Governance

Translated by Sandhya Raju கோவிட்-19 தொற்றை தடுக்க பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்ட ஊரடங்கு உத்தரவால் பலர் தங்கள் குடும்பத்தினரை பிரிந்திருக்கும் சூழல் ஏற்பட்டது. அனைத்து போக்குரவரத்துகளும் நிறுத்தப்பட்டதால், வேலை நிமித்தம் வெளியூர் சென்றவர்கள் தங்கள் வீட்டிற்கு திரும்ப முடியவில்லை. அவசர காரணங்களுக்காக மட்டுமே பயணம் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டது அல்லது சொந்த வாகனம் வைத்திருந்தவர்கள் பயணிக்க முடிந்தது. ஒவ்வொரு ஊரடங்கு நீட்டிப்பின் போதும் சில தளர்வுகள் அளிக்கப்பட்டன. பல்லாயிரம் கி.மீ தூரம் உள்ள தங்கள் சொந்த ஊர் நோக்கி விருந்தினர் தொழிலாளர்கள் நடக்கத் தொடங்கியதும், மாநிலங்களுக்கிடையே ரயில் போக்குவரத்து ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டது. மேலும் தளர்வுகள் அறிவிக்கப்பட்ட சூழலில், மே மாதம் 25-ம் தேதி முதல் குறிப்பிட்ட சில நகரங்களுக்கு உள்நாட்டு விமான சேவை தொடங்கப்பட்டது. மாநிலங்கள் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேண்டிய நடைமுறை மற்றும் இயக்க முறை குறித்து விரிவான நடைமுறையை மத்திய சிவில் விமான போக்குவரத்து அமைச்சகம் வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. விமானப் பயணம் மேற்கொள்ளும் முன் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேண்டியவை…

Residents of Patna still get goosebumps remembering last year’s ordeal by flood. “There was no drinking water, no food at home, we had to spend the entire night on the roof top,” recalls Mithlesh Kumar a resident of Rajendra Nagar. “The next morning, jawans of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached our house and evacuated us by boat.” Much of the city had remained flooded for three weeks last year. The situation was worst in Kankarbagh area when water from the gutter entered homes causing a major health scare. “Human waste was floating in our house,” said Amitesh Sharma,…

Why do Shramik trains arranged after a 60-day long wait by workers have to be so carefully mismanaged? How do they end up taking extra-long routes? And why are passengers given such meagre amounts of water and food? Is this what ‘shramiks’ should get after spending days trying to satisfy all procedures, whims and fancies of the concerned departments and officials?  Why does everything to do with workers have to be a planned nightmare?  Let me share snippets from the journey of a worker from Bengaluru to Jampani village in Jharkhand, which led me to ask these questions.  The journey…

“Hum Corona se nahi, bhook se marenge!”  (“I’ll not die of Corona, but will definitely die of hunger!”). This is the poignant cry of many migrant workers left without work, wages and food in labour camps across Bengaluru during the COVID-19 lockdown. After the endless wait for trains to their hometowns as well as the State’s failed promise to deliver them food/ration kits, migrant labourers preferred to walk more than 1000 km home, carrying their elderly, children and meagre belongings. It shows their desperation, as no one, if they had enough to eat, would have embarked on such journeys. One…

They have been among the frontline corona virus warriors since March 25th. And also among those badly hit by the virus. With Mumbai in particular showing record daily jumps in positive cases, its policemen have suffered too. Take just one day, March 26th. According to the state health department, Maharashtra had a total of 3,041 new coronavirus patients on that day, of which 1889 were police personnel (207 officers and 1682 other ranks). Also, 20 policemen have died so far from the infection. Yet, they remain on the frontlines, manning high risk spots like containment centres and railway stations. And…

They have been among the frontline corona virus warriors since March 25th. And also among those badly hit by the virus. With Mumbai in particular showing record daily jumps in positive cases, its policemen have suffered too. Take just one day, March 26th. According to the state health department, Maharashtra had a total of 3,041 new coronavirus patients on that day, of which 1889 were police personnel (207 officers and 1682 other ranks). Also, 20 policemen have died so far from the infection. Yet, they remain on the frontlines, manning high risk spots like containment centres and railway stations. And…

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…