Governance

The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has a current strength of 4,638 personnel. Its sanctioned strength is 5,306 personnel, as per data obtained from the Traffic Management Centre. On the face of it, this indicates a shortfall in recruitment, of 12.59 per cent. Most of these -- 598 vacancies out of the 668 -- are for the post of police constables, the men on the street.  The shortfall may not seem like much.  Almost every police department in the country has some vacancies due to multiple reasons, says Bengaluru’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda. “It is not…

The snow-capped Dauladhar mountains paint a picturesque backdrop to the town that today aspires to be a popular hub as a global tourist destination, as the business capital of Himachal Pradesh and as a centre for promoting sporting talent in the region. For decades, Dharamshala’s only claim to fame was as the home of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the creation of McLeodganj as the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile, now renamed the Central Tibetan Administration. “Today, Dharamshala can become one of India’s best towns,” said I. D Bhandari, retired IPS officer and former DGP who…

On 14th December, thousands thronged the Town Hall in Bengaluru in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The organisers printed the Indian Constitution’s Preamble on a banner that dangled off the neoclassical building as protestors kept gathering. But after speeches by prominents like Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda and author and historian Ramchandra Guha, the protestors appeared to be clearly divided. On one side were those from Assam sloganeering, “Bangladeshis go back”, while on the other were Muslims chanting around Azaadi (freedom). At one point an Assamese protestor looked at his friend and asked, “Inko kis baat ki azaadi…

Translated by Sandhya Raju ஆஃப்கானிஸ்தான், பங்களாதேஷ், பாகிஸ்தான் ஆகிய நாடுகளிலிருந்து 2014 ஆம் ஆண்டு டிசம்பர் 31-ம் தேதிக்கு முன் இந்தியாவிற்குள் சட்டவிரோதமாக நுழைந்தவர்கள் ஹிந்து, சீக்கிய, புத்த, ஜெயின், பார்ஸி, கிறிஸ்துவ மதத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்களாக இருப்பின், குடியுரிமை திருத்த சட்டம், 2019(CAA) படி இந்திய குடிமகனாக விண்ணப்பிக்க தகுதியானவர்கள். 1995 ஆம் ஆண்டு ஏற்படுத்தப்பட்ட சட்டத்தின் படி, இந்திய குடியுரிமை பெற குறைந்த பட்சம் பதினோரு ஆண்டுகள் இந்தியாவில் வசித்திருக்க வேண்டும் (அல்லது மத்திய அரசாங்கத்த்தில் பணி புரிந்திருக்க வேண்டும்). இப்போழுது மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டுள்ள சட்ட திருத்ததின் படி, மேலே குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ள மூன்று நாடுகளிலிருந்து இடம் பெயர்ந்த மேற்கூறிய ஆறு மதங்களை சேர்ந்தவர்களுக்கு இந்த கால கட்டம் தற்போது ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளாக குறைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்திய குடியுரிமை சட்ட திருத்தம் பற்றி அரசு கூறுவது என்ன? இந்த மூன்று நாடுகளிலிருந்து மத துன்புறுத்தல் காரணமாக தப்பித்து அகதிகளாக இந்தியாவில் தஞ்சம் புகுந்தவர்களுக்கு…

Over the past week, the country has witnessed raging protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 that was passed in Parliament in the recently concluded winter session. Chennai too saw its share of protests led by opposition parties, citizen groups and civil society organisations and even a pro-amendment rally led by the BJP. In the aftermath of the Jallikattu protests at Marina, the beach has virtually become a no-go zone for any kind of protest in Chennai. This, coupled with the stipulations of the Madras City Police Act, means that protests in the city require prior written permission…

On December 19th at Bengaluru, eminent historian Ramachandra Guha was dragged away by the police while protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), on the charge that he had violated Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Guha later retorted that the crowds had been protesting non-violently in a disciplined way to uphold the values of the Constitution and told the Police Commissioner: “You have used a colonial-era law to suppress us and our voices."  Not Guha alone, hundreds of protesters, that included included Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav and politicians D Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Umar Khalid, Sandeep Dikshit and…

The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to make illegal immigrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31 2014 eligible to apply for Indian citizenship. According to the 1955 law, a person must have resided in India (or been in the service of the Central Government) for at least 11 years in order to be eligible for citizenship. The amended Act reduces that period to five years for all migrants from these three countries belonging to these six religious communities..…

The Alternative Law Forum is organising a half day workshop on December 14 between 2.30 PM and 6.30 PM in Bengaluru, on the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and the Karnataka Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2019. Background of the workshop This workshop is being conducted in view of the Town Vending Committees being constituted across the State as per the provisions of the Street Vendors Act, 2014 and the Karnataka Rules 2019, in seven zones of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (with the exception of Bommanahalli Zone).…

A year after ward committee meetings began in Bengaluru, we look at how effective they have been. A recent study by Sensing Local Foundation reveals that many wards have not had these monthly meetings at all. In the seven months between December 2018 and June 2019, each of the 198 BBMP wards should have held seven ward committee meetings. But 52 wards had no meetings at all, and only 12 percent of the wards conducted at least five meetings. While the meetings are supposed to discuss new projects, budget allocation etc for the ward, they are functioning more like grievance…

[This article was co-authored by Rakesh Kumar Sinha. Rakesh holds a PGDCA from CMC, Delhi and a Certificate in Computing from IGNOU. He has worked as a research assistant in Policy and Planning Research Unit of Indian Statistical Institute.] On Sunday 08 December 2019, 43 people lost their lives in a tragic fire in a Delhi small-scale manufacturing hub. Most victims are young migrant labourers from states like Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.  It was reported that factories were located illegally on residential premises, and an electrical short circuit possibly caused the fire. At least five of the 43 victims were minors, with…