Migrant workers making

Ganesha dolls claim they

have not been paid. The

proprietor, Mr. Srinivas,

who has three more facto-

ries across Bangalore and

employs 100 workers, is

“yet to decide” when to pay

their salaries, they said.

According to Nimai,

from Kolkata, said “We

came in June but our

salaries are still due. The

boss is yet to decide when

to pay us but I guess it’ll

only be after the Ganesh

Chaturti..” Suman Barman,

18, said, “I don’t know my

salary, my boss knows.”

Mr Srinivas, owner of

the Kumbalgodu factory,

said he pays workers daily..

ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 1 Thursday, August 28, 2014

The Weekly

BRIEFS

Health fears

over pollution

causing

factoriesThree ready mix

concrete factories

in Donnanekundi

are working with-

out license.

Page 2

Scavenging

prevails

despite court

order27 deaths were

registered in Kar-

nataka state in the

last eight months

due to manual

scavenging.

Page 3

Admin report

pending for

last two yearsThe BBMP

Admin report has

been pending for

the last two years.

Page 4

Inmates of Beggar s‘

Rehabilitation Centre in

Summanahalli claim they

are tortured by the

guards.

Beena Das, a widow, is a

native of Mothra, a small

village in Uttar Pradesh,

who came to Bangalore to

collect her husband’s pen-

sion. She was apprehended

by the police as they mis-

took her for a vagabond

and was incarcerated in the

beggar’s colony. She has

three children back home

whom she hasn’t seen for

eight months.

She is one of ten beg-

gars who claim they are reg-

ularly assaulted by guards.

said: “They beat us

every day with lathi and

iron rod if we don’t listen

to them. My whole body

has marks of their beatings.

“I don’t want to die

here because they don’t

even give us a proper fu-

neral or inform our fami-

lies. Please release me.”

Most inmates were in-

carcerated on the basis of

their appearance without

running a proper back-

ground check.

Even the elderly are not

spared from doing hard

labor. They complain of se-

vere brutality by the guards

even over trivial errors;

there is negligence on hy-

giene as well., they claim.

Subramani, 64, another

inmate of beggars colony,

said, “We have to work ei-

ther in kitchen or garden,

I’m old and it’s difficult for

me to work, hence I started

begging. If we don’t get up

early in the morning or use

too much soap for washing

clothes or taking shower

we are punished”. He

added that soap is pro-

vided only once every three

days.

Rame Gowda, Superin-

tendent of Beggars Colony,

said, “Inmates have to work

for three shifts and earn Rs

10 a day.” He added, “An

inmate is allowed to stay

one to three years after

which we find their families

and send them back home.”

The inmates claim they

are kept against their will

and are forced to do man-

ual labor at low wages. If

they attempt to escape, do

not cooperate or misbe-

have, they are severely

abused, physically and ver-

bally.

Chinnapappa, a former

inmate of beggar’s colony,

said, “When I was in beg-

gars colony the police on

duty used to beat us if we

didn’t do the assigned work.

At the beginning when they

arrested me I did not co-

operate and they broke my

right hand and I ran away.”

She is now destitute and

lives in a graveyard at Ba-

nashankari.

Rame Gowda said, “We

are not torturing the in-

mates. They are happy

here..”

Abuse claims at beggars’ colonyElizabeth Mani

Beenadas claims she was physically tortured by the

guards and eventually fled the colony.

Ganesha idol makers claim they have not been paid

Elizabeth Mani

Ganesha idol makers denied salaries

Tuberculosis caused by

the use of tobacco has in-

creased by 8% in the past

year.

Under the National Tu-

berculosis Program, 1400

cases of TB were registered

last year between April and

June in Bangalore, out of

which approximately 500

were tobacco induced. In

2014 around 1500 cases

were diagnosed out of

which more than 650 cases

were due to smoking.

Dr. Anil S, Joint Director

of Lady Wellington TB cen-

tre, said, "Tuberculosis is a

highly contagious airborne

disease. It is usually found

in people who have less im-

munity like smokers and

HIV positive.”

Rajeev Gandhi Chest

Hospital treats 50 patients

of TB per day out of which

10 to 12 are tobacco in-

duced.

Ajit Kumar, a patient ,

said, "I have been suffering

from TB since three

months. I was a chain

smoker before and that led

to my disease."

Dr. Akshata, Head of

Pulmonary Medicine, in the

hospital said, “TB cases due

to smoking have increased

from 10 to 20% this year.”

The British Medical

Journal states that Professor

Stanton Glantz, the director

of the University ofCalifor-

nia, said, “Tobacco in-

creases the probability of

Tuberculosis by seven per-

cent. Death rate due to TB

will increase by 26% in

2050.”

Only 35% of beds at

Nutrition Rehabilitation

Centers in two government

hospitals are full, even after

the recent BBMP camp to

detect malnutrition in chil-

dren.

Bruhat Bengaluru Ma-

hanagara Palike (BBMP)

conducted eight screening

camps to identify malnour-

ished children between

2012 and 2014. According

to news reports, 3,837 chil-

dren were classified as mal-

nourished.

Of these, 466 children

are undergoing treatment at

NRCs set up by govern-

ment hospitals across Ban-

galore. But, only five out of

14 beds were full at Victoria

and Bowring Hospital’s

NRCs.

Seema, a nurse at Victo-

ria Hospital’s pediatric

ward, said: “Many parents

have their own reasons for

not getting their children

admitted to NRC. We are

ready to treat the children,

but very few get admitted.”

The children are mostly

from slum areas of D. J

Halli, S.K Garden and Pan-

tarapalya. They were sent to

NRCs established by

Bowring Hospital, Victoria

Hospital and Indira Gandhi

Institute of Child Health

for treatment.

Many parents who get

their children admitted in

these wards are daily wage

earners. Shobha, a resident

of Pantarapalya whose 6

year-old son Nitin is mal-

nourished said: “I can get

my child admitted when I

have holidays. Also the hos-

pital is located far away

from my home.”

Mr. Y. Mariswamy, a

state organizer at Samajika

Parivarthana Janandolana

says the government should

conduct public awareness

drives regarding Nutrition

Rehabilitation Centers.

“People in general, espe-

cially parents do not know

the importance of NRCs.

The government must allot

proper financial aid to em-

power NRCs. Anganwadi

workers in the slums must

refer the malnourished chil-

dren to NRCs,” he said.

The Weekly Observer Thursday, August 28, 20142

Health fears over pollution causing factories

Three ready mix con-

crete (RMC) factories in

Donnanekundi working

without license are causing

problems to residents.

Doddanekundi in Ban-

galore is a zoned industrial

area but many plots have

been converted for residen-

tial use. At least 200 families

live there.

“Every 15 days my

daughter falls sick and it’s a

regular cycle,” said Bharat,

of Athiya Elixir apartment.

“Because of the cement

dust we don’t usually open

our windows, if it is kept

open for a day then we

would have to clean the en-

tire apartment all over

again,” she added.

“We have not renewed

the BBMP health trade li-

cense of Concrete India,

Bharat Cements and ACC

because of complaints

from people about pollu-

tion,” said Mrs. Kalpana,

Deputy Health Officer of

Bruhat Bangalore Mahana-

gara Palike, Mahadevapura.

But the Karnataka Pollu-

tion Control Board has re-

newed the No Objection

Certificate for the compa-

nies. “I also know that there

are several problems in that

area but we haven’t received

any complaint, so what am

I supposed to do?” said Mr.

Shanmugappa, Environ-

mental Officer of Mahade-

vapura pollution control

office.

The cement dust is

raised by trucks that ply in

front of the apartments.

“Kids get allergic many

times and we have closed

ventilations to isolate our

building from the road,”

said Mrs. Sindhu, who runs

Hello Kids, a preschool

next to Bharat Cements.

Dr. Purushotham Reddy,

pediatric of RXDX Hospi-

tal, Whitefield said,” In the

long run air with cement

content can cause Asthma

and even Pneumoconiosis.”

Concrete India and

Bharat Cements claimed

that they have license. ACC

declined to comment.

BBMP has cancelled the

health trade license whereas

KSPCB has renewed the

pollution NOC and the fac-

tories continue to operate,

leaving the people in dust.

Empty beds at rehab centers for children

Kimaya Varude

Apoorva Choubey

Nikhil Babu

Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre at Bowring Hospital

Whirl of dust as a result of construction work

Tobacco

consumption

increases TB

cases: docs

The Weekly Observer Thursday, August 28, 2014 3

At least 27 manual scav-

engers have died in the past

eight months despite an act

banning the practice.

Among the deaths

recorded, two were in Ban-

galore and one in Mysore.

Mr. R. Venkatesh, Kar-

nataka State Commission

for Safai Karamcharis, said,

“Chunchaiah, 50, died while

working in a manhole in

Agrahara, Bangalore on

14th January this year.”

“State Municipal Cor-

poration department gave

his family a compensation

of three lakh rupees and

free housing and education

for his children. The other

died person is unidentified,”

he added.

“We identified 90 man-

ual-scavengers but only 60

came forward for the reha-

bilitation,” said a senior of-

ficial, Social Welfare

department, Bruhat Ben-

galuru Mahanagara Palike,

BBMP.

Manual-scavenging is

being practiced in railway

department, where workers

are appointed through con-

tractors.

“I am working here as a

scavenger on railway tracks.

We are not provided with

any machine for cleaning,”

said a worker at Bangalore

city railway station.

But according to the

railway officials, their de-

partment is not responsible

for it.

“We don’t hire them;

they are not our employees,

so we can’t say anything,”

said Mr. T.P. Anthony,

Deputy Senior Manager of

Bangalore city station.

The Manual Scavenging

Act, 1993, prescribes strin-

gent punishment for the of-

fenders which include five

years of imprisonment.

“There was also a recent

case of manual-scavenging

around August 7 in Anekal

Taluk, Bangalore but when

the officials of KSCSK

reached there the pit was

sealed by the offender,” said

Mr. K.R. Mohan, State Sec-

retary, KSCSK. He added,

“The offender was not

identified.”

The head of a promi-

nent NGO in Bangalore

blamed a “mental block” in

the functioning of traffic

police for delays in fighting

child begging in the city.

Dr. George P.S, Execu-

tive Director of BOSCO

Yuvodaya, Childline, said

“In February 2014, we or-

ganized a workshop where

43 sub traffic police inspec-

tors were given a threefold

advice i.e. to discourage

children from begging and

contact Childline to report

such cases and also keep a

watch on the child till the

rescue operation.”

However, the idea of the

workshop reached only

20% of the desired number.

Explaining the failure of

the purpose of the confer-

ence, George said, “Unfor-

tunately, the inflexibility in-

stalled in the system did not

allow fetching the results.I

can assure that combined

effort could solve the prob-

lem in one month period.”

Childline received 142

child begging cases from

April 2013 to March 2014.

Nagamani C.N, Bangalore

Convener for Childline said,

“Even after the workshop

in February, we did not get

an enthusiastic response

from Bangalore traffic po-

lice.”

Traffic Police officer,

Rajaji Nagar police station

said, “There is a lack of

clarity in the instructions to

deal with the child beggars.

We recommend them to

NGOs but to investigate

every child beggary cases is

practically impossible.”

Maruti, a child beggar in

Yashwantpura, does not

consider traffic police as a

“threat” to his “profes-

sion”. “My parents send me

to work as beggar at the

traffic signal; I earn about

Rs. 200-250 daily.”

Maruti narrated an inci-

dent, “I was beaten up by a

traffic police official at

Yashwantpura Traffic sig-

nal. This is a regular exer-

cise. To avoid it, we just

change our positions when

we smell trouble.”

shutosh Pratap Singh of

Deshpande Foundation be-

lieves directly links to

human trafficking. “Gov-

ernment should get in-

volved and pilot child

beggar rehabilitation in the

beggar homes and then aim

to make a policy for their

inclusive development.” he

said.

Police fail to curb child beggingPunita Maheshwari

Nikunj Ohri

Divya Kishore

Scavenging prevails despite court order

Chunchaiah, 50, died while working in a manhole.

Courtesy - KSCSK

Child beggars in Yeshwantpura

Five parents have com-

plained that Greenwood In-

ternational School

demanded a hefty amount

for admissions of their chil-

dren under the RTE Act.

Mr. Rajesh Kumar, one

of the 27 parents who have

filed a Public Interest Liti-

gation (PIL) against few

schools, said, “I want my

child to study in a good

school so that he doesn’t

have to do things that I do

for a living.” However, the

parents haven’t filed PIL

against Greenwood School

because they are scared as

the school is owned by an

influential person.

There is no admission

fee for students applying

under the RTE. But, ac-

cording to Dharmendra

Sen, the school demanded a

sum of Rs. 225,000 as fees

from him. The school fees

otherwise, is Rs. 500,000 for

a year.

He was told that chil-

dren of VIP’s study here

and they have to pay for the

admission. Mr. Girish SV,

another parent who was

also asked to pay the

amount said, “I was told by

the Principal that the school

is backed by an ex-minis-

ter.”

When the parents visited

the school, they weren’t al-

lowed to carry their bags

and mobile phones inside

the school premises.

Mrs.Suman Hegde, Pub-

lic Prosecutor said, “It is

their child’s fundamental

right, and the parents

should be bold enough to

complain.”

School

demands

cash from

RTE students

Fifteen deaths due to

drunken driving have been

recorded in the last six

months according to the re-

port provided by Traffic

Management Centre.

This is an increase con-

sidering the 13 deaths re-

ported annually for the year

2013. “Drunken driving

has become a greater con-

cern nowadays due to the

party life the city is seeing”

said Mr. Victor Simon, In-

spector of Traffic Police

Rajajinagar.

According to the offi-

cials, the majority of people

who commit this crime fall

under the age group of 18-

30.

When asked about the

increase in death cases, B.C

Kanaka Kumar, Assistant

Commissioner of Traffic

Police, Bangalore said, “We

are not able to have com-

plete control on drunken

drivers due to the shortage

of policemen in the city as

there are 800 vacancies.”

Gk Mohandas, 36, an

auto driver, said that “An in-

cident happened with me

when a two wheeler came

and rammed into my auto

as the person driving it was

completely drunk.” He said,

”Despite police patrolling,

people know where the ac-

cidents are happening on a

larger scale and they avoid

that route and take other.”

Professor Sreehari,

¬Traffic Engineering Ex-

pert and Advisor to the

Government of Karnataka

said “Drunken Driving has

become a serious

offence.The effective way

to bring the situation under

control is to perform ran-

dom checks at random

places.”

The Weekly Observer Thursday, August 28, 20144

Annual

admin report

missing for

past two

years

Bruhat Bangaluru Ma-

hanagar Palike’s Adminis-

trative Report has not been

published for the last two

years.

“The report is pending

because we don’t have the

necessary details from the

East and the South Zones.”

Said Mr. Prashant, Assistant

Statistical Officer of BBMP.

The administrative re-

port was last compiled in

the year 2010-11.

“We have tabled the re-

port before the committee

and are awaiting their ap-

proval. The 2012-13 report

should be ready in a

month’s time.

“The Administrative

Report doesn’t fall under

the Public Disclosure

Scheme. Hence it is not

mandatory for us to follow

a strict deadline and any

stipulation as such.” added

Mr. Shankarappa.

Mr. Srinivasan, an ex-

Assistant Statistical Officer

of BBMP, said: “Adminis-

trative Report reflects the

BBMP as a whole. It gives

an overall picture of the

BBMP. It can be discussed

in the public domain and

uploaded for the public use

as well. So yes, it definitely

falls under the PDS.”

Mr. Srinivisan added,

“According to the Kar-

nataka Municipal Corpora-

tions Act the Commissioner

is to be held liable for it.”

Bruhat Bengaluru Ma-

hanagar Palike owned Bis-

millah park in S.G Palya is

illegally used by authorized

contractors to house mi-

grant workers.

About a 100 people re-

side in the park. They live

inside tarpaulin tents with-

out any basic amenities

such as water, electricity and

sanitation.

"The workers come

from small villages in Kar-

nataka and Andhra Pradesh

and are hired by the BBMP

authorized contractors at

menial wages for construc-

tion in the park. They be-

come park inhabitants for a

little over 3 months and

wander away in search of

work and a new wave of

settlers replace them." said

Sai Dhobi, head watchmen

of the park for the past 8

years.

"The women earn

around Rs. 120 and men

Rs.240 per day and they are

asked to encroach into the

park by the contractors so

as to save up on accommo-

dation expenses. They live

in separate settlements

within the park depending

on their language and place

of origin", he added.

G. Manjunath, BBMP

counselor in charge of the

park said, "I know it’s not

legal but they are migrant

workers and will be sent

away as soon as the con-

struction work is com-

plete."

B.S Manjunath Police in-

spector of MICO layout

station said, "This is the

first time I am hearing of

such a thing, The BBMP

has not informed the local

police station of such a sce-

nario, as soon as a formal

complaint is registered they

will be removed from the

vicinity."

"There are women and

children among us, we cut

park trees for fire wood and

bring the water from the

municipal taps and since

there are no toilets we defe-

cate in the open or use the

public toilets. No one

knows the exact number of

people living inside the park

as each settlement is hired

by a different sub contrac-

tor." a settler said.

Migrants forced to stay in public park

Pulaha Roy

Agnivesh Harshan

ACP Kanak Kumar, Traffic Departmant

Encroachment of Bismillah Park in S.G Palya

Drink drive deaths on the riseAadhira Anandh

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Aadhira Anandh, Chief Sub Editor - Punita Maheshwari, News Editor - Pulaha Roy, News Desk - Elizabeth Mani,

Sub Editors - Aparna Singh, Apoorva Choubey & Darshan Rane, Design Head - Kimaya Varude, Design Desk - Divya Kishore & Nikunj Ohri,

Picture Editor - Devdatta Sukhdev, Pictures Desk - Natasha Singh, Reporter - Nikhil Babu, Proof Readers - Agnivesh Harshan & Asmita Kunda