RASTR Annual Report 2009-10

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Annual Report 2009-10

Registration No.: JAY-4-00405-2007-08

#285/B, 38th Cross, 8th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore-560082

Tel: +91-9886024990, 9916135836 www.rastr.in email: [email protected]


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The activities of RASTR at present are in the areas of education, fight against corruption,

women empowerment, proper rural & urban development, health care, guidance to youth,

culture, protection of environment & sustainable development, etc. We work actively in

creating awareness among the people about the need for the creation of an honest and

just society, liberate the society from evils like greed, selfishness and exploitation, and to

make citizens realise their rights and duties, and also to cultivate good civic sense.

Herewith we present a brief account of the prominent activities of Rashtrotthan Sankalp

during 2008-09, other important matters of the Trust, and the programmes and activities

we plan to take up during the next year. The report ends with expression of our thanks to

all associates, supporters, well-wishers and friends of Rashtrotthan Sankalp.

Mahila Sahaya Vani Support Anekal

Emmanuel Orphanage and Day Care Centre (a

registered Voluntary Organisation) is a nodal

agency for the Mahila Sahaya Vani of the

Department of Women and Child Development

of Govt. of Karnataka. Under this Vanitha

Sahaya Vani Scheme, any person can dial 1091and report the case of a woman in distress and

the nodal agencies and Police arrange for their

immediate rescue, relief, rehabilitation and legal

aid if required.

Emmanuel Orphanage, run by our associate,

Mr. Soundarrajan (a dedicated social worker for

nearly 3 decades), has nearly 25 women victims

reported under the 1091 Sahaya Vani scheme.

The cases are mainly related to dowry

harassment, domestic violence, denial ofmaintenance allowance on separation, etc. Mr.

Soundarrajan is following the cases of the women in different courts with the help of the

Legal Services Authority (LSA).

Some details of the Sahaya Vani and nodal NGOs are available at:

http://www.bcp.gov.in/english/proactivepolicing/VSV.html

http://dwcd.kar.nic.in/index.asp

Mr. Soundarrajan was in need of certain law

books, which will help in

making these cases stronger and getting

justice for the affected women. In May 2009,we had requested friends of RASTR to

contribute towards this cause. In response,

our friends responded swiftly. We bought the

required books. We visited the Sahaya Vani

Center in Anekal town on June 13 th, 2009 to

hand over the books to the Kendra. Along


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with that we also distributed notebooks to school going children attached with Emmanuel

Orphanage.

Katriguppe Main Road (Ward-54) Garbage Menace Addressed

It is a well-known

fact that garbage

collection in someareas of the

Garden city

(Bengalooru) is the

worst it can be.

Contributors to this

condition are the

apathy of the

administration and

the ignorance and

indifference of the

public who throwaway garbage

from their

homes/shops on

roads or vacant sites. Public themselves are partly responsible for the spread of diseases

and destroying the beauty of city.

In May 2009,

Rashtrotthan Sankalp

took up a mission to

clear up the

Katriguppe MainRoad in Ward-54

under the Bruhat

Bengalooru

Mahanagara Palike

(BBMP) of this mess.

We filed complaints

with the zonal BBMP

office. Followed up

with spot visits along

with citizens and

officials (Environment

Engineer / Health

Inspector). One of the letters submitted to the Joint Commissioner of BBMP South Zone

is embedded below.

Letter to Jt.Commissioner, BBM


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Kannada and English versions of the leaflets distributed in the surrounding areas as part

of the awareness campaign are reproduced here below.


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Images of one of the areas where garbage was dumped before and after we took up the

case may be seen here, which shows that constant efforts from the citizens can make a

big difference in the society.

Before (May 2009)

After (July 2009)


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Prevention of Beggary Act, 1975 Audit

There have been a lot of pro-people Acts,

which have come up, and a lot of

committees that have been set up for the

welfare of the people. The question is how

much efficient has the government been in

implementing the act or the findings of thecommittees. One such Act, which has failed

heavily, is the Karnataka Prevention of

Beggary Act, 1975. Even after 34 years of

passing an Act, the state has been

inefficient in implementing the Act in its totality.

Beggary the most inhumane condition in which a person can be, caught our eyes when

we set out to work towards a self reliant Nation. In order to get more information on this

we filed RTI applications with Beggary Relief Centers all over the state, the Department

of Social Welfare, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR),

and the Urban Development Department ofGovernment of Karnataka. It was shocking

to see the outcome of the information

obtained. We are now planning to get into

the second phase of this activity, by

questioning the concerned departments

and ministries to take initiatives and lead in

this direction and to make Karnataka a

Beggary free state.

Rashtrotthan Sankalp is coming up with a

detailed report on the issue and will besubmitting the same to all the departments and ministries concerned. A few pictures

taken during our study and public audit on the topic may be seen here.

Traffic Rules Violation Audit Belgaum

Citizens are often heard of complaining of the traffic chaos, blaming the traffic police for

the mayhem and advising on "what the government should do". However, they do all this

as if they have no responsibility in this. The traffic system in the Belgaum City is in a

pathetic condition. Most people of Belgaum are either unaware of the traffic rules or dont

care to follow them. Traffic sense does not prevail in the minds of any one be it residents

or the enforcing authorities. Innumerable cases of violations can be found almost at every

nook and corner of the city. Traveling on the main roads is not at all a safe. Traffic rules

are being completely ignored and violated in many ways. Rashtrotthan Sankalp took an

initiative to look into this aspect in detail. Associates of Rashtrotthan Sankalp conducted

a survey in May 2009. Almost every case of traffic

violation and road & footpath was captured. The study

along with informative material on Traffic rules was

published. The report is embedded here for reference.

Belgaum TrafficReport


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Mayhem at a Level Crossing

RTI Activities

The Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005 is a landmark law empowering citizens to know

the affairs of the government / administration and participate in civic affairs. Rashtrotthan

Sankalp has for the past 3 years conducted several awareness programmes to educate

the citizens on this fundamental right in different parts of the country. Rashtrotthan

Sankalp makes frequent use of RTI to obtain information on various civic affairs and use

it to educate people on these matters.

Upcoming Activities for the year 2009-10

Pursuing the implementation of Prevention of Beggary Act 1975 with the

government to make the Beggary relief system effective.

Workshops on RTI and Civic affairs in educational institutes and among the

community.

Traffic Awareness campaigns.

Thanks & Appreciation

Our sincere thanks to all associate organisations, well-wishers, and financial supporters.In particular, we would like to mention the following people/organisations/groups:

Mahiti Hakku Adyayana Kendra and Shri. Vikram Simha for their continuous

support for all our works related to Right to Information Act.

Shri Sundeep Jalan for his help in legal matters.


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Shri. Soundarrajan for providing us an opportunity to work in Emmanuel Day Care

Center and also for assisting us in all the legal matters related to running a Trust.

Our financial supporters, Shri Amrutheshwar, Shri Sharad Virmani, Shri Suraj B C,

Shri. Shripad Saraf & Shri Amit Kamat.

Shri Ram Prasad Nidwannaya for assisting us in all Finance related matters.

Our volunteers and well-wishers for their faith in us, tremendous efforts,

cooperation and encouragement.

Jai Hind!

Documents

RASTR Annual Report 2009-10