ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 4 Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Weekly

BRIEFS

Schools refus-

ing admission

to migrant

childrenChildren from UP

denied admission

in government

schools in Banga-

lore.

Page 2

Child laborers

rescued by

NGO30 child laborers

rescued from the

footpaths of Ban-

galore.

Page 3

Over 100

killed in rash

driving110 people includ-

ing 18 minors

killed due to rash

driving in Banga-

lore

Page 4

‘English’ teachers who can’t speak English

Students of government

schools in rural Banga-

lore are taught English

by teachers who cannot

speak the language.

Suresh, parent of a stu-

dent of Devagere Primary

School, which is under the

Gollahalli Panchayat said,

“If the teachers can’t speak

themselves, they can’t teach

the kids. This is the reason

why people send their chil-

dren to private schools if

they can afford it.”

In the Devagere Primary

School, Yashoda L, the as-

sistant headmistress, said, “I

cannot speak English my-

self.” The only other

teacher in the school, Shan-

tama, said, “I can teach

English with the help of a

book.”

Students usually repeat

what their teachers read

from the book. Vish-

wanath, a 5th standard stu-

dent said, “I can’t

understand much of it. I

just repeat like the whole

class.”

In Kumbalgodu Golla-

halli Primary and Upper

Primary School, D.A. Na-

garathana, one of the four

teachers in the school said,

“Little, little English I

know.” B.S. Bhagyalakshmi,

another teacher, said, “I can

teach English for second

standard but I face diffi-

culty in speaking.”

In Kumbalgodu Golla-

halli High School, headmas-

ter Gita T said: “The

government hasn’t sanc-

tioned any English language

teacher. The arts teacher

takes English classes.”

Gayathri, who teaches

English, said, “It is very dif-

ficult to teach the students.

There is no spoken English

training for teachers. Stu-

dents face difficulty in

learning grammar and pro-

nunciation.”

Dr. Wooday P. Krishna,

an educationalist and social

activist from Bangalore, in-

dicated that the problem

was twofold. He said,

“Kannada is given too

much importance, due to

which English gets neg-

lected. In the modern

world, learning English is a

must, whether we like it or

not”.

He agreed that the gov-

ernment is also not stress-

ing on English education

because they are afraid of

the people’s reaction. He

said, “The whole issue has

acquired a political color”.

Manjula S., Cluster Re-

source Person, Bangalore

Rural of Department of

Public Instruction, said,

“There should be subject-

wise recruitment of teach-

ers. But if there are no

teachers applying for the

post it has to be filled in."

Overall, there are 50 stu-

dents in Devagere Primary

School and 306 in the

Kumbalgodu Gollahalli

High School who are af-

fected by this.

Panchayat Development

Officer, M. Gangambika

said, “Nobody has ever

complained to me about

this. I am unaware of it.”

Soumya Chatterjee

M. Gangambika, PDO, Gollahalli Panchayat

Gayatri, one of the teachers in K Gollahalli School

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 9, 20142

At least 20 children, aged

between 5-10 years and

belonging to migrant

families, haven’t gone to

school for the past six

months.

Around 30 families from

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

migrated to Bangalore and

are currently residing oppo-

site Rajarajeshwari College

and Hospital, Mysore Road.

These families earn a living

by selling soft toys off the

highway.

There is a system in

place to educate migrant

children. Once migrant

families have been identi-

fied, teachers who know the

language are appointed to

teach children the basic

skills at tent schools near

their dwelling, following

which they are put main

stream.

According to the De-

partment of Public Instruc-

tion, in the academic year

2013-14, 759 migrant chil-

dren had been educated

across Karnataka. For

2014-15, up to 31st August

2014, 2836 children have

been educated, almost a

threefold increase.

Rakhi, 20, mother of

Mansi, 3, and Nancy, 5,

said, “There was a school

nearby. One teacher came

for around 15-20 days to

teach the kids after which

she stopped coming.”

Ramesh, 16, (name

changed) said, “Around 15-

16 children went to the

school before it was shut

down.”

The parents complained

that their children couldn’t

go to school even if they

wanted to as no school is

willing to admit them.

Arun, 40 said, “The nearby

government school, Nam-

mur Prathamika Pathshala

in Kengeri, refuses to admit

these children as the

medium of instruction is

Kannada which they do not

know.”

Mrs. Prema, the princi-

pal of the school said,

“These children don’t agree

to study with the children in

the school. They don’t have

any manners and are in-

dulging in stealing books

and slippers.”

She added that the chil-

dren are irregular and since

the school is near the high-

way, they might run away

for which she doesn’t want

to be held responsible.

On highlighting this

issue to the Department of

Public Instruction, Mrs.

Shamshunnisa, a project of-

ficer, said: “Officials have

inspected the area where

these children live. An

NGO has come forward to

support these children.

Once they get the Depart-

ment’s approval, teachers

will be sent to teach the stu-

dents by next week.”

Hospital chief blames spitting patients for shoddy state of wards

The Resident Medical

Officer (RMO) of

Bowring and Lady Cur-

zon Hospital claims that

patients are responsible

for the lack of sanitation.

Dr. M.V. Prasanna

Kumar, RMO of the hospi-

tal, said that the patients are

responsible for the filth.

“The patients spit and uri-

nate everywhere. They

should keep the hospital

clean too. We do our job,”

he said.

The toilet cistern beside

the ‘Triage Area’ in

Bowring and Lady Curzon

Hospital was broken. “This

is the best we can provide,”

said a nurse.

Tohit, 45, son of a pa-

tient said: “It is only be-

cause we can’t afford to go

to a private hospital that we

came here. Just because

they treat us for free doesn't

mean that the facilities have

to be bad.” His father was

admitted a few weeks ago

due to a spinal cord prob-

lem. His wife said, “We are

used to seeing dirty toilets

in government hospitals.”

Firdouse, 28, whose 4-

year-old daughter, Moorail,

was admitted with urinal in-

fection said, “There is one

cleaner and four dustbins

assigned to every ward.

Cleaners wash the toilets

and empty the dustbins

twice a day.”

A pregnant woman who

came for a check-up with

her sister said: “It is silly of

the RMO to think that we

are responsible. The clean-

ers are supposed to check

on the toilets frequently but

they just clean the toilets

twice a day. How is that

enough considering that

there are so many pa-

tients?”

The general ward in Vic-

toria Hospital has seven

beds with one washroom, a

basin with defective taps

and lights and a clogged toi-

let.

The pediatric ward has

three toilets which are un-

hygienic. There are no

proper waiting rooms for

patients who are seen lying

or sitting on the floor while

waiting for their turn. Dust-

bins at the entrance of the

toilet were overflowing and

also contained used needles.

Priya (name changed), a

patient who is in her second

trimester, said, “Due to

shortage of beds, I have

been sleeping on the hospi-

tal floor since the past three

days.” She and her husband,

Amjad, were asked to visit

Victoria Hospital by the

Hosur Government Hospi-

tal with the promise of bet-

ter facilities.

Several agencies provide

cleaners to the hospitals

who are appointed after

going through various gov-

ernment procedures.

“Bowring and Lady Cur-

zon Hospital is quite

renowned. Hence, we en-

sure that all proper sanitary

measures are undertaken,”

added Dr. Kumar.

Government school refuses admission to migrant children

Sharangee Dutta

Resident Medical Officer, Dr. Prasanna says patients don’t keep hospitals clean

Garbage dumped at a site which earlier housed a

makeshift school for migrant children on Mysore Road

Ridhi Agrawal

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 9, 20143

New ‘HOPE’ for child laborers

Thirty child laborers

were rescued from a

footpath and given

shelter and education by

HOPE, an NGO in

Bangalore.

Rama, 10, Ajay, 16 and

Varun, 8 (names changed)

were working as a vegetable

vendor, a construction

worker and a sweeper

respectively. This was in

violation of the Child

Labor Prohibition Act.

The children themselves

want to go to school. “I

hate to work with a broom

and dirt. I love going to

school, stand first in class

and get a Dairy Milk

chocolate in return,” said

Varun.

“The children are

provided with a computer

training course and spoken

English classes. HOPE tries

to train them until the age

of 18 and make them

efficient enough to earn

their own living after

growing up,” said

Veenappa, Rama’s mother,

who could not afford her

son’s education.

Pooja, 11, and Riya, 16,

(names changed) worked as

domestic helps in city

households. Pooja said,

“Previously, I used to get a

cup of rice in the evening

and two dry chapattis at

night after an entire day of

hard work. Now, I do not

have to work at all. I only

learn rhymes and get a lot

to eat throughout the day.”

Riya was ill-treated by

her employers. She said,

“They hit me with an iron

hanger once when I forgot

to put salt in sambar.”

Recently, she was admitted

to Royal English Medium

School and is preparing for

her board examinations.

N. Chowha Reddy, the

principal, said, “These

children are no less in merit

than the privileged ones in

the city. They have shown

noteworthy development in

leaving behind their

dreadful past. There are

three tutors to help them at

the hostel with their

studies.”

Mr. Mohan Kumar,

coordinator of Child

Welfare Committee, said,

“The SAP Labs Centre of

HOPE hostel had given

home and hope to 30

children to live a new life.

The Child Welfare

Committee handed over

these children to HOPE

that works for the

betterment of their health

and education.”

Mr. Suraj Tripathi, one

of the staff members of

HOPE, said, “The poor

little fellows are forced to

indulge themselves in child

labor instead of attending

school at the age of 10 to

16 due to lack of money

and food.”

According to a survey

conducted by US

Department of Labor,

India made a moderate

advancement in its attempt

to wipe out the worst

forms of child labor in

2012. They compared data

from the reports of 2009,

2010 and 2011.

Karnataka accounts for

4.53% of child laborers in

India as of 2013, according

to the Indian Labour

Journal, 2013. “HOPE

considerably contributed

towards Bangalore’s effort

in reducing the trauma of

child labor,” said Maria

Joseph, the Program Head

of HOPE.

Sreemoyee Chatterjee

The three children who were rescued by the HOPE Foundation in Bangalore

Anti drug campaign saves 25 children

An anti-drug campaign

was organized for 25 chil-

dren who were rescued

from the Yeswanthpur

Railway Station.

Sathi, which means a

‘friend’ in Hindi, is a non-

governmental organization

which rescues children who

are victims of substance

abuse from railway stations.

The campaign was or-

ganized by Sathi and spread

over four weeks. Rescuing

young drug addicts and re-

uniting them with their

families was the main aim

of this camp. Counseling

along with informal educa-

tion was provided to them,

after which they were sent

home.

Sathi conducts a rescue

program in Yeshwanthpur

Railway Station every day

and recovers around 15-20

children. These children are

addicted to drugs like inhal-

ing solutions, marijuana, to-

bacco as well as alcohol.

According to the

NGO’s statistical reports,

37% of the children arrive

at the station from Bihar,

followed by 21% from Kar-

nataka. Most of these chil-

dren belong to the age

group of 9-18 years. Shah-

doot(name changed), 13,

ran away from Bangladesh

and was rescued today. “I

don’t want to stay in

Bangladesh as I had no

work there. I want to work

here,” said Shahdoot who is

also a school dropout.

Counselors and teachers

of Sathi said that most of

these children do not prefer

staying at home due to the

prevalent family problems

like marital issues and phys-

ical abuse.

They added that chil-

dren are unable to live in

such conditions and hence,

run away. By engaging

themselves in meager jobs

at the station, they earn

money. This money is used

for food and drugs, thereby

indulging in such activities.

Hari(name changed) was

rescued from the station

yesterday morning. “I want

to work in the Mysore

Dasara festival at a pani-

puri stall and earn money.

This is why I ran away from

my home in Bihar,” said

Hari.

The Department of

Women and Child Devel-

opment and Integrated

Child Protection Scheme

support the camps con-

ducted by Sathi. Also the

Karnataka Police provides

help to the NGO. Most of

the children provide their

wrong address, but original

locations are tracked by the

police.

Gopal Kumar (name

changed), 13, who ran away

from his home six times,

was rescued by the staff

two years back. He was ad-

dicted to inhaling solutions.

“I stay with my grand-

mother now and aspire to

become a military officer,”

said Gopal, who is now in

the 9th standard in Anand

Social School.

Raya Ghosh

Counselor of Sathi, Divya with Gopal

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 9, 20144

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Tushar Kaushik, Chief Sub Editor - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, News Editor - R.Suharika, News Desk - Shruti

Suresh,Sub Editors - Saheli Sen Gupta, Ridhi Agrawal, Subhash Arvindh Design Head -Raya Ghosh

Design Desk - C L Ramakrishnan, Sameer Deshpande Picture Editor - Soumya Chatterjee Reporters - Vignesh S.G., Shalini Raja, Sharangee

Dutta Proofreader - Samreen Tungekar

Vidyaranya Mobile

Health Clinic provides

health services to people

in ten target villages in

Chikkaballapur district at

an affordable cost.

The clinic runs with the

support of Karnataka

Health System Develop-

ment and Reform project

(KHSDRP), catering to ten

remote villages and people

residing in deep forests.

Mr. Ramesh, the Direc-

tor of Vidyaranya, said:

“We provide primary, cura-

tive, preventive health serv-

ices to people of the

designated areas. We co-or-

dinate with the District

Public Health Systems to

improve the Millennium

Development Goals such as

Life Expectancy, IMR and

MMR.”

Mrs. Rachikana, the ex-

pert dealing with Mobile

Health Clinic, said: “We

work six days a week. On

Wednesdays, we have Head-

quarter Days for the health

clinic and the rest of the

days, we visit the target vil-

lages.”

She said: “Other than

providing them with high

quality medical treatment,

we also arrange for health

workshops in the headquar-

ters. This helps in creating

awareness about communi-

cable diseases among the

people.”

Vidyaranya Survey Re-

port pointed out that the

ten target areas that come

under this health program

are the villages of Pendli-

varahalli, Marihalli, Madde-

garahalli, Marganaparthi,

Tutkachanahalli, S.M. Kon-

darajanahalli, Bandahalli,

Nallacheruvanahalli, Dod-

dathekhalli and

Chikkathekhalli.

Rachikana informed that

the medical team consists

of a professional doctor,

two trained nurses, one

pharmacist and one driver.

The medical lab is well

equipped with all the mod-

ern medical tools including

all essential emergency

drugs. It also has provision

for HIV counseling.

She said that the clinic

caters to 800 beneficiaries

including 400 children, 250

women and 150 senior citi-

zens.

“A high body tempo

with 13 seats, medicine and

instrument cabinet is kept

ready to reach the target

place at the correct time so

that affected people do not

suffer the consequences of

being delayed,” said Mrs.

Rachikana.

Mr. Ramanuja, one of

the patients said: “Earlier,

we could never imagine tak-

ing medication as we could

not afford the cost of our

treatment. But now, Mobile

Health Clinic has made it

easier for us to cater to our

health with quality treat-

ment for little or no cost.”

Mobile Health Clinic covering ten

remote villages in Karnataka

Sreemoyee Chatterjee

Reckless driving claims 110 lives

including 18 minors in six months

One hundred and ten

people, including 18 mi-

nors, were killed due to

reckless driving in Ban-

galore from January to

July 2014.

East Zone Traffic Police

Headquarters itself regis-

tered 271 reckless driving

cases involving motorcycles

during this period.

Additional Commis-

sioner of Police (Traffic)

Mr. Dayanand said, “Reck-

less driving includes negli-

gent driving, illegal drag

racing, wheeling and ex-

ceeding the speed limit. We

are trying our best to curb

reckless driving from taking

place.”

The Deputy Commis-

sioner of Police, Traffic

East Division, Mr Babu Ra-

jendra Prasad said, “We

have been taking tough ac-

tions against those who are

involved in reckless driving.

He said, “Several minors

are involved in reckless

driving and most of them

are not even capable of

handling the vehicles.

Moreover, they don’t have a

driving license.”

Kumar, a tea shop

owner in MG Road said,

“People driving recklessly in

this area is common. A

month ago when I stopped

and questioned a person

driving recklessly, he

punched me and sped

away.”

Traffic Ex-

pert Prof. M N Sreehari

said, “Most of the people

involved in reckless driving

are aged between 15-30

years. No one can be

blamed for one’s personal

mishap rather than the per-

son who is driving reck-

lessly. He not only puts his

own life in jeopardy but

also endangers the lives of

people around him.”

The traffic police have

installed barricades on the

roads to reduce the speed

of the motorcycles and nab

those who are involved in

reckless driving.

“We are concerned

about the safety of the

youngsters involved in reck-

less driving as we do not

want them to lose their

lives,” added Mr. Prasad.

C.L.Ramakrishnan

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic East Division, Mr Babu Rajendra Prasad