics is very much part of Priyadharshini's family. "Both my mother and father are members of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) for more than 25 years. I was also part of the Students Federation of India (SFI) during my school days. Later, during my college days,…