Vol 12, Issue 13

Chief Minister

pledges new

irrigation projects

Vol.12, Issue 13 Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore December 5,2012

Minister: State funds diverted to private businessInside

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Page 4

Cops harass

couples

at Cubbon Park

Page 6

LGBT

community seeks

opportunities

A State government minister has

accused the Karnataka Slum

Clearance Board of

embezzlement.

Minority Affairs Minister and

Bijapura district MP Rehman

Khan claims over 100 lakh R’s

allotted to developing slums has

disappeared into several private

businesses run by officials of the

KSCB.

Mr Khan said: "The

Government of Karnataka

allotted 100lakh Rs in 2012 for

the development of backward

slums but officials from the

Karnataka Slum Clearance

Board used the money to start

their own small businesses".

A housing board director also

claims money allotted to

improving slums in the city has

been spent by officials on small

timber yards and tyre

manufacturing outlets.

Slum-dwellers also claim that

over 100 lakh R’s has gone into

these private ventures and they

haven’t seen a penny of

investment.

“In the year 2010-2011

government has allotted 300

lakhs for the development of

backward slums around the

state. Officials mis-used that

amount for their private small

scale timber industry in

Jayanagar,” said Nayanshekha,

a resident of Jayanagar slum.

Dev Mahadesh, Finance

Manager at KSCB, confirmed

the small scale outlets had been

funded by the state and said:

“Officials are using this money

for the purpose of employment.

They want to increase

employment for the youth who

live in the slums.”

He also confirmed that

officials have at least one small

scale industry in the slum itself,

adding “with this we are

generating the various sources

of employment for the weaker

sections.”

But an official from the

housing board said: “There is no

point to use allotted

amount for the

employment. This

money should have

been used for the

development of the

more than 2000

backward slums in

Karnataka.”

Ashutosh, 20, a

student from

Chamrajpett slum, said:

“Officials are not giving

us any employment, we

are still searching for the job.

They make many promises and

use our land for this small scale

industry but they give their

industry to the private

contractors and these

contractors higher their own

employees”:

Niranjan P. Naik, Director of

Township Karnataka Housing

Board, said: “Prior to 2009 we

used to work with Karnataka

Slum Clearance Board and

together we implemented many

schemes for the development of

slums. But from last year we

work separately. We don’t work

with the slum development

anymore because these

uneducated officials are using

the development fund to develop

their own business.

“These illegal private firms

by KSCB officials are creating

many problems for us. Youths

are not taking any interest in

employment schemes,

moreover they are leaving their

education just to get

employment in these illegal

private firms but these officials

are making fake promises to

them,” he added.

Big tire manufacturing units at Malleshwaram operate under the guise of small enterprises.

Slum dwellers have not gained any

benefits from the allocated funds

ABVP threatens winter session at Suvarna Soudha

By Reshma Tarwani

Students staged a state-wide

protest on Monday over the

setting up of guidelines for

private universities in Karnataka.

Mr. N. Ravikumar of Akhil

Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had

warned that the party would

stage the protest on December

3 if their demands were not met.

The student group laid down

a list of demands which included

the reservation of 50% of the

seats in private universities for

students of Karnataka. They

also demanded the state

government to set the fees of

students belonging to the

backward and the poor class.

Apart from demanding the

state government to set up

proper guidelines for these

private universities, ABVP had

asked the government to award

private status to only those

institutions who have achieved

excellence either as

autonomous institutions or a

deemed university.

On Monday the ABVP went

ahead with their protests in

various districts of Karnataka

since their demands had still not

been fulfilled. Mr. Raghu Poojar,

State Secretary (ABVP) said,

“The demands of ABVP have not

been met. So we decided to go

ahead with protests throughout

the State.” The ABVP staged

protests in various districts of

Karnataka. These included

Udupi, Chikballapur, Bellary,

Haveri, Kolar, and Mangalore.

Balaji S., National Executive

Council Member said, “We

staged protests in 41 places

across the state. More than 11,

000 students participated in

these protests.” Upon being

asked whether other student

parties are putting up the cause,

he said, “We are the first

Students party in the state to

bring up this cause. However,

Students federation of India

(SFI) is also planning to go

ahead with the disrupting of the

winter session at the Suvarna

Soudha on 6th December.”

The protests held across the

state saw the turnout of

thousands of students. When

enquired about the success of

the protest, Mr.Raghu sad, “We

are fighting for the rights of

students and it is obvious that

the students will support us. We

will requst other students to

come forward and openly

support us for the cause.”

The party members of the

SFI were not availaible for any

comments on their take on this

entire issue.

Students from Karnataka protest alongside the ABVP at Udupi.

By Sumit

Manjusha Gandham

Sumit

Manjusha Gandham

Journos submit memo to Chief Minister;

seek Navin Soorinje’s release

Senior journalists from Banga-

lore, including Parvati Menon

from The Hindu and Laxman

Hoogar from TV9 news, submit-

ted memoranda regarding Navin

Soorinje to the Chief Minister.

Navin Soorinje, Kasturi

news24 reporter, was arrested

by the Mangalore police last

week alleging that he did not in-

form the police about the home-

stay attack that happened in

Padil in Mangalore recently.

Senior journalists from Ban-

galore who had gathered here

for submitting a memorandum to

CM Jagadeesh Shettar said that

all allegations against him were

false. They also said that the po-

lice were involved with the mis-

creants in the incident and

demanded that justice be pro-

vided to Navin Soorinje.

“Mr. Soorinje had done his

work sincerely. We even have

the phone record that says he

had made a call to the police.

The police have also shown their

biased view about Navin by

booking him under same sec-

tions of law that were booked

against the miscreants, they

said.

“The allegations are false.

We have requested the govern-

ment not to oppose the bail ap-

plication from the public

prosecutor. And also there have

been several discussions on

whether a journalist should in-

form the incident to the police

first or react according to the sit-

uations,” they added.

The incident took place

within 3 kms of the nearest po-

lice station. There are many po-

licemen around. But there are

only about 50 journalists in Man-

galore. People now do not trust

police anymore and they inform

the happening of the incident to

a reporter. This is something one

should think of”, said a senior

journalist from a reputed media

house. CM Jagadeesh Shettar

in response to the memorandum

submitted said: “I will personally

look into the matter. We can find

a solution to this. I will let you

know what can be done. Even I

am a lawyer. We will take appro-

priate action soon.”

The senior journalists also

demanded that a probe be con-

ducted against the miscreants

who were involved in the inci-

dent and justice “should” be pro-

vided to Navin Soorinje.

Parvati Menon submitting memorandum to the CM

By Krishnaprasad S

Chief Minister promises irrigation

projects at drought afflicted regions

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar

in a meeting today said that the

irrigation projects for Kolar,

Chikkaballapur and Bangalore

rural districts would be com-

pleted soon.

The meeting took place at

“KRISHNA”, the Chief Minister’s

home office, following protests

and road blocks that took place

last week.

Several protestors gathered

and supported the call of sepa-

rate irrigation projects to the af-

fected areas. The protests were

also followed by a ‘rail roko’.

Ministers, Karnataka Rajya

Raitha Sangha and other parties

along with BJP today pressur-

ized the Central and State gov-

ernments to find solutions to

water problems in the eight dis-

tricts of Karnataka, including

Kolar, Chikkballapur and Banga-

lore rural districts.

State Minister in charge of

Kolar district, Varthur Prakash

also demanded the same for the

people in his constituency.

Ministry of micro, small and

medium enterprises and who

represents Kolar at the centre,

K.H. Muniyappa, was also

among the group who had joined

the discussion regarding the

projects.

The Shettar government

along with the Minister for Water

for state, SR Bommai, today

also said that it would provide

canal facilities for the water

scarce regions.

It would provide around 300

TMC of water that will be sup-

plied till Mulbagil of Kolar and

Kanakpura of Bangalore.

Speaking to the media, K.H

Muniyappa said, “According to

Dr. Parameshwaraiah reports,

the foundation would be laid very

soon.

I have been discussing

these problems with Verappa

Moily and other state ministers

at the center.

We would also extend our

support to the state government

and request them to start the

work soon.”

“The government has

planned to execute this very

soon. I thank Jagadish Shettar

and SR Bommai for the interest

taken towards the projects.

I hope this will be started by

the time the next government

comes to power. At least the

foundation should be laid,” he

added.

Dr.Parameshwaraiah, who

submitted the report to the gov-

ernment said: “Let us hope that

this helps people.”

He also said that the same

project would be extended to

Mangalore and Udupi in the

North Canara district of Kar-

nataka by building check dams

wherever possible.

Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar at his home office

By Krishnaprasad S.

2 The Weekly Observer December 5, 2012

Religious leaders back organ donation

ACP vows to crack

down on terrorism

Former Mangalore police chief

Gopal Hosur has been ap-

pointed Additional Commis-

sioner of Police to solve the

pending murder cases of 2008-

12.

Gopal B Hosur, Indian Police

Service, says he was handed

the role of ACP to catch the cul-

prits responsible for the 2008

Bangalore serial bomb blasts.

Mr. Gopal also headed the Kar-

nataka State Intelligence Bu-

reau.

He was chosen by a panel of

IPS officers headed by chief

minister of Karnataka Mr.

Jagdish Shettar. Mr. B

Dayananda, Joint Police Com-

missioner of Bangalore said:

This is an important decision

taken by Karnataka Police Ad-

ministration Department and the

Chief Minister himself.

“He will be taking over the

charge of Bangalore blast case

in 2008. He is a proven officer

who has solved some critical

cases in the past.”

According to the Crime Re-

search Bureau (CCRB), Mr.

Gopal recently arrested a secu-

rity guard of State Bank of

Mysore who killed Anusuya, an-

other employee. On the last

week of November Mr Hosur

also incarcerated Sanjeev Rathi

and Muhammad Faheem who

assasinated BS Anandamma a

65 year old man in MC Layout.

He was awarded a gold

medal by the Karnataka govern-

ment for bravery and excellence

recently. He commented: “I con-

sider the arresting of Sameer

Sadiq, the chief of Students Is-

lamic Movement of India (SIMI)

as one of my major achieve-

ments. If I could bring out the

culprits behind Bangalore blast

case in 2008 it would be a pres-

tigious achievement for police

department of Karnataka.”

I reckon there was involve-

ment of Laskar-e-Taiba in the

2008 Bangalore blast case.

Abdul Nasar Mahdani, the main

accused in custody, should be

interrogated again.” added Mr.

Gopal.

Fifty people were killed and

20 another were injured in the

bomb blast series that shook

Bangalore on July 25, 2008.

Nine Bombs were triggered at

the same time at nine different

locations in Bangalore.

Prime accused of Bangalore

blast series, Abdul Nazr Mah-

dani is now in judicial custody.

According to Kerala police re-

ports Mahdani’s Sufiya is held

resposible for burning case in

Kalamassery in Cochin.

According to police depart-

ment the change of investigative

authority has brought a new life

to this notorious case.

By Nijhum Rudra

Various religious leaders shared

the stage at the BGS health and

education city to share their

views on organ donation and re-

ligion.

The religious heads of vari-

ous communities gathered on a

single stage at BGS Health and

Education City. The occasion

was an event organized by the

Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Net-

work (MOHAN) in an attempt to

abolish the myth of the religious

sentiments behind lack of organ

donation.

A Kannada movie based on

organ donation was also

launched on the sidelines of the

event. This movie was a first of

its kind.

The leaders included Shri.

Kempo Sonamji, a representa-

tive of the Buddhist community,

Dr. Yejazuddin from the Muslim

community, Father David Chi-

ramel, representing the Chris-

tians and various leaders

representing the Hindu commu-

nity. One of the most eminent

among the Hindu religious rep-

resentatives present at the event

was Sri Sri Sri. Dr. Balagangad-

haranatha Mahaswamiji.

These leaders were untied in

voicing their concerns on the

myth of religious sentiments pre-

venting organ donations.

Fr. David Chiramel shared

his personal experience of do-

nating one of his kidneys for his

friend. He said, “I have donated

a kidney already. I have also

made a will to donate all possi-

ble organs after my death. My

body will be donated to a hospi-

tal for academic purposes after

my death.”-

All the religious leaders were

of a single opinion that nowhere

in any holy books of any religion

it is mentioned that organ dona-

tion is a sin.

A trustee of MOHAN, Dr.

Sunil Shroff, said “The lack of

organ donation due to hurting

the religious sentiments is sim-

ply a myth.”

He called the conference a

holy conference.

The focus entirely lay on the

lack of organ donation on rel-

gious grounds.The world will

watch with open eyes to see

how this conference will impact

the organ donation.

Swami Kempo Sonaji in the event

By Nupur Gour

Kris

hnap

rasa

d S.

Nupu

r Go

urKrishnaprasad S.


Cartoonists graduate from

pencils to computers

The inauguration of the 77th

exhibition of cartoons by the

Indian Institute of Cartoonists

was done at the Indian Cartoon

Gallery today.

The chief guest for the event

was Madhuri Upadhya,

Associate Director of Nritarutya

Dance Academy.

The exhibition featured the

works of 30 budding cartoonists

from Bangalore who were

chosen in an inter-collegiate

competition called MAAC-

Cartoon 2012 held by Maya

Academy of Advanced

Cinematics (MAAC) in

association with Indian Institute

of cartoonists.

The finalists were chosen

from 28 different colleges in the

city over a month-long duration.

Prizes given away to the

winners included certificates and

Samsung phones and tablets.

The central theme for the

competition was 'water shortage'

for which the organisers

received 700 entries.

After another stage of

selection, 30 finalists were

chosen, out of which Divya D

Pai, a student of BNM Institute of

Technology, was the winner. The

theme for the final selection was

'garbage issue'.

Shajan Samuel, Sr. Vice

President, MAAC, said: "We

were overwhelmed by the

response we received.

Bangalore is a power house of

creative talent, and nowadays,

children are choosing more and

more non-core streams of

study."

In her short speech, the

Chief Guest emphasized the

need of creative artists to follow

their passion under tough

situations.

Balraj KN, cartoonist and one

of the jury members, said,

"Cartoonists today have several

platforms to display their talent,

aside from traditional cartooning.

Advancement of animation and

multimedia in India has opened

up new fields for cartoonists.

Instead of concentration on just

one avenue, cartoonists should

diversify and develop their

talent."

When asked about the future

prospects of cartoonists in India,

Samuel replied that with the

special effects of big budget

films like Life of Pi being done in

India, Indian animators and

cartoonists are in demand.

Reflecting the same

enthusiasm, V.G. Narendra,

Managing Trustee, Indian

Institute of Cartoonists, said that

there is a huge scope for

cartoonists in India today if they

are able to make it a profession

instead of just doing it as a

hobby.

The exhibition will be held at

the Indian Cartoon Gallery till

20th December.

Politically not in position to take decisions,

says Chief Minister

Painters exhibit their art

An art exhibition was held at

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat

today by various artists.

The exhibition included

seven painters from Kolkata, two

from Mumbai and one from

Indore. The themes were varied

for this art exhibition.

Prakash Maji, a painter from

Kolkata was exhibiting his talent

with the theme human face. He

said, “This has been my interest

for a long time now and I am

very happy with my paintings.”

On being asked about the

next theme he was going to

start, he said that nature would

be his next theme.

Another painter from Kolkata

had a very different theme. His

theme was the political

destruction of various cultural

and religious sites.

He said, “It pains me to see

how the political scenario in the

country is affecting the religious

and cultural sites the most.”

Another painter from

Mumbai, Sankar Shinde’s theme

for the exhibition was abstract

art.

Another area of note about

the exhibition was the usage of

different types of colors and

bases for each artist’s paintings.

Some of the painters had

canvas as their base while the

others had cloth as their base.

The usage of colors also differed

from oil colors to acrylic paints.

Most of the painters present

there drew their inspiration from

nature and it reflected in their

work.

One concern for the painters

which was common was the lack

of proper art galleries to

showcase their paintings.

They said that the

government art galleries were

not designed properly and the

poor lighting did not do justice to

their work.

They were unable to

showcase their work in private

art galleries as they lacked funds

and hence had to stick with the

government art galleries.

By Pushkar and Anupika

By Kakoli Mukherjee

Kako

li M

ukhe

rjee

one of the cartoons displayed at the exhibition

Push

kar

Bana

kar

Art gallery in shambles

due to lack of funds

Artists are unhappy with the

facilities and infrastructure at

one of the state art galleries.

The Karnataka Chitrakala

Parishad is not really built as a

conventional art gallery should

be, says artist Pramod Mohanty.

Mohanty said: “The walls are

painted cream in colour instead

of white. Paint is chipping off

from some areas while there are

stain marks in others.”

He added: “Improper

ventilators have been placed

along with ill-fit exhaust fans.

The multiple art galleries in this

academy have been merely

separated using wooden

separators that don’t even cover

the height of the room.”

He was most disappointed

with the lightning of the gallery.

He said: “Lights have just

been placed for the sake of

putting them up. They are so ill-

placed that they create shadows

around the paintings which

should never happen.”

R. Sreedhar, Chief

Administrative Officer,

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad,

said: “We have got few

complaints and suggestions but

we don’t have too much of funds

to make this place like a fancy

private art gallery. If they want

something like that they should

go to those expensive art

galleries that cost up to lakhs for

even a day.”

At the state art gallery,

Mohanty has paid only Rs.

17,000 for a seven days long

exhibition.

Sreedhar said: “Still we are

talking about painting the walls

white and improving the lighting

system. We can’t promise a date

of exact implementation but it

should happen soon.”

Poor lighting system in the state art gallery

By Udita Chaturvedi

Udit

a Ch

atur

vedi

By Debanti Roy

A memorandum of

understanding was signed

between the government and

the judiciary for better working of

law and order in the state.

In advocates’ day celebration

today at high court, Chief Justice

Vikramjit Sen and Prime Minister

Jagdish Shetter talked about the

importance of judiciary in the

state.

Vikramjit Sen said: “The duty

of the judiciary is to create

awareness and the duty of the

lawyers is to make a good

importance of Judiciary.”

Law maintains peace and

harmony in the society. It plays

an important role in protecting

and preserving the rights of the

citizens,” He added.

Vikramjit Sen talked about

Dr. Rajendra Prasad. “He was a

man known for simplicity. He

was a teacher and after

practicing law, became an

advocate. He understood the

importance of law in India,” he

said.

He thanked the chief minister

for the grant of 1 crore for the

construction of Vakila Bhavan.

But he further requested the

chief minister for computers and

library in the Vakila Bhavan for

the use of advocates.

He emphasized on good

infrastructure of the Vakila

Bhavan as it will provide

motivation to work and strive for

perfection. He pledged “to train

the structure of advocacy to

achieve greater heights.”

Jagdish Shetter thanked the

judicial system of Karnataka for

properly maintaining law and

order in the state.

He said: “The judiciary has

played a very important role by

making correct judgments and it

is very important for Karnataka

because politically we are not in

a position to take it.”

(From left) Chief Justice Vikramjit Sen, CM Jagdish Shettarattending advocate’s day celeberation

Debati Roy


Cops harass couples at Cubbon park

Visitors to Cubbon Park are

harassed by police as they take

couple’s picture secretly.

Cubbon park police are on

duty with their digital cameras,

taking pictures of visitors in the

park. “The police are taking

pictures of the visitors without

their permission for the last one

week,” said Biswa, security

guard of Cubbon Park.

“The police are only taking

pictures of boys and girls

together and not other people.

Whereas I would say that more

than the couples, the other

visitors who come here daily are

engaged in criminal activities,”

he added.

Ms. Hajirao, a lawyer, said:

“This is stupid and ill- logical.

The police are taking pictures of

a boy and a girl together and not

boys together or girls together.

The police, who maintain law

and order in the city, should not

have got involved into such

stupid activities.” She added,

“This step taken by

the police needs

some serious

thinking.”

K. Hamid, a

visitor said: “I came

here with my friend

for hang-out and I

noticed that the

policewas secretly

clicking me and my

friend’s picture. This

is annoying. We

were just sitting and

talking, who gave

them the rights to

click us without our

permission.”

P. Laxmanan,

another visitor said,

“This step taken by

police is serious and

needs correction.

Visitors cannot walk

freely or move in the

park.”

Hunumanthappa,

assistant sub-

inspector of Cubbon

Park, said: “The

circular sent by the

higher officials guided

us to perform this activity and

thus we were clicking the

pictures of the visitors without

their consent.” He added, “We

have questioned the

government regarding this and

we are awaiting their response.”

A police inspector on duty

said: “We are doing this because

of the increase in number of

crimes in this park.” He added,

“The cases of murder have also

remarkably increased in this

park. So, we had to take this

step.”

Locals blame illegal immigrants for rising tariffs

The Centre for Fodder Crops

Research (CFCR) and the

Central Seed Research Institute

(CSRI), Bangalore have come

out with a hybrid variety of

fodder crop seeds.

These institutions, in

collaboration have come up with

hybrid varieties of seeds to

increase fodder crop production.

This will help the farmers to keep

their cattle healthy in times of

drought.Dr. G. Krishnan,

research grade scientist at

CFCR said, “We were doing this

project for three years now.

Finally we have come up with

the seeds which can help the

farmers.”

The farmers are delighted at

the prospect of new fodder

seeds. Mallikarjun, a farmer who

grows paddy said, “We had to

dedicate our lands to fodder

crops to take care of the cattle.

Now when the new varieties of

seed arrive we can dedicate

more area of land for paddy and

make more profits.”

Dr. Siddharth Ranjan,

scientist at the CSRI believes

that this will be a landmark in the

field of Indian agriculture. He

said, “These seeds will benefit

the farmers immensely and the

production of food grains can be

increased in the country.”

The seeds are yet to be

released in the market. The

scientists from both the institutes

believe that the product should

be out by late next year as the

final tests are in progress. They

also say that the landscape of

Indian agriculture will change

drastically for good once the

seeds are released in the

market.

Most of the country has been

reeling under drought for most

part of the last decade. The

farmers have complained over a

period of time that because they

have to dedicated large areas of

land in their farms to fodder

crops as they survive on their

secondary income from cattle.

Nagappa, a small farmer,

said “If there is drought the only

means of survival for us is our

cattle and if such seeds are

released in the market, it will

benefit us immensely.”

Hence, according to the

scientists, this makes it all the

hybrid fodder crop seed all the

more important. The new seeds

yield more produce on a smaller

patch of land and this would

benefit the farmers immensely

Human trafficking cases at an all

time high in the city

HUMAN trafficking is so

prevalent in Bangalore that state

officials have organised a street

play to warn schoolchildren of

the dangers.

Last year saw 627 reported

cases of human trafficking.

According to figures just

released by police, in the first six

months of this year, the reported

incidents stood at 403.

Police and state legislators

believe last year’s total will be

eclipsed by the end of this year.

In spite of stringent action

being taken by the police,

human trafficking cases have

been rising in the city.

Bangalore is now the state

trafficking capital.

Illiteracy, superstition and

extortion are the reasons for the

increase in human trafficking,

says the government of

Karnataka.

To counteract the situation,

the government of Karnataka

has now come up with plans to

host street plays depicting the

crime so that people do not fall

prey to traffickers.

The government is trying to

educate school children first as

they are the primary victims of

human trafficking.

Bangalore has the highest

number of registered human

trafficking cases when

compared with other cities in the

state.

The central government has

now ordered all the state

governments to create public

awareness programs.

The awareness program

includes a play on how people

fall prey to human traffickers,

and what can be done to prevent

such incidents. “If this is done,

people do become aware to

some extent.

At least and they can know

when they are being trapped,”

said Aslam Ahmed, Joint

Director of Women and Child

Welfare Department.

Trafficked individuals are

often forced into slavery,

donating organs illegally,

dancing in bars, drug smuggling,

prostitution and begging.

The victims that easily fall

prey are girls, unmarried

women, those separated from

their family, and people suffering

from HIV.

“It is very important to save

people from this act of

inhumanity, so we are taking all

steps to ensure that this does

not happen in the future,” said

Aslam Ahmed.

Human trafficking is

emerging to be the world’s

fastest growing crime according

to reports from National Human

Trafficking Resource

Center(NHTRC).

Yet there is no Anti-trafficking

squad that has been introduced

in the government which can

monitor and control the human

traffic.

In most of the cases the

children are subjected to slavery.

The recent reports state that

almost 60 percent of the cases

registered are of children who

left their parents and came out of

the family in order to get a job.

The Bangalore police are still

in the process of monitoring all

the cases and seem to have

found no improvements in the

case.

The Women and Child

welfare department also has

taken no serious steps nor

pressurized the government to

take some action against this.

In spite of the many steps

taken, the government and the

police department have failed to

properly tackle trafficking, risking

the lives of those most

vulnerable in the community.

Magic seed to increase fodder production

The rise of illegal immigrants

in CV Nagar is causing lot of

trouble for the locals.

The large influx of illegal

immigrants is causing trouble for

the locals in the area. The locals

have to pay additional bills on

water and electricity as the

immigrants are not accounted

for these services.

Ramesh, a local resident

said, “My water and electricity

bill is shooting up every month. I

am from a middle class family

and I cannot afford this.”

The president of the welfare

association of the locality could

not be contacted after repeated

efforts.

The immigrants say that they

are not illegally staying there but

have no documents as proof to

prove their legality. Moina, an

immigrant said, “We have been

staying here since childhood and

only now the locals say this is a

problem. Where can we

suddenly go now.” She wants

the government to relocate the

immigrant community or to

provide documented proof of

their existence in the country.

Kailash, another resident of

the colony believes that these

immigrants should be deported

back to their country. Nischal,

another of the immigrants

refutes the charges saying,

“Why should we be deported?

We have been here almost since

our birth.”

Strangely the immigrants

refuse to confess the country

from which they come from but

accept they are not Indians.

The authorities when

contacted spoke only on

condition of anonymity. They

said, “We are responsible only

for the people of our country and

we cannot take care of illegal

people now.”

It remains to be seen how the

authorities deal with the issue of

illegal immigration and how the

Healthy cattle will be a frequent sight after the seeds come

By Pushkar Banakar

Nischal, an illegal immigrant

By Nupur Gour

By Krishnaprasad S

By Debanti Roy

Visitors get harassed at the ‘lung’

Nupur

Nikita

area of the city

Shre

ya M


In Gadag district, garment workers

battle for a life of dignity and survival

“The town is well-known for

‘Ilekal’ saris and our clan is iden-

tified with the production of

them,” said Sridhar, a member of

‘Nekar’ clan. He spent hours be-

hind the spinning wheel for 18

long years, but no more doing so

now.

“I am well off today thanks

to Gajendragad’s good stead for

business, not to my profession

which just fed me yesteryears

and did nothing more than gifting

eternal joint pains,” said further

Sridhar, who didn’t reveal what

his business is.

Gajendragad of Gadag dis-

trict in Karnataka is a flourishing

commercial town with favourable

geographic features. The ‘Nekar’

community of Gajendragad

holds 40% of the town’s popula-

tion with a major number of its

members, men, women and chil-

dren alike, engaged in the pro-

fession of weaving clothes; let’s

be specific, weaving saris; that

too the famous ‘Ilekal’ saris.

Sasikala, a weaver since her

childhood said, “It is a pleasure

to see a fully woven sari but a

hell-time is spent behind wheel

spinning it; and even worse is

the acute joint pains and breath-

ing trouble that come along with

it.”

She is a young girl of 24

years, but works double her age

behind the machine. Her hands

and legs move at the same time

incessantly and swiftly to twirl 10

inches of a ‘sari’ in 15 minutes.

“Three days’ hard work of

twelve hours each; 36 hours in

total; but all that holds me back

to this work is just Rs. 300,” said

Sasikala, moving away from the

wheel and holding the piece of

her creation in hand with pride.

This is the woe and despair

of every minor worker in the tex-

tile industry, whether it is a hand-

loom weaver at home or a

worker at the mechanized fac-

tory. Although their work is highly

health-demanding, payment is

very low, not even sufficient to

meet the basic necessities.

Yet, in spite of all these woes

and furies the workers are high

on demand to meet the necessi-

ties of wholesale and retail busi-

ness people in the industry.

These workers contribute hugely

to the advantage and heavy

profit of the industries.

Corruption runs massively in

this industry. While the weavers

are underpaid; the corporate

dealers make a huge profit by

selling the saris in the market.

The wholesale dealer who buys

it further distributes it at a net

profit of 25%, which would raise

the prize of the sari to Rs. 750.

And when it reaches to retail

shop, he adds another 40% to

the prize and that would finally

find the home of the purchaser

at a prize of Rs. 1000.

The sheer hard work and

contribution of the worker at a

textile factory remains unrecog-

nized goes unseen and the

sharpness and shrewdness of

business people benefit from the

lion’s share of the profit. The fate

and struggle of every low-level

worker in the textile industry is

always the same; underpaid and

overworking, they ever remain to

be just bread winners for the

family.

The Indian Textile Industry,

one of the leading industries of

India and the largest in the

world, has a major role in the

economy of the country. It earns

about 27% of its total foreign ex-

change through textile exports,

contributing 14% of the total in-

dustrial production of the coun-

try. It also supplies around 3% to

the GDP of the country and is

the largest in terms of employ-

ment generation, giving employ-

ment to more than 35 million

people.

Beside, foreign exchange

also serves to be a source of ‘big

catch’ to small scale textile busi-

nessmen by endorsing them

with a good percentage of profit.

The difference of price percent-

age from the first outlet (main

company counter) to the last

(small scale vendors) amounts

to 40%.

Shaji A., a small scale textile

businessman from Pulpally in

Wayanad district of Kerala,

makes 30 to 40% of profit from

the items sold at his store. He

purchases the cloths from fac-

tory outlets in Bangalore or Cal-

cutta.

The business has increased

his annual income by 40 percent

and his economical position has

improved with the high rate of

profit.

Textile business is one of the

most profitable and flourishing

one in India today, given the high

demand, production and con-

sumption.

The sale of cloth items has

gone up significantly over the

last few years.

But the fact that remains un-

changed and is still staggering

are the condition of the workers

at textile factories and handloom

industries.

Prominent business school

refuses to refund admission

fees to student

Registrars charge extra

to issue certificates

The registrars of birth and death

certificates often delay the is-

suance of certificates, some-

times asking for a higher fee to

expedite services.

According to the Registration

of Birth and Deaths Act, 1969,

certificates are supposed to be

issued by the hospitals or the

registration offices free of cost if

the event has happened in the

previous three days. However, a

lot of Bangaloreans complain

that the registrars end up asking

for amounts as high as Rs. 1000

to get a certificate made, in case

of emergencies.

“I had applied for my son’s

birth certificate in the Tyagrajna-

gar BBMP office. However, the

sub-registrar there asked me to

pay Rs. 300 if I wanted the cer-

tificate. When I questioned him,

he said it’s for “faster issues,”

said Sanjay Gupta, a business

man in Tyagrajnagar.

Ashwin Bhavsar, who had

applied for his father’s death cer-

tificate in 2010, is yet to receive

the document. “I regularly go to

the Seva Kendra Counter on

M.G Road. Every time, they ask

me to come back after a week.”

A.H.Mehta, a resident of Ra-

jajinagar complains that there is

no list of charges displayed in

the office. “How can we know

the actual price of the certificates

if the price is not displayed,” he

asked.

However, the sub-registrar’s

office at Rajajinagar claims that

the first certificate itself costs Rs.

50 according to the law. “The ad-

ditional certificates cost Rs. 10

each,” said Manjunath, a sub

registrar in charge of Maha-

laxmipuram for the last one and

a half years.

When asked about the com-

plains the residents are making

against the registrars, Dr M.

Praveen Kumar, the Deputy

Health Officer (West), said,

“Every office gets an average of

15 applications every-week, in-

cluding births and deaths. This is

a very minimal amount.”

“ I am sure there’s no chance

of delay or extra cost from these

offices. There has definitely

been some misunderstanding,”

he added.

Garment weavers in the district often have t o work for more than 16 hours a day

By Vintu Augustine

Though the documents cost only Rs.10 per additional copy, offi-

cials often charge extra from citizens

A prominent business school in

Bangalore has allegedly ex-

torted money from a candidate

by refusing to return her docu-

ments and certificates.

The Loyola Business School

was involved in a messy court

case when a High Court lawyer

filed a petition on behalf of the

student.

The woes of the student

began right from the time of her

admission. She was admitted on

a Sunday which was odd to

begin with, as no admissions

procedures ever occur on a Sun-

day.

The girl hails from a remote

village in Andhra Pradesh. She

was asked to pay Rs 50,000 as

part of her admission fees along

with her original documents.

After three days, her father

took ill and she approached the

college to withdraw from the

course. The college refused to

refund her admission fees and

also her original documents. To

add insult to injury she was

asked to submit an apology let-

ter for leaving the course.

The college also wanted the

candidate to pay the rest of her

admission fees of Rs 1, 25, 000

in exchange for the original doc-

uments.

Her lawyer, Asha Krishna de-

manded that the college return

at least Rs 50,000 and her doc-

uments.

The Loyola Business School

has agreed to return the original

documents as per the court's rul-

ing but has decided to retain the

Rs. 50,000.

Asha Krishna is now plan-

ning to approach fast-track

courts to get the admission fee

refunded.

The incident occurred on Au-

gust 27, 2011. Savitha was ad-

mitted to the college on August

7 2011. The case was first filed

on April 3rd 2012.

On contacting Loyola Busi-

ness College, Admission Head,

Mr. Navya Krishna said, "Soon

after joining she wanted to quit

and she cited disinterest and fa-

milial issues as reasons to leave.

She was however asked to

pay the remaining amount as

her fees for the first semester as

she had attended classes for a

week which she objected to."

On asking Mrs. Krishna what

her immediate step would be

she said, "I will approach the Ed-

ucation Tribunal."

By Aheli Raychaudhury

Vintu

By Preya Dave

Prey

a

Stadium turning into a dumpyard


IIJNM Publications

Printed by: Lotus Printers

Email: [email protected]

Website:http://www.iijnm.org/

media_uploads/observer/

2012_13/

For private circulationonly

Editor Amrita Ray

Chief Sub EditorSumit

Photo EditorKriti Khandelwal

Page EditorsNikita Malusare

Priyanka RoyPyusha ChatterjeeShreya Mukherjee

Vintu Augustine

Proof ReadersRohanUrmi

SidharthDeepu Aby Verghese

The Observer Team

The BBMP stadium at Jogu-

paliya is being used as a centre

for garbage disposal.

The stadium is a venue for

national football and hockey

matches. Now, it is being used

as a dump yard for the city’s

garbage.

The seating arrangements of

the stadium are also not

adequate for the audience.

The manager of the stadium,

Mr. Divyadeep Narayan, said:

“The BBMP is at fault, we are not

responsible for it.”

He added: “We have

requested them to stop burning

garbage here but our pleas fall

on deaf ears.”

Even players are being

affected by garbage disposal in

the stadium. The training space

is being used to burn garbage,

and so the players are being

deprived of their practice space.

Rajesh Sharma, a regular at

the ground, said: “I am very

disappointed. I do not get space

to practice. I have my selections

coming up and it’s affecting my

performance.”

The BBMP officials had a

different story to tell. They

refused to accept the charge.

Ashish Balaswami, Engineer,

BBMP, said: “All these

allegations are falso. Why will

we burn garbage in a stadium?

They just want to malign our

image.”

He added: “We are working

towards the seating

arrangements. We are on the

way to place more seats in the

stadium.”

The official in the stadium

said: “There is no construction

work happening anywhere in the

stadium for the past three

months.”

The blame game between

the stadium and the BBMP

officials is hurting the

sportspersons as well as the

image of the stadium.

No play, just a dumpyard

By Pushkar Banakar

Push

kar

Bana

kar

Next generation takes responsibility of resurrecting the lives

of hapless school kids

An NGO, set up by two Banga-

loreans is funding government

schools who are in dire need of

funds and better infrastructure.

This organization adopts the

schools and work for there uplift-

ment.So what now? A non-profit

organization which provides in-

frastructure and educational

tools to schools around Banga-

lore.

They fund-raise by selling t-

shirts and other products. It en-

tails the duo's vision to provide a

platform for creative young

minds. In a telephonic interview

to The Daily Observer, Savita Vi-

jaykumar shared her ideas can-

didly.

Sidharth- So what now?

Why did this name come to your

mind?

Savita- “So, What now?” is a

question that addresses the

apathy which exists in our

society. We all know that there

are many problems we face on

day to day basis, but the

question we always ask is, So

what now? What are we going to

do about it? What can be done

to bring a change? This is the

philosophy we follow and live

with and luckily people have

supported our cause.

Sidharth- Talking about

changes, as an organization

what are your main focus areas?

Savita- Our organization

provides infrastructure including

toilets, water tanks, and

vocational training equipments

through our project IN (FRA)

SPIRE to unaided schools in

and around Bangalore. We have

also partnered with Dhanalaxmi

Bank which has kindly decided

to support us. We get donations

and beside that our products like

t-shirts and greeting cards are

sold under 'Care to Consume'

project. The t-shirts are priced at

Rs 300 to Rs 1000 and we are

planning to start our store in the

city for which we are in talk with

Karle Group of Companies (a

garment manufacturing

company) to launch an

affordable clothing line for rural

India.

Sidharth- How many

schools have received your

support till date? And how do

you select schools?

Savita- We have provided

support and facilities to 14

government schools till date.

The first school was Indira

Gandhi International Academy,

run by a charitable trust called

Bright Society, in Jakkur. We

have also started providing basic

computer education to the

school children.

We select schools that are “in

dire need of funds and

infrastructure". We then conduct

a small research about the basic

requirements that schools need

and we provide for the same as

per the requirements.

Sidharth- How do you

market your products?

Savita- Most of the

marketing is done online,

through word of mouth and

through Facebook. We also

have a dedicated page on

Facebook.

Sidharth- How has the

journey been so far and what

makes this organization different

from the rest?

Savita- It has been very

good and challenging too. There

was a time when we had no

financial support and we had to

pool in our own money which we

had saved while working. Our

parents stood rock steady

behind us. Things gradually

started changing with time and

now we have partners and

institutions which are backing

us.

Our organization is different

because we don’t believe in

selling the "cause". It's not a

charity for us. We are not here to

forcefully shove our cause down

anyone's throat. We have artists,

documentary makers, and

photographers, designers who

have worked and collaborated

with us. We want to speak

through the talents of the people

who work with us and to

empower the society in a

progressive way.

Sidharth- Which has been

one of your most favorite and

challenging project?

Savita- ‘Story Rooms' project

has been one of the most

challenging ones till now. It was

something big at that point of

time and required lots of

planning and effort thankfully we

worked very hard alongside our

volunteers to make it successful

and it happened. This project

has been set up to encourage

reading and enhance language

skills among school children to

build self-confidence. This

project also involves book drives

at various academic and

corporate campuses to collect

books depending on the number

of the volunteers we get.

Savita Vijayakumar, a young

entrepreneur

By Sidharth Shekhar

Sidharth

No jobs for gender minorities

Gender minorities in Karnataka

say they face difficulty in secur-

ing government jobs.

The ‘Pride March’ by the

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

Transgendered groups in the city

met at the Town Hall today to

vent their frustration over lack of

employment and other health

issues.

The event was sponsored

and funded by some of

Bangalore’s biggest blue chip

companies but campaigners

said they are regularly rejected

for jobs in the private sector.

They also face rejection

when they try to apply for jobs

with the government.

One of the organizers of the

march, Shaam claimed: “People

participate in this event but you

will find none of these firms

recruiting people like us.”

He also mentioned that

unskilled labor also was not

considered as an option as he

feels private firms don’t entertain

gender minorities.

Education remains one of the

major factors that prohibit

gender minorities from acquiring

employment.

Bangalore University’s

initiative to reserve seats for

transgenders in the 52 post-

graduate programmes is a

failure even after two years.

All the allotted seats are still

vacant as no one from the

transgender community have

applied for any of the

programmes.

Vinaychandra, a person

working for the cause of the

transgenders, said: “Bangalore

University’s initiative was just

due to the pressure from the

NGOs.

If they did not start it from the

base level, they will never be

able to implement it. “

Sources from Bangalore

University said that even if there

are transgender students

admitted to the university, it is

very difficult for them to get jobs

as there are very few

opportunities for them to get

employment.

Incredibly, the Employment

Exchange Board of Karnataka

claims that they do not have any

registrations from gender

minorities and believes that

private recruiting firms would be

a better option for minority

groups.

Mr Thima Gowda, Service

Assistant Manager at the

Employment Exchange Board in

Karnataka, said: “We do not

have ‘such’ minorities coming in

for registration. Minorities

include Muslims, Buddhists,

scheduled castes and tribes

alone.”

Meanwhile, T D Kemparaju,

Registrar, Bangalore University,

said, “We should start such

reservations from the lower

level, followed by the middle and

PU level, then graduation and

then finally post-graduation

level.

“They are a class that has

been established as one of the

minority sections of the society. I

think, they should be given equal

importance and education like

any other child,” he added.

The Pride March saw people

from Sangama, voicing out their

demand for employment and

other schemes to be made

compulsory for their community.

Suryakant SJ, Assistant

Police Officer was one of the

officers present at the march.

He felt that the initiative taken

by the community was not being

channelized properly.

Approaching the government

organizations directly would be

more beneficial, he felt.

The group also called for sex

change operations to be paid for

by the state and want the right to

adopt children by law.

Thousands of people participated in pride march

By Sneha Banerjee & Satyajith

Sneh

a Ba

nerj

ee

Vol 12, Issue 13

Documents

Transcript of Vol 12, Issue 13