The Beat, March 2013

1March 2013 | The Beat

The BeatMarch 2013

A r o t t e n s t a t e

2 March 2013 | The BeatCreated by: Robin Sinha


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Threats circle India’s vultures

Nature’s scavengers lie on the verge of extinction.

Education

This section gives an insight into the country’s education sector and the problems associ-ated with it.

Cover Story: A Rotten State

The ever-hot topic of the country, politics, and how the very term has become synonymous with corrup-tion.

Dystopian Vision

The section looks into how some children flee their homes and lat-er turn to crime.

Created by: Robin Sinha

4 March 2013 | The Beat

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With a shy smile...

A day in the life of pourakarmika.

We review...

...a recent Bollywood film and a restaurant in the city.

Got an iPhone 3GS? You might as well trash it

As Apple launches the iPhone 5, the users of older versions of the smartphone face software prob-lems.

The sinking ship of the single screen

An in-depth look at how the mul-tiplex culture is acting as a threat to conventional movie theaters.


The Beat Editor

Udita Chaturvedi

SubeditorMark Austin

Page designersDebanti Roy

Nijhum Rudra Nupur Gour

Pyusha Chatterjee Reshma TarwaniSidharth Shekhar

Proofreaders: Amrita Ray

Pushkar BanakarSumit

Vintu Augustine

Logo designerRobin Sinha

Cover photo:Krishnaprasad S.

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From theeditor’s desk...

Since India gained independence in 1947, political parties have been making a mess of the country in the name of corruption, and Kar-nataka has been one of the worst offenders.

Though Karnataka claims to be one of the most advanced states in the country, with major IT in-dustries and educational institu-tions having their base in its capi-tal city, Bangalore, the levels of corruption in the state are shock-ingly high.

Karnataka’s political leaders have dragged a fine and civilized state into the gutter and tarnished the image of the state. They have been pillaging the state’s wealth and property to make their own bank balances grow. When one thinks of Karnataka political leaders, one thinks of unnecessary cash transfers into personal pockets, illegal land acquisitions and breaking of promises made during election campaigns.

In the last few years, several ministers have been disgraced in the media and some of their number have been jailed.

Corruption, inefficiency, ignorance, in-fighting, defections and mis-governance are ruining the state.

With elections just round the corner, we at The Beat decided to dedi-cate this month’s issue to Karnataka politics, along with stories on various other topics. This issue is a result of efforts put in by my entire team and we hope our readers will be satisfied with our efforts.

Happy reading!

Udita Chaturvedi


WILDLIFE

Threats circle India’s vultures

Long-Billed Indian Vulture

Photo: Aasif Wadia

Vultures, with their large wingspan, like a

creature from some bygone age, soar high in the sky. No primeval forest, no cage. El-egant and magnificent, this phantom of the cliffs has talons, feathers and beak as gray as lead. This omnivorous bird is endemic to India and the few other Asian countries.

For most of us, the vulture is an “ugly” bird that we have always avoided looking at, as we superstitiously see it as a bad omen. Be-ing ugly, they naturally do not attract our attention, like the beautifully iridescent pea-cock or kingfisher for instance.

Still, vultures play a subtle yet extremely im-portant ecological role in the environment

as a primary carrion feeders and disposers of carcasses. They clean up carcasses of domestic and wild animals and also human corpses in certain communities which oth-erwise would have been left to rot in the open, thus posing a threat to the health of the native populace.

In the last decade, the vulture population has declined by more than 95 percent in India, Nepal and Pakistan—the very same countries where the distribution of the vul-ture population was once high.

The birds in the northern part of its range, once considered a subspecies, are now considered a separate species, the Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris).

Three species of Gyps vultures, namely, the Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps ben-galensis), the Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus), and the Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris), are now listed as criti-cally endangered species.

Ramadevarabetta State Forest

Ramanagara, also known as Closepet, is located approximately 50 kilometers south-west of Bangalore. It’s famous for its rocky outcrops and was one of the film-shoot lo-cations for Amitabh Bacchan’s Sholay and David Lean’s A Passage to India. The hills of Ramanagara have also been home to the critically and globally endangered Long-billed vultures for a long time.


Ramadevarabetta State Forest

Photo: Sidharth Shekhar

These vultures, according to the Bombay Natural History Society, appears to be the only known and last surviving population of the species in inland southern India.

The Long-billed Vulture has showed a shocking decline over the last 15 years. Vul-ture populations have dropped by over 90 percent with population loss of more than 98 percent reported in many areas.

Bird conservationists blame their disap-pearance on the sharp increase in the use of chemicals for agriculture and livestock in India. The use of the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac in domestic cattle is be-hind the catastrophic decline in the vulture population as it causes kidney failure in the birds.

Ramadevarabetta State Forest is spread over 33 square kilometers and comprises three hill complexes. The largest is the Ra-madevarabetta complex, with six peaks of varying heights (the highest 934 meters). This is also an important Hindu pilgrimage site, with a temple on top of the hill that is frequented by devotees from surrounding villages and towns and distant cities.

At the brink of extinction

Illegal activities like deforestation, poach-ing, and mining in the Ramadevara state forest haven’t stopped in spite of all the security measures undertaken by the forest department.

Iruliga community people who have been

living around this area for decades have many stories to tell. Sitting with them and hearing their stories was like a journey into the past and a peak into their lives and times.

Keshavan, one of the members from the community said, “Vultures were found in abundance all over this area 15 to 20 years before, but with the rise in tourism, trek-king activities and illegal stone-quarrying, their population has seen a steep decline.”

He also said that forest officials and rangers are often bribed to allow illegal poaching of birds and many people from the nearby villages are engaged in this activity.

These vultures live mainly on crags in the hills of Sind in Pakistan and Central and Peninsular India; and breed mainly on cliffs.

Wildlife photography a lifeline?

Wildlife photography is important to con-serve wildlife, but when it reaches a stage where it is meant to satisfy one’s ego, does wildlife stands a chance? Is there a need for every other photographer to disturb these birds to get a good shot? Is publicity so very important compared with the survival of these species that it is worth endanger-ing their lives at the cost of photography?

So far, however, it’s not the big-spending luxury travellers but rather the off-beat travellers, tourists and of course wildlife photographers who frequent this place out

of curiosity to scan these hilly terrains for adventure and fun.

But ironically this one sided “fun” for adrenalin-flushed adventurers is a night-mare for the vultures who have nowhere else to go and whose only home has already been breached by these unwelcome souls.

Aasif Wadia, a freelance photographer and wildlife enthusiast, has been visiting Rama-devarabetta State Forest for the past few years.

“Wildlife photography is all about patience, which is the most important requirement for getting the best shot,” he said. “A tele-photo zoom lens should be used for taking pictures of subjects which are far away, but due to its bulky size many photographers don’t use it.”

Lack of awareness among the people and the photographers have left no stone un-turned to infiltrate the lives of these vul-tures who are already finding it hard to sur-vive in these highly testing times.

Illegal stone quarrying a menace

Many mining companies have been operat-ing in this area for stone quarrying. Locals claim, some have legally acquired a mining license while others operate illegally with the support from some local politicians are also involved in this illicit business. The continuous sound of drilling and the vibra-tion generated from it disturbs the natural habitat of these species, which once upon


a time were living their lives free from any unwanted invasion.

Solace

This vibrant treasure trove of many spe-cies is under considerable threat from hu-mans who have used every arrow in their quiver to dislodge vultures from their abode. Illegal deforestation is also a matter of concern, and the phrase “selective de-

forestation” which few lumber companies use to quell the criticism of their activities in Ramadevara State Forest is designed to mislead.

Sitting on the other side of the cliff it’s easy to get a good view of the forest. It’s high time that we should initiate an effective program in coordination with the govern-ment and the local communities to help the biodiversity in the area thrive.

It’s not only about the vultures, it is about the other flora and fauna that are a part of the biodiversity there. Quite a few species of birds are in a vulnerable state due to hu-man activities in and around the region.

These vultures can sustain and thrive only if the forest area is controlled from the maddening influx of tourists and people who are legally or illegally connected with the forest, economically.

Across the hills, plumes of smoke rise up from the huts. Only the wind and the per-petual sound of the tress can be heard. The view from up here seems like a journey back in time. A view that may also hold promise for the future.

A future for these species, which is the last remaining vagrant in the valley.

By Sidharth Shekhar



Brown Rock Thrush, another vulnerable speicies of the area


India is often considered to be the land where scholars origi-

nate. The term ‘originate’ fits just right for all practical purposes; the bright minds of the country choose foreign lands to con-tinue with their research.

They cannot be blamed for this as they des-perately feel the lack of research institutes and facilities in their homeland.

Taking into account these issues, the gov-ernment has started commissioning re-search institutes across the length and breadth of the country.

But, on closer examination it is seen that out of the 147 institutes cleared by the gov-ernment and the University Grants Com-mission (UGC) in the past 9 years, 39 have been cleared for setting up in Bangalore alone.

The cleared institutes are in various stages of being set up. Some of them have be-come fully operational and some are partly operational.

So why Bangalore is the centre for setting up these institutes and why is Bangalore be-ing preferred over other major cities of the country?

Examinations show that there are a lot of reasons as to why Bangalore is being pre-ferred to other cities. The most important reason is that the land required for setting up these institutes is being provided by the government at throwaway prices.

H. Sidaiah, Commissioner of Bruhat Ban-galore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said: “We are privileged that so many institutes have come up in the city. We would like to see more research conducted in the city, so, we offer our lands at highly subsidized prices for these institutes to be set up.”

Elaborating on the subsidies, he continued to say that the lands are being offered at subsidies between 60-75 percent. On the other hand, in cities like Hyderabad and Delhi, the land given is only subsidized to

around 20 percent. Not even half of what is given in Bangalore.

M.T. Krishna Babu, Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corpora-tion, in a dejected tone told The Beat that due to the financial set up of the state and various other reasons, the state can offer rebates only to the tune of 15-20 percent and this costs them some major education-al projects. The stories are similar in other metros as well.

The planning of the residential complexes in the city can also be attributed to the set-ting up of these institutes. The town plan-ning department of the BBMP can be cred-ited with the brisk increase in the setting up of research institutes in the city.

Sidaiah, who also heads the town planning division, said: “As the residential complexes are planned to perfection, the issuing of lands is not much of an issue and we hardly need to relocate people and change our plans regarding the residential areas when lands are allocated.”

The academicians in the institutes based in the city are on a high. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), often considered to be the pioneer research institute in the country has professors gleaming with happiness as Bangalore is slowly turning into the re-search capital of India.

Prof. Nambiar of IISc’s Genetics’ depart-ment, said: “I started off as a student in IISc and to see the city’s academic scenario grow to this extent is very heartening.”

Bangalore, as a city, is very cosmopolitan. It is living up to its reputation of being cos-mopolitan even in the kind of research in-stitutes that it boasts of being home to.

There are research institutes which cater to subjects ranging from human health, animal health to agricultural research and research in the field of information technology.

Another very peculiar reason as to why Bangalore is being chosen over other top

notch metros of the country is the climate of the city.

M. Sai Prasad, of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Bangalore, said: “The climate of the city is a perfect blend of hot and cold. It is in many ways similar to the climate of many other foreign countries so that makes it that much easier for foreign students to adjust to the city.”

There are over 5000 foreign students in various research institutes in the city, giving ample proof of the climate and the city be-ing adjustable to the foreign students.

Sai Prasad further added: “Even nature is like God’s gift for the city. I am glad that the city’s weather is another reason for the institutes being set up.”

The foreign students of these institutes are very glad too. Kaushik Vijaykumar, a re-search associate in IISc from Bahrain said: “I am glad I am in Bangalore. In my three years of stay in India I have visited many places but I found Bangalore to the best place.”

The local students take pride in the fact they are part of such reputed institutes and also get to live in their hometown. Another research associate, Shanti Kumari, said: “I take immense pride in the fact that I am a student of this institute (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) and that I hail from Bangalore.”

The setting up of over 30 percent of the newly commissioned institutes in Banga-lore is a collaborative effort of the govern-ment, nature and the demographics of the city. All the factors are helping Bangalore emerge as the next educational capital of India.

By Pushkar Banakar

EDUCATION

Bangalore: The next educational capital?


Doctors are considered to be in the noblest

profession all over the world. The nobility is enhanced in a country like India, where doctors are treated like demigods and are often referred to as the incarnations of gods in this part of the world.

To become these demigods, the doctors first must undergo training and overcome severe pressure. The pressure, if academic, is very understandable as this gets them to hone their medical skills and trains them to be some of the best doctors in future.

But underneath this healthy pressure there exists an-other pres-sure that almost all medical stu-dents need to o ve r c o m e —the pressure to overcome the abusive and men-tally harassing sys-tem of ragging.

The system of rag-ging was banned in all educational institu-tions quite a few years ago.

In spite of the ban, rag-ging is prevalent today in almost all the top educa-tional institutions across the country. The menace of ragging is very common in medical colleges in the coun-try.

The menace of ragging in medical colleges comes to the fore as ragging in these col-leges reaches the pinnacle of disgust and often has resulted in many students suc-

cumbing to the pressure of almost inhu-man bullying.

A recent report by the Aman Satya Kachroo Trust, a group that helps bullied students, states that the highest number of ragging cases is reported from medical colleges in India. The data provided by their helpline system reveals that the total number of cases registered last year was 375, of which 153 cases were from medical institutes from acrossthe country.

D r .

Geeta Lax-mikanth, a counselor

for depression patients for the past 13 years, told The Beat in an interview in Jaipur: “I have had numerous cases of stu-dents who come to me for counseling for depression due to ragging. Most of these students are from noted professional col-leges, and the majority of them are from

medical colleges.”

She pointed out that there have been cases of permanent injuries to medicos due to the harassment they incur.

A cloud fell over her smiling face as she said: “If these people, who call themselves the future doctors of the country, resort to such heinous ways of ragging

merely for their enter-tainment then I am re-ally worried about the medical future of this country.”

Pulling a strand of her waist-length braided hair off her face, she said: “I have had cases where the anus of the student has been dam-aged by thrust-ing a broken bottle into it. There have also been cases where se-vere cuts were in-f l icted on the s t u -

dents’ genitals.”

It is very difficult even for renowned psychologists to help these students over-come the trauma of ragging.

“The trauma for the student as well as the family is huge. It takes several months for them to recover and then it becomes very difficult for the student to catch up with the intense pressure of academics,” Laxmi-kanth said. “I have seen very few students cope with academics in college after recov-

EDUCATION

Students training to preserve life end up bullied to death

Despite being outlawed, ragging is rampant in the country’s medical colleges


ering from severe ragging issues.”

One of the many unlucky pupils who lost his life to ragging was George Ver-ghese. He was a bright stu-dent since childhood and had toiled hard to realize his childhood dream of be-coming a doctor. His hard work was rewarded, and he successfully made it into one of a reputed medical college.

Little did he know that the happiest moment of his life was about to turn into a devilish nightmare.

Suzanne Verghese, George’s mother, a beauti-ful lady in her mid 30s, told The Beat: “I still recall the day George came up to me almost jumping with joy for his dream was about to be realized. It seems to be like yesterday that he hanged himself in his hostel room and a suicide note lay on a table beside.”

The suicide note said he could not handle the shameful things his seniors made him do on the pretext of ragging. He had also mentioned how embarrassing it would be for him to return back home leaving his dream course incomplete and how his se-niors had warned him against complaining ti the authorities.

With her teary blue eyes fixed on her son’s photograph, which adorned a wall of her apartment in Ahmedabad, she angrily said: “The culprits haven’t been found till date and the college has no regrets whatsoever about what happened to my son.”

Emotions got the better of her and she began sobbing. Calming herself with much effort, she said: “It’s not about only my son—how can our country afford to lose future doctors like George for petty rea-sons like these?”

The death of this medico created a furor in the local media. But like all other news, the sensationalism fizzed out in a few weeks.

In the few weeks that this news created a stir, the Medical Council of India, the col-lege authorities and the government took stern measures to curb the act of ragging.

Ragging was made a criminal offence and anti-ragging committees were set up all

over the country after complains started pouring in against ragging incidents.

Sadly, like most laws and committees in the country, even this one failed to live up to its potential. Ragging, although momentarily curbed, continues to flourish like ever be-fore all over the country and mainly medi-cal colleges.

One of the successful committee which heeded to the ragging victims was the Aman Satya Kachroo Trust. It was set up in 2009 following government directives. It has a 24-hour helpline number for students, which addresses all ragging issues.

They have received a total of 1,776 com-plaints in the past four years, and Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 379 complaints alone.

Abhishek Podaturi, a postgraduate student in the same medical college as George, said: “The anti-ragging committees are consti-tuted by the students themselves and the ragging goes on as usual. When we were juniors we were ragged and we think of it as a right to rag our juniors.”

He continued: “Even the principal is aware of the ragging that takes place in the col-lege, but then he cannot do anything about it.”

The principal, Dr. Raman Chandra, seemed amused and puzzled when asked about the incidents of ragging in his college. He said: “I think you are gravely mistaken—my col-

lege does not permit such cheap acts of ragging.”

He flatly denied the allegations and said the student who claims to have ragged his ju-niors is spreading rumors and is doing so to malign the image of the college. It was beyond understanding as to why a student would want to malign the image of his own college. Chandra said.

In a nutshell, it is shameful that a menace like ragging is claiming the mental peace and sometimes the lives of some of the most brilliant brains of the country.

Neither the government and the college officials nor the senior students who have borne the brunt of ragging seem to be tak-ing notice of it. For a brighter future in terms of good health care, India’s medical colleges surely need a revamp in terms of measures taken to curb the ever-present menace of ragging.

By Nupur Gour


While I was doing an MSc in cognitive science at the Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences

in Allahabad University, I thought I would do a PhD in parapsy-chology. Not because I believed in paranormal experiences, but because I wanted to investigate whether paranormal experiences, which many people claim to have experienced, are true. Though I shifted to journalism after that but the question still haunts me.

I asked my head of department, Prof. Narayanan Srinivasan, his views on the relevance of parapsychology for this article. I want-ed to know what he thought about it and whether it should be taught in colleges and does it hold any relevance in today’s world.

He said in an email: “I do not believe in parapsychology or I should say I am a sceptic when it comes to parapsy-chology. Normal psychology itself is difficult enough to understand and I think this is a diver-sion of our efforts and resources. The evidence for para-normal phenomena is sketchy at best. Also the explana-tions are not clear cut and it is not clear how explanations of paranormal phenomena and explanations of so called normal phenomena are supposed to gel.”

The president of the Indian Rationalist Association, Sanal Edama-ruku said in an email: “Parapsychology is based on unestablished presumptions. Most of the claims made by interested parties are proved fraudulent. There is no scientific evidence for these claims. It can be categorized as an occult belief or pseudo-science.”

He added: “If there is any verifiable evidence, I am open to hear about it.”

Even I am a sceptic and cannot answer the question—“Do you believe people are telling the truth when they say they see ghosts?” with a “yes,” but I definitely say yes when people ask me—“Do

you believe in god?” I do not know why I firmly believe in the ex-istence of god, but cast a doubtful eye on the people who tell me “real” ghost stories. I do not know why I believe in the sixth sense and intuition, but doubt people who prophesize about me.

Dr. Dean Radin, former president of Parapsychological Associa-tion, is currently a senior scientist in the Institute of Noetic Sci-ences, has a different view about parapsychology. He said in an email: “Parapsychology as regarded by the general public, and the media, is about spooky “paranormal” things like psychic powers,

telepathy and mind over matter. But that's not what the scientific study of these phenomena is focused on. Para-psychology is the study of the role of consciousness in the physical world and the nature of the brain-mind re l a t ionsh ip.”He is of the view that parapsychology is relevant and should be taught in colleges not only as an elec-tive, but as a core course because it is socially and scientifi-cally important.

He supported his view by saying: “In

my view it is highly relevant to issues within many academic disci-plines, and especially in psychology, physics, philosophy, neurosci-ence, and religious studies. The accumulated empirical evidence in favour of these phenomena is now overwhelmingly positive, leaving little doubt that some of today's scientific assumptions about the capacities of consciousness, and about the brain-mind relationship, are wrong.”

He added: “When those assumptions are replaced by a more com-prehensive understanding that accommodates psychic phenom-ena, I suspect that our view of who and what we are, and what we are capable of, will have gone through a radical transformation.”

A clinical psychologist and a faculty member at the Psychology Department of Christ University, Ginni K. Gopinath, wants para-psychology to be taught extensively in colleges as a separate course

Paranormal movinginto mainstream

EDUCATION


and not as a chapter. He is also a hypnotherapist and claims to have experienced patients going back to their past life during therapy. He said reincarnation definitely takes place and people remember about their past lives although not consciously, but unconsciously. He also shared that he has seen cases of premo-nitions or when dreams have turned out to be true.

He said: “Para-psychology is an-other discipline like attention, perception and it is a part of psy-chology then why teachers of para-psychology are shifting to psy-chology, saying that it is not rel-evant and people do not want to study.”

I myself have come across re-search papers that show scientific ev-idence that people have gut feelings, intuitions, premo-nitions and these have come out to be true.

The evidence not only comes from behavioural stud-ies but also from electroencephalo-graph (EEG) stud-ies and eye-tracking studies.

Ram Vivekananda, who teaches the philosophy of psychology in Christ University, believes that parapsychology is embedded in our culture like other traditions. According to him, like people pray, value each other’s norms and perform rituals; they also believe in life after death among, other things. He said: “There are various phenomena that can’t be explained, but that does not mean they don’t exist.”

I think that we should not block our minds and argue only about whether parapsychology is relevant or not but also think of other alternatives to it for example anomalistic psychology.

Christopher French, professor of psychology at Goldsmiths Col-lege of London University and also coordinator of the college’s Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, said in an email: “Personal-ly, I have no objections whatsoever to parapsychology being taught in colleges, but I think that its sister discipline, anomalistic psychol-

ogy, has a much brighter future.”

In an interview with VideoJug (a short-form online video content website), he explains anomalistic psychology as follows: “Anoma-

listic Psychology is essentially the psy-chology of para-normal beliefs and ostensibly paranor-mal experiences.

So, most of the re-search is directed towards coming up with non-paranor-mal explanations for ostensibly para-normal experiences, and then finding evidence to sup-port those explana-tions.”

In India, it is dif-ficult to find a de-partment of para-psychology, but there are places where parapsychol-ogy is not treated as an elective but provided as a core course for inter-ested students and researchers.

There is a different unit in the Psychol-ogy Department of Edinburgh Univer-sity called the Koes-tler Parapsychology Unit which gives

opportunity to acade-micians and students to teach and research

on the existence of paranormal, psychic abilities and other similar subjects.

In my opinion parapsychology should be a part of mainstream academics and should be taught in colleges as a separate course.

Apart from interested people, people who do not agree that it should be taught should also sit in the classes and find out answers to the question—is it relevant? And if there answer is no, then they

should find out why.

By Pyusha Chatterjee

From top left: Prof Narayanan Srinivasan; Sanal Edamaruku; Dr. Dean Radin; Dr. Christopher French


Karnataka going down

the drain under BJP’s ruleThe Austrian writer Karl Kraus

once said: “Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual; the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country.”

In India, corruption is widely tolerated as millions of Indian families bribe public ser-vants for access to basic services.

Nowadays, corruption can be seen ev-erywhere. It is like a cancer in public life, which has not be-come widespread suddenly, but over the course of time.

Political corrup-tion, the unlawful exercise of author-ity by government officials for illegal profit, is the worst of all forms of cor-ruption.

In India, political corruption is mas-sive, and it is in-creasing day by day. Many politicians and political parties are corrupt, yet they are ruling states and the country.

Almost all Indian states are seriously cor-rupt. In the case of Karnataka, political corruption has been especially severe since 2008, when the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power.

Before 2008 only 14.8 percent of criminal cases in Karnataka involved corruption, but this figure stood at 77.8 percent in Nov. 2012, the highest in India, according to the Lokayukta Department of Karnataka.

It all started when B.S. Yeddyurappa be-came the chief minister of Karnataka in 2008. During his regime the state witnessed the biggest scam in India—the iron-ore-mining scam in the Bellary region.

The chief minister; along with Janardhan Reddy, a member of the BJP; and his broth-ers were all involved in this scam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier mentioned that the scam in-volved around Rs.50 billion, but recent investigations in 2012 revealed that scam involved around Rs.70 billion.

Yeddyurappa and Reddy were jailed after the scam came to light, but Yedddyurappa was also released after a few days due to lack

of evidence. Yeddyurappa has also been involved in several land scams in the state. He allegedly grabbed around 200 acres of land from poor farmers and gave it away to his sons and other family members. The Lokayukta filed a case against him in the Karnataka High Court in 2011 that is still being fought in the Supreme Court.

N.S. Bose Raju, general secretary of Kar-nataka Congress Committee, said: “The BJP government has been responsible for massive corruption in Karnataka. Before the rule of BJP the corruption level was very low, but now Karnataka has became the most corrupt state in India. One of the most important reasons for this is Yed-dyurappa’s illiteracy. Neither has he been

aware of what his cabinet ministers are do-ing. Whenever any corruption charges were put forward he denied everything.”

He added: “Under the BJP, the agricultural sector got ruined. There has been a ma-jor water crisis, the garbage issue became a big problem and the government took no action to improve it. People are totally steamed up with this government, and im-mediately want it out immediately.”

Some of the corruption charges against Janardhan Reddy were put forward by Bose Raju.

Reddy cheated the government by ille-gally exporting iron ore. He acquired a permit from Andhra Pradesh, but used it in Karnataka, so he was charged under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

He was also charged under Sections 468 and 471 of the IPC for using forged documents to carry out mining.

In spite of all these charges nothing stopped him from contest-ing another election this year.

Several raids were conducted against offi-cers of the Tax Commission in 2009 and at least three of them were charged with corruption.

In 2009, 15 BJP MLAs were charged with corruption by the Karnataka police, who found huge amounts of cash in their of-fice.

These BJP MLAs were charged for illegally grabbing land from the poor.

The Lokayukta filed cases against them in the Karnataka High Court in January 2010, and 10 of the MLAs were forced to resign.

A ROTTEN STATE


V.Y. Gorpade, secretary of Karnataka Con-gress Committee, said: “Many corruption cases are still pending against some BJP MLAs in the Karnataka High Court. Citi-zens complain that nothing has improved under the rule of BJP.”

The BJP Politicians ruined everything from electricity to the beauty of Bangalore. It is a great shame for India that in spite of so many corruption charges, the party is still in power in the state.”

Mr. Gorpade added: “Since 2008, 16 BJP min-isters have been forced to resign. Some of them are Katta Subhramaniam Naidu, Holappa, and B.S. Yeddyurappa.”

The Karnataka Congress Committee provides some of the details of the corruption charges against some MLAs.

Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok, was charged with illegally grabbing about 100 acres of land from different parts of Karnataka. Lokayukta had filed corruption cas-es against him in 2011 in the Karnataka High Court.

N. Viswanath, BJP MLA from Yalahanka, was charged with stealing Rs.5 million from his Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) office. He was also charged with land acquisition on the outskirts of Bangalore which involved money worth Rs.3 billion. A case was filed against him in September 2011 under sec-tion 120b of the Indian Penal Code for the same.

M. Srinivas, a BJP MLA from Rajarajeswar-inagar, allegedly acquired several plots of land from the BDA for his family mem-bers under false pretences and also falsely acquired money from the BJP by claiming it was for city development, while instead using it for his personal benefits.

With the commencement of the Karna-

taka election the influence of money power has shocked the top leadership of political parties and the office of the chief election commissioner.

Illegal mining scamsters the Reddy broth-ers and B. Sriramulu are known for their money power and clout in BJP. Citizens claim that they have distributed money and clothes to win people’s votes.

Between 2008 and 2012, the BJP’s wealth has increased by Rs.60 billion.

During the 2009 elections, the Election Commission confiscated from the candi-dates Rs.400 million in cash, Rs.250 million worth of alcohol and Rs.150 million worth of clothes. In India, luring the common public with freebies usually starts after the nominations are announced, but in Karnat-aka the scenario is completely different and it starts even before the nominations.

A senior member of BJP, Manjunathan, said: “Corruption is everywhere in all po-

litical parties. In the case of BJP we are try-ing to tackle this issue. I believe the present situation of Karnataka is far better than before and in the upcoming elections we are introducing training schemes for all MLAs.”

In Nov. 2012, Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Eswarappa was charged with corruption after Lokayukta officials raided his house and seized gold, silver and diamond jewelry

worth Rs.3 million.

The Lokayukata also found a note-counting machine in his home along with several papers hinting at illegal land acquisitions.

Anekal N. Narayanswamy, another member of the BJP said: “The opposition is talk-ing negatively of us deliber-ately to present a bad image of our party. The Lokayukta is also working with the Congress Party members. Congress should remember one thing that corruption started from the Congress Party. Congress has ruined the entire country in terms of corruption.”

He added: “One cannot blame the BJP government alone for corruption. Once we come to power in Delhi, we will prevent corruption.. BJP is the only party in In-dia which so few corruption charges.”

The BJP members are op-timistic about coming back to power after the upcom-

ing elections as they claim that most of the corruption charges filed against them are baseless and instigated by opposition party to jeopardize the image of BJP.

By Nijhum Rudra

Photo: Nijhum Rudra

V.Y. Ghorpade, Secretary, KPCC


A ROTTEN STATE

Karnataka’s reputation undermined by mining scam


Karnataka was once considered

to be a well-governed state and the most developed state in India in every possible way.

The state has long been known as an IT hub and for its high-profile, influential po-litical leaders.

The political scenario in Karnataka is always full of controversies. These controversies could be based on anything from language, caste, creed to wrongdoing by members of the dominant Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Thanks to the BJP government, the politi-cal set-up in Karnataka has become more corrupt than ever before.

Besides being the nation’s tech capital, Ban-galore is also home to multibillion-dollar steel and mining industries producing 16 million tons of iron and steel in a year, which is 25 percent of the country’s total output.

In 2008, mining and steel industries became a part of the biggest political corruption scandal ever to emerge in the state.

The BJP government, which has a reputa-tion for being the most corrupt party, was found to have been involved in widespread illegal mining operations within Karnataka.

Light thrown on corruption in 2008In December 2008, with the help of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Karnataka Lokayukta threw light on cor-rupt practices in the form of illegal licens-ing of mineral and ore operations including underpayment of royalties to the govern-ment, specifically to the BJP government.

Based on investigations carried out over the last few years, the Lokayukta reports clearly state that illegal mining has been carried out in the forest areas and also in areas of Bellary, Hospet and Chikmagalur. Accusations against the government also include nonpayment of production of over 57 million tons.

In 2010, former Chief Minister, B.S. Yed-dyurappa, further tarnished the reputation of the political party by bluntly admitting that 3.5 million metric tons of iron ore was unaccounted for.

Last year, the issue became a political hot potato when G. Janardhana Reddy, the rich-est politician in the BJP, was convicted in connection with the mining scam. Corrup-tion is so deep-rooted in Karnataka that not one of the mining industries in the three districts of Bellary, Hospet and Chikmag-alur is clean of corruption.

Though Reddy was arrested by the CBI, he still claims to be a member of the BJP.

Widespread falloutThe scam has become the BJP’s tragedy and Karnataka’s misfortune. It has affected over a million lives. The government had to ban mining industries in the state and laborers had to migrate to other states to make a living. These laborers have yet to receive compensation from the Karnataka state government.

Majunatha, a senior official of the BJP, said: “We have given work to these laborers and their families. Most of them are working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and are earning Rs.100 a day.

“They will be compensated after the up-coming elections.”

The scam, which cost nearly Rs.150 billion, has affected the growth of industries, and production of ores and mines has been badly affected by this scam and disrupted the financial economy.

This statement is questionable because even though Reddy is in jail, he is still a member of the BJP and the party has been blamed for various corruption charges because of him. Based on their recent financial re-ports, the party doesn’t have enough funds to provide jobs to the mine labors.

To this, Manjunatha replied: “Our party is not waiting for Janardhan Reddy. He is in jail, and we have already suffered a lot be-cause of him. After this election, we plan to start some mining and steel industries in Bellary.”

He said: “This will help us reduce unem-ployment. We have already got government approval for our plans.”

Misgovernance of the BJP government, headed by the then chief min

ister, Yeddyurappa, and other politicians has affected the steel owners and small scale industries in Bangalore as well.

N.S. Bose Raju, former political secretary of the Congress Party, said: “The scam resulted in the loss of Rs.150 billion, but industries alone have faced a loss of over Rs.6 billion, which will probably take years to recover.”

State government trying to undo damageThe government plans to push the steel in-dustry along with the small-scale industries to the outskirts of the city.

It has already started building basic infra-structure for steel and mining industries in Bellary and Chikmagalur.

Also, royalties have been taken away from the steel owners and miners to renovate the new industries and different kinds of training and education schemes have been implemented for laborers.

However, the government will be unable to start all the steel industries together due to the shortage of iron ore and other resource minerals.

By ReshmaTarwani


The political scenario in the state is in jeopardy right now with

ministers, MLAs and other loyalists of the ruling party shifting their loyalties at will to attain political supremacy in the forthcom-ing assembly elections.

The government was left in peril when some very powerful leaders within the govern-ment, who held coveted positions, decided to quit their top minis-terial posts and flagged a new po-litical outfit along with many of their supporters. The government barely managed to stay in power by the skin of their teeth.

The jeopardized condition left the floodgates open for the top brains of various political outfits to plot and plan for the up-coming assembly elections. As soon as the government started to wobble under charges of corruption and its own infighting, the Ulyssess of the political outfits got down to work to device foolproof strategies to attain supremacy over their rivals and prove their worth in times to come.

“The devising of the plans is a strenuous task as we have to take everything and everyone into account,” said Mr. Moham-mad Naseer, State Secretary of the newly formed Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP).

With a gleam of hope in his eyes, he stressed on the fact that although his party is a new political outfit, his party hopes to form the next government. He said: “If not form-ing the government, we at least hope to be kingmakers in the next government.” Al-

most immediately, with a wind of caution he elaborated the fact that the kingmakers tag would be very judiciously used and no unruly alliance, which would harm the in-terests of the people, would be forged.

As though expecting the next question, with utmost ease he divulged details about the strategies his party would be employ-

ing for the upcoming election. With a firm voice he stated on how his party was more inclined to form a voter base in the state as his outfit was relatively new. “Forming a base for us should not be difficult at all as we have strong, renowned leaders who are

known to be more than efficient crowd pullers,” Naseer added.

Another distinct strategy the KJP is employing is the promise of various incentives to the downtrodden class of society. Simi-lar aspirations and similar strategies are being seen in the major opposition party’s top brains.

The Congress Me-dia Coordinator, Mr. Srikanta Mur-thy said: “We have been working for the people and will continue to work for the people.” He continued saying that although their strategy is similar to that of KJP, they are sure of “faring better than the new party in the elec-tions.”

Divulging details on their strategies he said: “We are not going to commit the same mis-take what the ruling party has committed. We are targeting the educated class who know the nuances of governance and who will understand the details of our election manifesto.” He was also of the opinion that the Congress, being an old party, does not need to establish their voter base as the

A ROTTEN STATE

All roads Lead to the legislative assembly


newer political parties, in the fray, needed to do.

Another established party, Janata Dal (Secular), JD(S) is employing a completely different strategy for the upcoming elections. On condition of anonymity, a party worker was ready to divulge the details of their election manifesto.

He said: “The crux of the state’s economy is agricul-ture and the present gov-ernment has overlooked the farmers. The result is the numerous farmer sui-cides.”

He affirmed that the party was solely focusing on farmers and their is-sues. He said: “The party strongly believes that the farmers make the econ-omy of the state and we will, as a party, do every-thing in our power to em-power them and in turn empower the state.”

In spite of the various parties in the fray today, the onus is on the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has, in spite of many obstacles, managed to almost complete its first tenure in a South Indian state.

The BJP has been a target of tremendous infighting and a number of corruption charges have been leveled against top notch leaders of this party. In spite of all these hurdles, the party still seems very confident of regaining power in the state.

The spokesperson of the party in the state, Eshwarappa, said: “All allegations leveled against us are simply baseless. After repeat-ed attempts of maligning our image, we still have managed to govern the state in a fair and just way and I am sure the people of the state will re-elect us so that we can serve them again to the best of our capabilities.”

Eshwarappa emphasized on the fact that their strategy was plain and simple. He be-lieves that the details of the party manifes-to and the strategy will come in the people’s view as and when needed and refused to

divulge any further details on the same.

Away from all the hustle and bustle of the current scenario is a new party whose ide-ologies are poles apart from the rest of the conventional parties. The party is the new-est member of the political arena in Karna-taka and is called the Loksatta Party.

One of the candidates who is contesting the election from Basavangudi constitu-ency, Shantala Damle, said: “Our goal is not to merely to win the election but is also to change the way the electoral system functions in the present day.” She is of the belief that the party’s main agenda is to change the way Indian politics is thought about.

On the party’s strategy she had very few and straight forward things to say. With resentment and a faint ray of hope in her expression she exclaimed that there is no particular section of voters or no specific strategy the party was going to adhere to. She repeatedly stressed on the fact the party was out there to change politics as a whole and not only cater to a particular constitu-

ency or a section of people.

It would be fascinating to see which party sticks to their strategy and does not change with the changing face of the political sce-nario and it would also be fascinating to see if the various strategies of various political outfits pay off in the soon-to-arrive elec-tion.

As for now, the political battlefield lies wide open and all the warriors stand an equal chance of gaining political supremacy in the state.

The people of the state hang in the balance awaiting which outfit would attain power and work for their welfare.

By Pushkar Banakar


Defection is a word you may have

come across umpteen numbers of times while going through a political piece in a newspaper or magazine.

What exactly is defection? Is it a loyalty test,

a political suicide or a simple change of al-legiance?

In the political arena, defection is a term used when some one leaves one political party or ideology for another. To put it in another manner, it can be deserting a per-

son or a doctrine to which one adheres to by some tie.

In a democratic country, defection poli-tics is not an alien concept. And when it involves a democracy like India, political defection becomes a jargon spoken in the

A ROTTEN STATE

Political defection: Political hari-kiri or loyalty test?

Photo: Reshma Tarwani


corridors of assembly houses, much fre-quently.

The Indian politics saw the first cases of defection after the fourth general elections conducted in 1967.

Defection thus became a common occur-rence in politics since then. So common were the instances of party defection that a term had to be coined for this new trend. It was called the “Aya ram, gaya ram” culture in Indian politics.

During the time phase of 1967-73 around 2,700 cases of defections took place. It had varied impacts on the ruling governments. Several governments were toppled due to the instability resulting from party defec-tions.

Is defection political suicide?Why does a politician defect? A party, from which he contests the election, wins it and comes to power, so why would he abandon it?

There can be many possible reasons for it. The most prominent one, however, is the vested interests of the concerned person.

Politics, of late, has become a lucrative busi-ness in India. Politicians no longer adhere to the ideologies of the party but cling to the policy of self-interest. Self-interest can be in the form of anything from monetary issues to caste factor.

But isn’t the policy of defection deprecat-ing the level of politics in India? Is it po-litical suicide these politicians are commit-ting by shifting their ideologies? And if it is suicide, why are they committing it? The answer to many such questions lies within the question itself.

A candidate elected from any constituency has two factors backing up his election. Ei-ther he has an image that goes with his vic-tory or the constituency from which he is fielded is a stronghold of his party. In any of the two cases, it’s the voter who decides the fate of a candidate.

Now, if a politician changes his loyalty for the party, it’s highly possible that there may be a change in the voter’s loyalty. In such a case, what else could defection be termed as, if not a political kamikaze act.

Effect of defections on the democratic setupDefection has, sort of, become an illegal trafficking of politicians. This whole affair between politicians and changing loyalties is not a new development. Forging of in-terparty alliances, trafficking of MLAs and MPs and changing of allegiances came into scene in the late 1960s. Dubious means were involved in the buying and selling of politicians.

The 1971 Lok Sabha elections and the state elections of 1972 saw fresh rounds of de-fections at both national and state level. States like Goa and Karnataka have been hounded by the ghosts of defection.

The instability it brings to the government is in itself is a major reason why defection should be completely banned. Dissolved governments and no-confidence motions are the by-products of the act of defec-tion.

The anti-defection law and its impact Can a law effectively control defection? To know the answer to this question, one should know why a person changes his loyalty from the parent party. The reasons could be manifold. Ambitions, vested in-terests, loyalty tests or some another factor can force a person make up his mind to defect. And no constitution framed ever is capable of curbing these reasons.

A legal procedure was followed to curb the act of defection in 1985, when Rajiv Gan-dhi was prime minister of India. A new schedule, the 10th schedule was added to the Constitution of India. It dealt with the disqualification of a member of parliament on the grounds of defection.

Does the 10th schedule exactly prohibit the defection of politicians? In its implementa-tion, the 10th schedule only makes sure that an elected member remains with his party as long as the party finishes its term. He may give up the position given to him by the party in case he does not want to con-tinue his term.

In short, the 10th schedule just codifies a moral rule.

A law designed to curb defection alone

would not be enough for this purpose. What a political democracy essentially needs to stop defection is internal democ-racy. Centralisation within a party can lead to the creation of dictatorial regimes. Mem-bers of the party should be given an equal say in party matters. Dissent should be nipped in the bud by applying a democratic method.

The recent high-voltage political drama created in the Karnataka assembly by the defection of 13 MLAs, and their later dis-qualification, is a live example of how the ghost of defection hounds a government setup.

Although elections are round the corner in Karnataka, the loyalty test conducted by B.S. Yeddyurappa had almost hijacked the government. The drama, however, didn’t last long and the defected MLAs were dis-qualified. That the disqualification came just months before their terms were about to end in no way affects their health (read political career).

There would have been no point in dis-solving a government when elections were already around the corner. So who did actu-ally gain from this political arm wrestling? Was it a publicity stunt by Yeddyurappa to bring his party to the front or just another politically motivated loyalty test? Only time will tell.

Defection, more than being a political problem, has become a social evil. It won’t take long to weaken the foundation of a democratic setup like ours.

A more pragmatic approach dealing with cases of defection would definitely strength-en the political setups in India. Defection, at any level, is an unwelcome approach. To cleanse a party from such evils, treatment should start from the rudimentary level.

Fair politics is the basis of any democracy and to keep it functioning, vested interests should be avoided.

By: Sumit


Begging is the only option for Karnataka’s lepers

“We have to beg to fill our stom-ach,” says Ramanna, a leper of

Vinni colony in Bangalore.

The colony has 64 lepers living in it and 35 of them have not had their handicapped pension for more than a year. This is not the scene of Vinni colony alone, but for the whole of Karnataka.

During my visit to different leprosy colo-nies in Karnataka, I found this problem prevalent in every corner of the state.

Helpless lepers living in miserable condi-tions are dying of hunger. They live in shacks or often on the streets.

The only way for their livelihood is begging as they are denied jobs everywhere.

As per the Karnataka government, an in-dividual with 70 percent disability is en-titled to disability pension of Rs.1,000 per month, while a person who is certified with 40 percent disability is eligible to receive a

pension of Rs.400 per month.

Hundreds of lepers are living in mud houses under unhygienic conditions in Ron leprosy colony in Gadag district. The mud houses are made by the lepers as the government has denied them any permanent shelter.

The disease is rapidly spreading among children in that colony who live naked in the middle of pigs and dirt.

As per government rules, the state should provide houses to leprosy patients and build a separate colony for them. A nation-al survey found out that there are almost 700 leprosy colonies in India and most of their inhabitants rely on begging for their livelihood.

Leprosy has affected a lot of poor and il-literate in the country. About 130,000 new cases were reported in India last year.

They cannot fight for their cause and are ignorant about their rights.

Makhtum Saheb, a leper of Ron leprosy colony, has lived for 20 years in the same colony.

“Whenever I go to the post office to collect my pension, the postmaster sends me back saying that the pension has not arrived,” he said.

“I saw my father dying. The disease de-stroyed my father’s body slowly. Years back we used to have a leprosy hospital in this district, but it got shut and the government hospital’s treatment is pathetic,”, Makhtum said.

Makhtum last received his pension of Rs.1,000 a year ago.

“Begging is the only source of income for me and my family for last one year. It is not even enough to fill our stomach every day,” he said.

My children have never been to schools and I cannot help this situation. I am denied job

A ROTTEN STATE


everywhere I go.”

To try to get to the bottom of this problem I went to the post office to inquire about the what has been happening to the handi-capped pension in the area.

C.V Chakraravi, the postmaster of Ron, de-nied that there had been any irregularities and said the pension has been reaching the patients on time.

This year, the state government has re-leased Rs.2.7 million for the development and treatment of lepers in Karnataka, but hardly any of them appear to have got ben-efited from the earmarked funds. Little or nothing has been done so far for the pa-tients in this state.

“The government has allotted a huge sum but the lepers in the state are not getting benefited anyhow,” said Dr. Shivra, Karna-taka surveillance medical officer.

“The life of leprosy patients in the state is very bad. Most of them do not receive pen-sions from the government. Corruption ex-ists in the grassroots of our government’s system and the poor people perish because of this,” Shivra said.

Similar problems are faced in different parts of India too. Gujarat has the highest rate of GDP growth, but the state govern-ment does not give the lepers any pension. The patients staged a protest last year de-manding for pension. One leprosy colony in Ahmedabad has 150 lepers and 80 per-

cent of them beg and do not receive proper health care facilities.

Huge amounts of funds are released ev-ery year in Karnataka, but before they can reach the targeted people, politicians and corrupt officials take their cut.

Change should be brought about soon. It is unfortunate that in a land where Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa worked for the cause of leprosy patients, India today ac-counts for 60 percent of the world’s lep-rosy population dying of hunger.

By Debanti Roy


Despite being properly cared and fed at an NGO

shelter for a week, Venkatesh Narayannap-pa looked pale, scrawny and weak when I met him at SATHI (Society for Assistance to Children in Difficult Situation) in Ban-galore.

Narayannappa, 14, from Bangarpet in the Kolar district of Karnataka was working in a hotel at Majestic for six months.

Because of the absence of his father and presence of an un-caring mother who had a drinking prob-lem, he quit school in fifth grade. Back home, he has an el-der brother and two sisters, who work in the fields for daily wages.

Asked about how he reached Ban-galore, Venkatesh said: “My elder sister’s marriage was arranged and Rs.30,000 was re-quired to marry her off. So my brother told me to work and earn money. I boarded a train dis-creetly because I did not want to work in the fields like them.”

Hundreds of children who run away from their homes and land up in cities share sto-ries of a similar kind.

The number of runaway children hitting the roads of Bangalore city daily contin-ues to have not deferred much since years despite various schemes and projects initi-ated by the government for children at risk. Sixty percent of these children are found and rescued from the railway stations, 30 percent from the bus stations and the rest from other parts of the city.

Around 10 to 12 children land up in Banga-lore Railway Station every day from differ-ent parts of India. Most of these children come to Bangalore just to have a taste of the magnificent city they have heard a lot about.

The nongovernmental organizations that work for children in difficult situations say there are 40,000-50,000 children living in various pockets of Bangalore having run away from their homes and working at

some construction sites, factories, hotels or other places.

“There were five other children, aged be-tween 11 and 14, working at the hotel where I was employed,” Venkatesh said.

Kumar, 15, from Tamil Nadu, who escaped from a construction site in Marthahalli, Bangalore, and was later found and rescued from the railway station, said that there are many young boys like him employed at the site.

There are seven NGOs in Bangalore work-ing toward the rescue and rehabilitation of

children on the streets. But the fact that there are a lot of such children who go un-noticed and unreached cannot be ignored.

About those children who go unreached, Basavaraj Shali, the deputy director of SATHI said: “Those children who go un-noticed by the police or NGOs land up in terrible situations and horrible living con-ditions of the city. Construction sites and hotels become the haven for such children who come to the town without a penny in

their pockets when they can no longer bear the hunger. A good percent of them end up working in different fac-tories.”

“ R e c e n t l y there has been an increase in the num-ber of chil-dren coming from North Indian states to Bangalore, like Uttar Pradesh, Bi-har, Jharkhand and others,” said Basavaraj,

who has been working for runaway children for the last 20 years.

The reasons that lure these children to leave their homes for Bangalore vary. When a good number of them come to the city in search of jobs to support their families, many others land up here just out of the curiosity to get a glance of the garden city of their dreams.

“I left my home for Bangalore to search for a job that would fetch me a good regular income. It was necessary because I had to take care of my sick parents and educate my younger ones,” said a boy of 16 from

Away from home, DYSTOPIAN VISIONS

Photo: Vintu Augustine

longing to return


Gulbarga, who had completed a diploma course from one of the industrial technical institutes and was working in a small scale company for a meager salary.

“I just came to see the city.” This answer, given by a 12-year-old boy from Andhra Pradesh when I asked him why he came to Bangalore, surprised me.

Apart from these two reasons, there are children who land up in the streets of Ban-galore due to the death of either of their parents, leading to the remarriage of the other, or because of separation between parents.

Nagesh, who lost his mother when he was only 1 year old and was on the streets by the age of 10, has only to speak about the mistreatment of his step mother.

“The number of children landing up in rail-way stations and bus stands increase during vacations and after the exams,” said Sug-andi, a staff member at SATHI.

We find a lot of children who leave their homes due to disinterest in studies or be-cause of the heavy alcoholic addiction among parents.”

There are other children among them, who

come home from their hostels for short va-cations and under the pretention of going back, leave for Bangalore instead. And the parents are left to think that their children are in the school hostels.

Keshav Talwar, 15, from the Bellary district of North Karnataka, ran away from home after a quarrel with his brother over studies. From a well-to-do family and good at his studies, Keshav worked in a hotel for two months.

“I made a mistake and want to go back home,” said Keshav when asked about how he felt. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

Children who strike the roads of Bangalore thus will be rescued, reunited or rehabili-tated if they happen to be spotted by mem-bers of NGOs working for such children.

If not, they land up in construction sites, factories and the like. They receive neither adequate remuneration nor proper food.

They lack comfortable accommodation and medical care. Quite a few of them become addicted to alcohol and drugs.

According to SATHI, about 400 children leave their homes and end up at railway sta-tions of various major cities, every day.

Despite police complaints made by the parents for their missing children, there is no proper linkage between government children homes and police department to enforce immediate reunion of the children rescued with their parents.

Said that, there are children forced to stay in government children homes for months, and for years in certain cases due to the failure of the authority to trace them even after the missing complaints are made.

“That is a serious concern all over the country to be addressed immediately and effectively. There needs to be a proper linkage between the government children homes and the police departments,” Basa-varaj said.

Talking about the role of the government, Basavraj said: “There is no single direct in-tervention by the government in the reha-bilitation of runaway children, except paper works, meetings and workshops.

Given the huge fund allotted to children’s welfare, if the government were to prop-erly implement its schemes through direct field interventions, there would have been no necessity of any NGOs.”

Addressing the issue of missing children Mr. Basuraj, a member of Karnataka Child Welfare Committee, said: “The government is following the public-private partnership policy in rescuing and rehabilitating the missing children. Sixty to sixty-five percent of rescued children were rehabilitated dur-ing the last year through a close collabora-tion with the NGOs.”

However he declined to speak about the lack of proper coordination between gov-ernment children homes and the police de-partments in rehabilitating the children or sending them back home.

“I want to return home and enroll myself back to the school,” Venkatesh said, gaz-ing deep into the empty air and uncertain future before him.

Like Venkatesh, many other children long to be reunited with their families and wait for the government to take steps to get them back home.

By Vintu Augustine

Photo: Vintu Augustine


India is the largest democratic country in the world, and everyone is said to be equal under the law here. In

this country the law provides for equal punishment for all, but in reality there is no equal punishment for offenders. Crimes have increased massively in India since 2008.

It is reported by the National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) that since 2008 crimes increased by 80 percent, and most of them were murders and rape. The NCRB also came up with the shock-ing news recently that between 2001 and 2010 crimes by juvenile have been on a steep rise. India witnessed 60 percent of the crimes committed by teenage between these years.

Children between 15 and 18 are committing most of the murders and rapes, and ultimately they are not getting any punishment by the law considering them as juvenile. These offenders are sent to the juvenile house where they get released in their mid-20s and most of the time they are released after two months.

A juvenile is a person who is below 18. Up to the age of 18, a boy or a girl is considered a juvenile according to the Juvenile Justice Act 2000. Until 1986, the age limit for boys was 21, while for girls it was 18, but the JJA Act of 2000 brought the age of male juveniles on par with females. All boys and girls below the age of 18 enjoy full protection of the Juvenile Law.

According to the Juvenile Department of Bangalore and the NCRB, in 2011 Bangalore witnessed 49 juvenile crimes whereas in 2012 the juvenile crime rate rose to 84 and most of these criminals were released by juvenile houses after six months. Most of the juveniles are charged with double murders and rape.

B. T. Venkatesh, a criminal lawyer in the Karnataka High Court said: “In India most of the crimes are committed by juveniles. The reason being, if a juvenile commits a crime he is released very early and that is why many criminals hire juveniles to do their work. Most of the juvenile criminals hail from families which are below poverty line. The laws connecting to juveniles have served as a defensive wall from the young criminals to consign any kind of crime.”

Venkatesh added: “In Bangalore many murders and rapes are committed by juvenile. India is the only country where there is no strict punishment for juveniles. When a child is above 14 years he develops the mental ability to decide what is wrong and right and so they are eligible to get strict punishment.”

In 2012, when the heinous gang rape took place in Delhi, one of the accused was set free because he was juvenile.

According to the law, the accused can get a maximum punishment

Crimes by minorsspur calls for tweak in law

DYSTOPIAN VISIONS


for three years if the accused is a juvenile, but most of the time accused gets released within six months.

The central government decided that the age of minority should be reduced from 18 to 16, but there were widespread protests by women activist groups throughout the country. A judicial bench comprising Justice J.S. Verma and Gopal Subhramanium, India’s solicitor general, rejected the central government’s plea and decid-ed there will be strict punishment in case of murder and rape and even the accused to come under the juvenile act would be included in this.

The verdict of the Verma Committee was sent to the Home De-partment for consideration.

B. Dayananda, joint commissioner of Bangalore, Crime Depart-ment, said: “Many gangsters and rapists in Bangalore are below 18 years and many gangsters are planning to involve children in illegal activities since there is no legal punishment for these young children.”

Dayananda added: “Crimes committed by juveniles have increased from 0.9 percent in 2001 to 13.8 percent in 2011. In fact, over 34,000 juveniles in the age group from 16-18 have been impris-oned in India for rape and murder. In Bangalore, 1,200 children were arrested in 2011-2012 for murders and rape.”

Dayananda describes some of the cases in Karnataka in which an accused was not convicted on grounds that the accused was a juvenile.

•On Aug 6. 2009, a 17-year-boy from Bellary raped his aunt and killed her. In spite of committing rape and murder the boy was released from the juvenile house in March 2010.

•On Oct. 30 2010, a 14-year-old boy, Muhammad, resi-dent of Tumkur village, killed two of his cousins along with his aunt Duriya. Muhammad killed his 5-year-old cousins, Shabhana and Fatima. Muhammad was told by his aunt to kill her children as she had no one to feed them. Muhammad is now in a juvenile house in Bangalore and is set to be released in March.

•On Sept. 27 2011, a 17-year-boy, Ashok, killed his alco-holic father in a fit of anger as his father used to physically abuse him and his mother. Ashok was sent to juvenile house and in July 2012 he was sent to NIMHANS for mental treatment.

Dr. Meena Jain, chairman of the Child Welfare Committee in Ban-galore, said: “Neglect, abuse, poor education, poverty are the fac-tors that hamper a child’s development and turn him to commit crimes. Most of the juveniles are victims of poor financial condi-tion. Around 40 to80 percent of sexually abusive youth are them-selves sexually abused and 30 to 50 percent have been physically abused.”

Japanese juvenile justice system stresses rehabilitation

There is no difference between Japanese juvenile law and Indian Juvenile Act when it comes to juvenile punishment, but there is a huge difference between Japanese juvenile houses and their Indian counterparts.

The people of Japan were stunned by a series of terrible crimes committed by teenagers in the 1990s. In 1997 in the city of Kobe, a 14-year-old boy killed a younger boy and chopped off his head. He was eventually arrested and detained for several years in a home for young offenders. In 1998, another teenager murdered an entire

family, and a 17-year-old boy fatally stabbed a woman during a bus hijack.

In Japan, the age of criminal responsibility is 14, while those under 20 accused of serious crimes are tried in family courts.

The juvenile law there stresses rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation has more importance in Japan than it seems to in India. There is strong emphasis on education with both academic classes and vocational training. Forty percent of the inmates find work before they leave.

The rehabilitation also provides good mental treatment to the in-mates. In India, juveniles are forced to clean juvenile homes; there is no education in Indian juvenile houses.

In Japan, the teenage criminal becomes well behaved after reha-bilitation, but Indian teenagers commit more crimes when they get released from a juvenile house.

Bangladesh juvenile justice system stricter than India’s

The situation of juvenile crimes in Bangladesh is an issue of seri-ous concern. In Bangladesh, the law related to juveniles is much stricter than that in India. There, a child at the age of 16 is pun-ished like an adult and he can also be sentenced to life imprison-ment for his crimes. In Bangladesh, children of the age of 15-16 are treated as adults. The Children Act is the main law concerning children, but it deals with both the children in need of protection as well as children in clash with the law.

In 2004, a new rule was passed in Bangladesh. The age of criminal responsibility was raised from 7 to 9, and children over 16 years of age are always treated as adults. According to the Children Act child and youth offenders are treated as persons under the age of 16.

At present in Bangladesh there are three specialized juvenile courts and a decision was taken to establish another four juvenile courts.

The best part is that most of the children are dealt with through the regular criminal courts, where they are tried jointly with the adults and have no lawful image. The constitution of Bangladesh provides equal punishment to all.

Debasish Basu, criminal advocate at the Kolkatta High Court said: “If the juvenile age is reduced from 18 to 16, a large section of child criminals will be tried under adult law. 75 percent of the crim-inals from all communities fall in to 16-18 years of age. 65 percent of the juveniles are involved in theft, robbery and other smaller crimes and the rest commit murders and rapes.”

Basu added: “There is no strict law against teenage criminals in India; they also deserve same punishment like adults. A child gains his maturity at the age of 14-15 so they deserve strict punishment by the court.”

By Nijhum Rudra


Got an iPhone 3GS? Bought it for over Rs.30,000 in 2010? Well, why don’t you just throw it in the bin now.

That seems to be the status of the iPhone 3GS.

The phone, which cost you a small fortune, has turned out to be a pretty much use-less handset thanks to the launch of the iPhone 5.

Since the latest Apple iOS was launched, the older versions of the iOS are being rendered ineffective.

Quite a few applications are no longer working on iPhone 3GS as these apps now require iOS 4.3 or higher, and 3GS will not upgrade over 4.2, even if it has been hacked.

One such problematic app for Apple has been WhatsApp. This app was designed as an alternative to Blackberry’s BBM for non-Blackberry users. It allows free tex-ting and sharing of data in the form of pictures, videos and audio files.

In the last couple of years, WhatsApp has become extremely popular. Almost everyone with a smartphone is on WhatsApp.

Ruhi Dhawan, a student, said: “I don’t remember when was the last time I used a normal SMS to text someone. Since I got a smartphone, a year and a half ago, I’ve been using WhatsApp. Everyone I know is on WhatsApp and I spend a large part of

my day staying connected with my friends and family through this app.”

However, iPhone 3GS users can’t say the same anymore.

Ashish Sharma, iPhone 3GS user and an employee in a multination-

al company, said: “It’s so annoy-

ing that my phone will no

longer support W h a t s A p p .

What am I sup-posed to do?

Spend Rs.50,000 to buy the latest

iPhone just so I can use WhatsApp?”

He added: “When I first faced this prob-

lem, I took my phone to various stores to get it fixed or upgraded, but

unfortunately, my iPhone is close to an obsolete

model and cannot be up-graded.”

A lot of iPhone 3GS users are facing the same problem.

The owner of a phone store on Brigade Road gets about three-

four customers coming in every day asking for their iPhones to

be upgraded, only to find out, it won’t upgrade beyond 4.0.

Faisal Sharif, the store owner, said: “These customers come in with

their

iPhones, hoping that we will fix them, but they only get disappointed. If you

want WhatsApp on your iPhone, it needs to be iPhone 4 or higher. IPhone

3GS is a completely outdated model now—we don’t even keep it in our store

Got an iPhone 3GS? You might as well trash it

TECHNOLOGY


anymore.”

He added: “I think there is a collaboration between WhatsApp and Apple. It helps them mint more money because now every Apple customer who has an older version will have to pay another half a lakh to buy the latest model of the Apple iPhone.”

If you think an Apple iPhone of that high price (when you bought it) would get you a fair amount of money when you went to sell it off two years later, you are wrong.

He added: “We do buy iPhone 3GS if people want to sell it off or want to take another one in an exchange offer. However, the price is really low.”

Mobile stores are buying iPhones from dis-appointed customers at only Rs.2,000, if they have the bill or at Rs.1,500 without the bill. If you are able to sell your iPhone 3GS to a store for more, well, you’re just plain lucky.

Vinay Chandra, a banker, said: “When I put in so much money into the Apple company, I deserve to be treated better. Just because Apple plans to come out with iPhone 5, they want every Apple customer to shift from older models to the newer one. I put in thirty grand two years ago and can’t put an-other fifty. I’d rather shift to Sam-sung, then.”

Satish Raj, employee at Samsung store, Garuda Mall, said: “Since Samsung came out with the S2 and then SIII, a lot of Apple customers are shifting to Samsung. It has a lot of features and it comes in much cheaper than the iPhone 5.”

He added: “There are more free apps on Android Play Store than there are on Apple Market and Samsung allows sharing of files in an easier manner through Bluetooth, plus there is no issue of

iTunes and synchronizing music through it.”

Apple customers are shifting their loyalties to other brands because they are feeling cheat-ed.

Others, who have enough money and care about the Apple brand name, are, well, just putting

in half a lakh again into the Apple company.

R. Rajnish, an employee at one of the official Apple Imagine out-lets in the city, said: “Upgrading iPhone 3GS has been an incurable issue among customers. They may use Samsung for a while, but soon they’ll realize that Apple is any day better than Samsung.”

Officials from Apple head office in Bangalore declined to com-ment for this story.

Is this Apple’s strategy to mint more money or is it a genuine need for the company to put forward such conditions for a simple thing like software upgrades?

And what happens when Apple comes out with iPhone 6? Does that mean that half a lakh will go to waste, as well?

By Udita Chaturvedi

Faisal Sharif

Photo: Udita Chaturvedi


LIFESTYLE

The sinking ship of the single screen

Dramatic handmade posters, a big tattered screen, popcorn sellers walking up and

down the aisles, men whistling in appreciation—or jeering in dis-gust—and coziness blooming in the corner seats of the last rows: This was the romance of the single screen.

The unending queue for movie tickets that cost peanuts, the invis-ible competition between the single screen theaters and purchasing of black-market tickets out of desperation to watch a particular film, truly the single screen in India had its own charm.

Unfortunately, this charm is slowly diminishing. Today, the single screen cinema portrays a sad picture. The brightly painted walls have become dull and weary. The chairs are in a dilapidated condi-tion, the walls and floors are covered with betel leaf stains and the stench of body odor is unbearable in some cinemas.

The end of the romance and charm of these theaters was envi-sioned when Manmohhan Shetty introduced the first multiplex in Mumbai in 2000, after which the sprawling of multiplexes in cit-ies never stopped, and inevitably Bangalore became a part of that league.

Gradually, the first multiplex of Bangalore, Innovative Multiplex, which is located in Marathalli, came into the picture and from then on the roots of multiplexes in the city spread out in all directions.

Bangalore had to bid goodbye to several single screen cinemas like Galaxy, Blue Diamond and Prabhat, to name a few. The latest one to breathe its last was Pallavi Cinema near Hudson Church, which was pulled down so a health care center could be built.

“The business of single screens is going down due to multiplexes. Today, majority of the population want the leisure and comfort of multiplexes. The single screens are now visited only by the lower middle class population who cannot afford the multiplexes,” said Prakash Narsimiah, owner of Cauvery Cinema.

Cauvery Cinema is one of the oldest single screen theaters in the city, dating back to 1972. Back then it was one of the most popular single screen theaters in the city.

He added: “Since the past few years we have suffered major loses. Even if we make an effort to upgrade the quality of the cinema it can be done only to a certain extent. Due to the falling business we are unable to afford the facilities provided in multiplexes.”

Once you enter the cinema, you realize the fading light of these screens. Out of the 1,300 seats capacity in Cauvery, only one-third are occupied. As you walk out, you see a sad little head enjoying a small siesta and trying to kill some flies flying around his ears in his sleep; that is the person selling refreshments, the list of which ends as soon as it starts.

Another factor that has contributed to the falling business of sin-gle screens is pirated DVDs, which are available for as cheap as Rs.30.

“Why should I waste my money on a single screen theater when I can buy a DVD for half the price? If I have to watch a specific movie in the theatre, I would rather go to a multiplex that gives me good sound and picture quality which the single screen cinemas fail to provide,” said Surjodeep Bose, a journalism student at Christ University.

“The movies screened in such theatres are usually in Kannada and therefore it can be enjoyed only by the locals,” said Natasha Upad-hyay, another student. “Besides, imagine watching a movie like Life of Pi or Avatar in such theatres. Firstly, they hardly screen such movies; secondly it will be such a waste to watch them without good audio and visual effects.”

The emerging trend of multiplexes has not only affected the busi-ness of the proprietors of these cinemas, but the livelihood of many others who are related to them. One of the examples are the artists who make handmade posters for such movie halls.

The coming up of multiplexes have directly impacted the liveli-hood of these artists as most of the multiplexes use digitally made posters. The demands from companies for handmade posters have declined sharply as not many single screen theatres are left in Ban-galore.

Although, the scenario looks quite bleak for these theatres, there is still some hope left as a few of them are making efforts to be at par with the multiplexes, one of the best examples of which in the city is Urvashi Cinema. It is one of the most popular single screen the-aters in Bangalore. It is hygienic, well equipped and comfortable.

“We have set up some of the best and latest equipment in our the-atre; it is nothing less than a multiplex. People keep saying that the future of single screen cinemas is inevitably bleak and will be gone soon, but I will keep trying to keep my theater going no matter what it takes. I have always thought that single screens are any day better than multiplexes and my love for single screens will never change,” said Amit Gowda, owner of Urvashi Cinema.

By Amrita Ray


PHOTO ESSAY

With a shy smile...A day with a pourakarmika

With a shy smile, he reluctantly shook my hand. “Shaheen,” he said. “People call me by this name.” Shaheen is a pourakarmika or contractual garbage collector. He lives in Bellandur and pulls his rickshaw for 25 kilometres to reach the area allotted to him, BTM Layout. His shift lasts until 3 in the morning.

Amid howling dogs and heaps of garbage, Shaheen carries on with his work. He is immune to the barking of dogs, the stench of garbage and the beeps of my camera. It’s quarter past mid-night and he has another 15 kilometers to cover. It requires great effort to match the speed of Shaheen’s rickshaw on my 150cc motorbike. Riding in first gear, I strike up a conversation.


During our little con-versation till we reach the next heap, I learned a lot about the man pull-ing his rickshaw next to me. He has a family and he has dreams for them. Shaheen is from West Bengal and has been working under the same contractor for about two years now.

With the same shy smile stuck on his face, Shaheen posed for the camera with his daughter Farmeena (yellow frock) and son Javed (bare chest) in front of his shanty, earlier in the day.


By Sumit

“I won’t let my son enter this field. He will study once he reaches that age,” affirms Shaheen. This father wants a secure future for his son, alike any other father. The dreams, however, are a bit tough to realise. With the meager income he lives on, it becomes difficult to make the ends meet. But his tone is not that of a complaining or hapless man. There is some conviction when he says, “Javed will not become a labourer.” What about Farmeena. “I’ll get her married off early.”

Javed sits in front of his shanty. It’s fine till the sun is shining but once the weather becomes restless, these tarpaulin- covered houses become useless.

A colleague of Shaheen, Channa, returns after the end of his shift. He too hails from Kolkata. He too has a bleak future. These are the unsung heroes of the society who rid you off your rub-bish during the nights so that your mornings are fresh.


Way to go, Bollywood newbies!Love, friendship and life sums it

up for Kai Po Che.

A film minus all the glamorous faces of Bollywood had a two films (nobody re-members the first one) old director at the helm. Based on the novel “Three Mistakes of My Life” by Chetan Bhagat, Kai Po Che is director Abhishek Kapoor’s second ma-jor Bollywood outing after Rock On!!.

Fresh faces and a script that holds to the nerves of the average middle-class Indian makes the film click with the audience.

Traversing the lives of three friends (Govind, Om and Ishan) with the Bhuj earthquake and the Godhra riots in the backdrop, Kai Po Che is a sentimental jour-ney nurturing friendship and relations.

Raj Kumar Yadav plays the role of Govind with conviction. The other actors, too, have done justice to their roles.

However, Sushant Singh steals the show with his stellar performance. For Sushant,

a famous name on television, Kai Po Che is a debut venture.

The story revolves around three childhood friends who have different dreams but fol-low one path to fulfill them. How each one of them nurtures their dream, tackles re-lationships and overcomes the hurdles is shown beautifully in the film.

The pace is slightly slow in the first half, but the second half gives an on-the-edge feel.

The climax of the film stands out and is to be remembered for some great acting.

The film gives numerous moments to the audience to identify themselves with. Be it the camaraderie among the three friends or those awkward moments of guilt-con-scious faces, the average moviegoer can at-tach himself to the film.

It’s still the second month of the year and we already have one of Bollywood’s to-be-remembered movies released.

The movie is definitely worth your senses and definitely a one time watch.

By Sumit

The cozy and comfortable cafes in Bangalore are not just about luxurious dining experi-

ences. They give you much more than your expecta-tions.

Infinitea, is one of the most sophisticated cafes in Bangalore, best known for its flavored tea. The café welcomes you with warm surroundings filled with the alluring aroma of tea in the air.

Flavored teas from different parts of the world and tea mugs decorate the cafe. Photographs of people from all over the world with teacups in their hand along with the names of their favorite flavor of the tea are attractively displayed on the one side of the wall.

So is the unusual history of tea, the names of over 100 flavors of tea and how the world relates to these flavors, pasted on the walls of the cafe.

Apart from this rich kettle of different types of teas, the café has a decent menu of continental dishes, which starts with Indian masala tea and ends with Italian pizza.

One of the blazing dishes in the menu is pasta, which is available

in every flavor and sauce.

I ordered my favorite combination of pasta with white sauce and was pleased when it arrived embel-lished in a hot pan, properly cooked with just the right amount of sauce in it.

Two tourists from London were sitting just op-posite me and eating, with gusto, rice served with

fried fish and hot red sauce, baked fish parmigiano, a speciality of Los Angeles. Infinitea café serves 15

other delicious fish dishes.

Infinitea has exclusive tea products available for sale inside the café itself. The front wall of the cafe has a shelf stacked with all kinds of teas, from exotic to herbal. Herbal tea is a big favorite with Indians and foreigners here.

2, Shah Sultan Complex, Cunningham Road

Timings: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Price: Meal for two approx. Rs.800 without alcohol

By Reshma Tarwani

Restaurant Review - Restaurant R

eview -Restaurant Review -R

estau

rant

Rev

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In-dia, politics

today is only about cor-ruption and rarely caters to its

original job of governance. I have been a victim of the corrupt prac-

tices. My stipend is still due for the past six months. I wish the corruption stays

away and politicians do their jobs for which they

are elect-ed.

The politicians are

very corrupt today and the political authorities instead

of curbing this encourages them to indulge in corruption and hence the

country lies in tatters. I am sure if these political parties and the politicians resort to less corrupt ways, the country would

develop at the rate of knots.

Cor-ruption is very

rampant in politics and more importantly in bureaucra-

cy. Bureaucracy always has a corrupt political angle to it. For a bureaucrat to

survive in his job, he or she has to have a political godfather. In government com-

I am aware that

corruption is rampant in politics. The people today use

politics and corruption as syn-onyms and we as politicians of all

political outfits are working towards changing the the way politics and

politicians are thought about in the country.

India talks...

Bhavana Kasturi Student, Christ University

Mohammad Naseer, General Secretary, KJP

Gireesh Banakar Govt. employee

Shashi Kumar Yadav Scholar, JNU


The Beat team

Printed by: Lotus Printers, 32/25, 2nd Main Road, Sir M.V. Industrial Town, West of Chord Road, Bangalore.

An IIJNM PublicationBANGALORE

Photo: Robin Sinha

The Beat, March 2013

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Transcript of The Beat, March 2013