Governance

Nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), a District Election Officer (DEO) supervises election-related work in the district. In other words, the officer is responsible for ensuring good polling percentage, preparation of booths, setting up the grievance redressal system in coordination with the ECI, and conduct of other election-related duties.  G Prakash, Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation is the DEO of Chennai. Ahead of him lies the Herculean task of ensuring safe, smooth elections during an ongoing pandemic, as the city gets set to vote along with the rest of the state in the Assembly elections scheduled for…

The road map for the next five years for devolution of funds to the states, as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission (XVFC), is ready. Tragically though, despite the many important lessons the COVID pandemic taught us, the Finance Commission’s report seems to have largely ignored these lessons. The draft XVFC recommendations totally ignore the aspirations of the states and their hopes of getting their due share. In fact, the structure of the recommendations has been made more discretionary in favour of the Centre, with little thought of the states' needs, based on fairness and equity. In fact, the report’s…

In the past few years, our elected representatives - right from MPs to our corporators - have made half-hearted promises to release a report card of sorts of their performance in office.  On 26th July 2019, Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty raised the following question in the house: whether the Government proposes to amend the Representation of the People Act to make it compulsory for political parties winning general and assembly elections to bring details regarding fulfilment of promises made by them in their manifestoes in public forum in the third year and making recognition of political parties contingent upon…

Translated by Sandhya Raju முப்பத்தியோரு வயது பொறியாளர் எம் பி அழகு பாண்டிய ராஜா, ஜனவரி 25-ம் தேதி அன்று இந்தியாவின் முதல் நகர பதுமுறைகாணல் அதிகாரியாக (City Innovation Officer) நியமிக்கப்பட்டார். இங்கிலாந்தில் மென்பொருள் நிறுவனத்தில் ஐந்து ஆண்டுகள் வேலை பார்த்த அழகு பாண்டிய ராஜா, தாய் நாட்டிற்கு பங்களிக்க வேண்டும் என்ற உந்துதலால், சென்னை திரும்பினார். இந்தியன் ஸ்மார்ட் சிட்டி ஃபெலோ (Indian Smart City Fellow) பணியில் தன்னை இணைத்துக் கொண்ட அவர், சென்னை மாநகராட்சியுடன் இணைந்து ஆகியவற்றிற்கு புது தீர்வுகளை கொண்டு வந்தார். சென்னை மாநகராட்சி ஆணையர் ஜி பிரகாஷ் மற்றும் வருவாய் துணை ஆணையர் மேகநாத் ரெட்டி ஆகியோரின் முயற்சியே புதுமுறைகாணலுக்கான ஒரு பிரிவினை உருவாக்க காரணம் என்கிறார். இந்த புதிய பதவியில் அவரது பங்கு குறித்தும், பதுமுறைகாணல் அதிகாரியாக பொது மக்களுடனான ஈடுபாடு குறித்தும் அவரிடம் சிட்டிசன் மேட்டர்ஸ் உரையாடியது. சென்னையின்…

Late last year, Balaji Vijayaraghavan, a criminology student from Chennai, downloaded Snapit, a money-lending app. A few days later, he lost close to a lakh from his bank account.  Balaji immediately froze his bank accounts and launched an investigation along with Save Them India Foundation, an NGO working in the cybersecurity front, into how the data breach occurred. “When we began to probe the issue, I learnt that there were 59 malware in the digital lending app that I installed,” says Balaji “Although I did not log in on the app or give permission to access details of other apps…

On January 25th, Chennai appointed the country’s first Innovation Officer. 31-year-old engineer M P Azhagu Pandia Raja is all set to assume the role. Azhagu Pandia Raja spent five years with a software firm in the UK, before his urge to contribute to the nation brought him back to the country. He has since had a successful stint as an Indian Smart City Fellow, during which time he pioneered solutions around waste management and COVID response, working closely with the Chennai Corporation.  He credits the efforts of G Prakash, Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation and Meghanath Reddy, Deputy Commissioner, Revenue in…

“It was a tough time and we were really stressed and worried,” recalled Adarsh, a student pursuing law in a Dehradun college. Adarsh was one of many students who had come to study in one of Dehradun’s many educational institutions who were caught totally unprepared by the sudden lockdown last March. “We really struggled to understand the government rules and make sense of it”. The challenge, for students like Adarsh and the public at large was two fold. One, the uncertainties arising from the lockdown and two, figuring out the many government advisories in order to plan their travel back…

Smart, enthusiastic and brave -- that’s how those who loved Pavithra (name changed) will always remember her. Pavithra had an army of friends. Always curious, she used to ask questions about everything under the sun. Bright, vivacious, energetic. Until a traumatic incident changed her life.  Four years ago, Pavithra was sexually assaulted by her neighbour -- a college-going student. The 13-year-old girl withdrew herself from the world. ‘Why did it happen to me?’ is the only question she asks her mother these days. “She used to be brave even as a child. The incident has shaken her so much that…

Donna Fernandes, founder of Vimochana, an NGO that works for women’s rights, is harried for the past few weeks. She's been trying and get a shelter, ration and compensation for a victim of domestic violence. Working in this field for forty years, she finds that the issues that plague society and affect women victims, remain unchanged. Like `the more things change, the more they don’t'. Take for instance, the Nirbhaya Fund, set up by the Central government after the December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi. The fund was to help survivors of violence and improve infrastructure to support women…

Unlike the centre and state budgets, there's little discussion on municipal budgets in India. Multiple media reports highlight that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is India's richest municipal corporation with a budget higher than most states. But there's little awareness on what the budget entails, how BMC earns or spends its money, and how can a citizen keep track of its revenue or expenditure. Here's a look at some of its core features before BMC presents its 2021-22 budget. Who prepares the budget? Budgets at the centre and state are prepared and presented by the respective Finance Ministers. But the…