Governance

Even as it was grappling with increasing COVID-19 cases, on April 21, the Karnataka government swiftly notified the Zonal Regulations (Amendment), 2020 (ZRA). The new regulations are aimed at conserving heritage sites, buildings, precincts and natural features. They will apply to Zonal Regulations/Master Plans of all local planning areas in the state, including Bengaluru. ZRA specifies rules for identifying and preserving the state’s heritage, and conservationists, by large, have welcomed it. With ZRA, Bengaluru would have a dedicated authority to identify and protect a wide range of heritage sites including natural features. However, there are concerns about the composition of…

At a time when the world is increasingly shifting online, there is growing potential for our relationship with the state to be mediated by technology, which can serve as a mechanism to distribute welfare, amplify citizen voices, facilitate social cohesion and support, and support direct citizen participation in state functions.  In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, civic technology startups are filling this role -- providing information about testing centers, launching digital support groups, and much more. As notions of citizenship are increasingly challenged, it is valuable to examine the changing nature of the citizen-state relationship, and the gaps technology…

When one hears the words ‘patient dignity’, 'dignity in health care', 'dignity in death,' it conveys that even at their most vulnerable moments, human beings need to be treated with honour and respect. Every patient wants dignity, but are they getting it? 19th May 2020, early morning around 01.45 am, Dhanalakshmi, a senior citizen of our neighbourhood, aged almost 80, was critically ill. Her family and other residents in the building tried to call the 108 and 104 helplines to call for an ambulance. While 108 appeared defunct, 104 was not answered. With few options left, they approached the nearby…

“PSU banks do not provide any kind of credit facilities for people who own lands in the urban villages, they say we belong to the Lal Dora. When we go to the MCD, they say we don’t belong to the Lal Dora and are an urbanised village now,” rues Deepak Tyagi, a 39-year-old resident and RWA president of Budhela village in New Delhi. This intriguing in-between nature of urban villages is what led us to study these areas and the digitalization of land records here. Lal Dora is a red thread that was drawn around the habitation or abadi areas…

On May 18, Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal appealed to migrant workers to stay where they were, as the railways planned to double the number of Shramik Trains to 400 per day in two days. He also said that an additional 200 non-AC trains would be operational by June 1. While this increased capacity is a welcome sign, will it be enough to service Bengaluru's stranded workers? A large number of Bengaluru's workers are walking thousands of kilometres to their home states, as the efforts of the governments to arrange transportation has fallen short of the exploding demand. "The Labour…

Karnataka government and industry bodies have been speaking of the need to relax labour laws in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. We, at AICCTU (All India Central Council of Trade Unions), believe that in the crisis caused by the pandemic, we must strengthen labour laws, not weaken them. We submitted a memorandum to the state government in this regard on May 15. We hope that the government will consider our demands seriously and initiate action quickly. Government must strengthen labour laws to fight hunger and poverty, to build a secure society.Government must discuss with all trade unions on how labour…

It took just 13 days for Aarogya Setu -- the contact tracing app developed by India to combat the COVID-19 pandemic -- to amass 50 million users. The app currently stands with more than 9 crore downloads.  Designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), the app was formally launched by PM Narendra Modi on April 2nd. It is available in 12 languages and can be downloaded by iOS and Android users. With 4.5 stars rating on Google play, the current version of the app is 1.1.1. According to reports, the app has alerted 1.4…

Translated by Sandhya Raju ஒரு மாதத்திற்கும் மேலாக வீட்டிலேயே இருக்கும் ஊரடங்கு சூழலை, வேகமாக பரவி வரும் கொரோனா தொற்று உருவாக்கியுள்ளது. அத்தியாவசிய சேவைகள் தவிர அனைத்து பிற சேவைகளும் இந்த ஊரடங்கு நேரத்தில் நிறுத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. சம்பள குறைப்பு, ஆட்குறைப்பு போன்றவை பலரை பொருளாதார நெருக்கடியில் ஆழ்த்தியுள்ளது. மக்கள் சந்திக்கும் துயரங்களை கருத்தில் கொண்டு மத்திய மாநில அரசுகள், கடன் தொகை, சொத்து வரி, தண்ணீர் வரி மற்றும் மின் கட்டணங்கள் செலுத்துவதில் சில தளர்வுகளை அறிவித்தது. இதன் காரணமாகவும், செயல்பாட்டு தடைகள் காரணமாகவும், தமிழ்நாடு மின்சார வாரியம் (TNEB) கடந்த சுழற்சியின் மீட்டர் அளவிலான தொகையையே இந்த சுழற்சியிலும் கட்டணமாக செலுத்தலாம், என அறிவித்தது. இரண்டு மாதங்களுக்கு ஒரு முறை நீங்கள் செலுத்த வேண்டிய கட்டணம் எதிர்பார்த்ததை விட குறைவாக இருந்திருந்தால், அதற்கான காரணம் இது தான். கூடவே, நீங்கள் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய தகவல்களும் உண்டு.…

The rotis lay strewn about on the railway track near Aurangabad - a tragic testimony to the plight of the poor in our country. Having packed their meagre belongings, with a bundle of food to be shared among the many, they only wanted to go home. Yet 16 people ended up being run over by a train as they fell asleep, exhausted, on the railway track near Aurangabad. The price for a ticket home cost them more than they bargained for.  The issue of migrants wanting to return their homes has been as big a problem as the pandemic of…

“A young girl who tested positive for COVID-19 at Shanthi Niketan Colony of Madambakkam passed away,” -- this is one of the messages that was circulated widely among residents in and around Tambaram in late April.  The street had been cordoned off and police personnel was deployed.  Citizens in the adjacent neighbourhoods stocked up on provisions and did not venture out, even to walk their dogs. Citizens in the cordoned locality had to live with not only the threat of the disease but also a kind of social stigma, with even shopkeepers requesting them not to visit their stores.  But when…