ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 6 Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Weekly

At least 11 women are molested

in Bangalore every week.

Page 2

Runaway children caged, abused and abandoned

Children who ran away

from a government home

were being locked up

every day by staff.

At least 20 children at

the govt home developed a

skin allergy which wasn’t

cured despite taking medi-

cines. Aslam, 12, said, “I

have the infection for past

one month. The doctor

here gave some pills but it

didn’t help.” According to

Rahim, 10, “The infection

has spread to the entire

body of two other chil-

dren.”

Mohit, 12, said: “We are

not happy with the food.

We are given insufficient

rice and sambhar is watery.”

At least eight children

worked in the kitchen and

swept the courtyard. Prem,

14, said: “The kitchen staff

used to come and cook only

breakfast. Nowadays, they

don’t come.”

Prem added: “We are

supposed to speak to our

parents every Saturday, but

they don't allow us to call

them. Even if our parents

call us, they won’t let us at-

tend the call.”

Weekly Observer re-

porters visited the home

just days before the children

ran away.

They revealed incidents

like the children being

locked up after lunch till 4

PM, to reduce responsibility

of the staff.

Mani, 15, an inmate for

the past four months, said:

“This happens so that we

won't run around in the

courtyard as it becomes dif-

ficult for them to handle

us.”

Mani said: “After the in-

cident in August when a 13-

year-old rescued child was

mercilessly beaten up using

rods by the caretaker for

not washing toilets, the

staff is very careful since

that caretaker was arrested.”

A parent said: “One

more child had tried escap-

ing on Sunday night but in-

jured himself after getting

caught in the fence. The

child said that they were liv-

ing without proper food,

drinking water and toilets.

The children are made to

clean toilets and are mis-

treated when they don’t

comply.”

On contacting Shakeela,

mother of one of the kids,

she said: “Raju left home to

work, about two years back.

He used to call us from

where he was working. But

for the past four months we

had not heard from him.”

According to the Wilson

Garden Police, efforts to

search for the runaways

were on-going but none of

the 18 children could be

traced since they ran away

on Sunday.

According to Guru-

murthy, 50, who is working

as an aid to provide foreign

education to the students at

the shelter home: “There

are six security guards as-

signed during the night. But

instead of doing their duty,

they go to their quarters.”

(Continued on page 3)

Children at Government Shelter Home for Boys

Shruti Suresh

Bureaucratic games keep

villagers without ration cards

Page 3

Stolen bikes cause Namma Metro

scheme to hit the skids

Page 4

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 16, 20142

Deadline extended for CCTV installation in schools

Schools have been given

an extended deadline of

two months to install

CCTV cameras.

In the recent meeting

held with the Commis-

sioner for Public Instruc-

tion, schools requested the

deadline be extended to the

next academic year as they

are falling short of funds.

Mohammad Mohsin,

Commissioner for Public

Instruction, said, “In the

meeting, we have told

schools to implement the

other guidelines in 15 days,

but for installing CCTV

cameras we have extended

it to two months.”

He said: “If we keep ex-

tending deadlines, there

will be no seriousness left.

This is a grave matter, and

the Vibgyor High rape case

is not the only reason be-

hind it. There have been in-

cidents after that as well like

the Anekal rape case, the

HSR layout case where a

10-year-old girl was raped.

“I had a meeting with

the group of schools that

have gone to the High

Court and told them that

they have to do it not only

for the safety of children,

but also for the manage-

ment. At least it will be eas-

ier to find out who is

responsible for a certain in-

cident if there is a CCTV

camera,” he added.

Mr. Nagesh, a CCTV

camera dealer in Bangalore,

said that the cost of in-

stalling approximately 50

cameras in a school would

cost about 5 lakhs.

“We pay an annual fee

of about 1.2 lakhs. There

should be cameras installed

in schools,” said Rohan

Daniel, brother of Rahool

Daniel, who studies in

Amaatra Academy.

Veena Murthy, mother

of Ninad Murthy who stud-

ies in the 10th standard of

National Hill View Public

School, said that his annual

fee is 1.3 lakhs. “The

amount needed to install

cameras is equivalent to the

fees of a couple of stu-

dents. It is a one-time in-

vestment, schools should

do it,” she added. Ninad

said that the school has 2-3

cameras.

According to the State

Crime Records Bureau, 111

cases under the Protection

of Children from Sexual

Offences (POCSO) Act

have been registered this

year till August, out of

which 33 cases have been

registered in the month of

August itself, like the rape

case of the 9-year-old blind

girl in a government school

and the 65-year old shop

owner raping a 10-year-old

differently-able girl.

S.R.S. Nadhan, Senior

Assistant Director and Pri-

vate Secretary of Commis-

sioner for Public

Instruction, said:"In the

meeting held on Sept 3 with

the Commissioner for Pub-

lic Instruction and the de-

partments, schools put

forth the problem of finan-

cial constraints and said that

they need some time to in-

stall CCTV cameras. They

want the deadline to be ex-

tended to the next academic

year."

He said: “Maybe they

want to do this in order to

include the expenditure in

their fee structure. We can-

not allow such an extension,

and so we have given them

two months’ time for the

same.”

Most of the schools like

St. Joseph’s Indian High

School and Sophia High

School have adhered to

having the Five Member

Safety Committee set up, as

asked by the government.

V. Ramesh, Block Edu-

cation Officer, North

Block, said: “We have 508

schools in our block, and al-

most all of them have

formed the committee.

“They have to give us

follow-up reports once in

15 days.”

At least 11 women molested in Bangalore every seven days

Bangalore’s City Crime

Records Bureau (CCRB)

records show that 372

molestation cases were

registered between Janu-

ary and August 2014.

Even with two all-

women police stations and

increased police patrolling,

crime rates in the city seem

surprisingly unaffected.

Barnali Moitra, a 29-year-

old IT professional living

in Electronic City, said:

“The presence of women

police makes no difference

to these men. They still

keep cat-calling. They take

advantage of the fact that

most of us migrant women

do not know Kannada.”

It was only last month

when a 34-year-old mother

lodged a complaint about

being molested by four

drunkards in front of her

12-year-old child on a well-

lit road in Rajajinagar.

In 2013, there were 578

instances reported while in

2012, there were 321. The

records also revealed that

41 cases of sexual harass-

ment against women were

reported this year while 77

were registered in 2013 and

53 in 2012.

Deputy Commissioner

of Police (Crime), Ab-

hishek Goyal, said, “The

numbers recorded by

CCRB cannot be consid-

ered as set in stone as cases

involving women are not al-

ways reported,” indicating

that more such incidents

might be taking place.

The city authorities

seem to have turned a blind

eye. Only last month, the

Namma Metro refused to

implement exclusive

coaches for women despite

two molestation incidents

taking place inside the

metro.

Earlier this month, a

traffic sub-inspector was

suspended after allegedly

misbehaving with two fe-

male motorists.

N. K. Narasimha Iyen-gar, the Assistant Commis-

sioner of Police, Vijaynagar

Sub-Division office, saidthat it is difficult to trace

such offenders because

most of the victims are left

in a state of shock.

Saheli Sen Gupta

Samreen Tungekar

Mohammad Mohsin, Commissioner, Public Instruction

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 16, 20143

Bureaucratic games leave villagers without ration cards

The residents of villages

in rural Bangalore have to

face huge delays and can-

cellations of their ration

cards.

Ration cards are used by

the poor to buy food and

fuel at subsidized prices and

are also an important iden-

tity proof for them.

Bhagya, a resident of

Devagere village, said she

had to wait about a year to

get her card. Sajid, another

resident of Devagere, said

he had to wait for four

months to get his card. He

said, “When we ask the of-

ficials the reasons for the

delays, they give random

reasons which do not make

sense.”

Baby Fatima, a residentof Thagachaguppe village,

had submitted the required

documents and information

to a panchayat member of

the village over six months

back. She, along with many

other families of the village,

is still waiting for her ration

card. “Kitty Anna took all

our details long back, but

still the card hasn’t come,”

she said.

Kitty Anna alias Krish-

namurthy, a member of the

village panchayat, said: “We

collect the documents and

information from the vil-

lagers and submit them to

the authorities. Many appli-

cations are rejected without

specifying the reason, while

even the accepted ones ar-

rive only after huge delays.”

He showed a document

which had details of 109 vil-

lagers who are still waiting

for their cards.

Krishnamurthy also de-

scribed another incident last

year, in which the validity

of the ration cards of about

150 villagers were cancelled

after they had used them for

a few months. The authori-

ties did not provide reasons

for this. Villagers had re-

ceived their cards and had

even used them for a few

months, when suddenly

authorities revoked the va-

lidity of the cards, providing

no reasons whatsoever.

He talked about another

problem that stems from

this issue. Bhagyalakshmi

Yojana is a government

scheme that is applicable

to villagers with infants.

The scheme requires the

infant to be below a year

old, and also requires her to

have a ration card. Due to

the delay in issuing the card,

these families lose out on

nearly Rs. 1 lakh. He said, “

The authorities only accept

the ration card and no other

identity proof.”

Somashekhar, a leader of

the Janata Dal Party in the

same village, said, “When

poor people have to manage

without ration card for even

one or two months, it is a

tough ordeal for their fami-

lies.”

When Mr. Purshottam,

the office manager at the

Food and Civil Supplies

Ministry at Kandaya Bha-

van, was asked about these

issues, he said that all the

applications were rejected

for valid reasons. He said,

“These could either be in-

sufficient information, or

mismatching of the

thumbprint.”

Tushar Kaushik

Krishnamurthy, Panchayat member of Gollahalli

(Continued from page 1)

When asked about the chil-

dren who ran away, a mem-

ber of the Child Welfare

Committee declined to

comment on the runaways

and said, “The children ran

away because of an emo-

tional issue, there is no

problem with food and

water. The food has im-

proved over time and chil-

dren are treated properly.”

A week before the juveniles

ran away, superintendent

Lakshmi Narsihmayya said:

“The building can hold only

200, but we can manage up

to 300 children. We face a

shortage of staff. It is easy

for staff to quit their jobs;

it takes time to appoint new

members.”

“An enquiry is going on

about the same. We are

working on the case. The

Integrated Child Develop-

ment Scheme (ICDS) proj-

ect director has visited the

home and a report will be

submitted to us by today

evening by Deputy Diec-

tors,” said Amita Prasad,

the Principal Secretary,

Women & Child Develop-

ment. (Names have been

changed to protect children.)

Children at the shelter home suffering from skin infection

Shruti Suresh

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 16, 20144

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Soumya Chatterjee, Chief Sub Editor - Shruti Suresh, News Editor - Ridhi Agrawal, News Desk - Sharangee Dutta,

Sub Editors -Samreen Tungekar, Sameer Deshpande, Shalini Raja, Design Head -Tushar Kaushik, Design Desk - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, Raya

Ghosh, Suharika Rachavelpula, Picture Editor - Vignesh S.G. Reporters -Subhas Arvind, Proofreaders - Saheli Sen Gupta, C.L. Ramakrishnan.

Schools provide free education to mentally challenged children

Schools in Bangalore give

a new ray of hope to 150

autistic and mentally

challenged kids by pro-

viding them with free ed-

ucation.

Sushma , an 8-year-old

autistic student, said: “I know

to count one to 100. I know

that roses are red and the

sky is blue.”

Her mother, Jayamma,

32, said: “One year ago, I

never expected my daughter

to learn numbers and com-

pare colors. Doctors could

do nothing other than leav-

ing my husband and me in

despair.”

Rachna, 12, had been

mentally unstable since a

car accident which injured

her brain severely six years

ago. Despite her life being

saved, she eventually lost

her mental and emotional

balance.

Bharadwaj Menon, 46,

her father, said, “My daugh-

ter became too ferocious

and at times she would get

out of control. She would

break things and hurt others

till she was admitted to

Spurthi Residential School.

We are extremely grateful

to the teachers who have

given my child a new life.”

According to Mental

Health Care Survey Report,

2013, Karnataka has

26,36,695 moderately men-

tally disabled children out

of 5,27,33,958 total children

in the state.

Spurthi Residential

School provides free edu-

cation and proper medica-

tion to 75 moderately men-

tally disabled children at

Mandur in East Bangalore.

Another 75 of them are

catered to in residential

schools set up at Hassan

District and Yelahanka.

Ramesh, the General Sec-

retary of Vidyaranya said:

“We receive 80 -100 appli-

cations every year. We admit

them on the basis of medical

camps conducted to test

their IQ with the help of

local municipal bodies and

children helpline units.”

We train these children

on daily living skills and pro-

vide them with pre-primary,

primary and vocational train-

ings.”

Rachikana, the expert

dealing with this project said,

“Our school has ten trained

teachers, five nurses and one

security guard. They are spe-

cially trained to handle these

children. In addition to this,

we have a part time doctor,

a part time psychologist and

a yoga teacher.

She said: “The education

that these kids receive is

completely free of cost. As

normal children of 4 to 16

years have got the Right to

Education (RTE) under In-

dian Constitution, how can

we deny the same right to

these children just because

they are mentally chal-

lenged?”

The school is recognized

by the Department of Em-

powerment of Differently

Abled and Welfare of the

Senior Citizens, Bangalore,

and Government of Kar-

nataka. Dr. Satish Babu said,

“For normal growth and

development, nutritional

needs of a child at his/her

particular age should be con-

sidered first and then re-

quired modifications in the

diet chart should be made

as per the illness or handi-

capping conditions.”

Rachikana said, “We pro-

vide all of these children

with proper nutrition, based

on doctor prescribed diet

chart for each one of them.”

Sreemoyee Chatterjee

The mentally challenged children in the school

Stolen bikes cause Namma Metro scheme to hit the skids

A bike scheme costing 1.5

crores is not being used

and bikes have been

stolen, vandalized and

lost.

There are 70 bikes in the

ATCAG scheme that are

accessible via swipe cards

outside metro stations, but,

they are not in usable con-

dition in the Byappanahalli,

Swami Vivekananda and In-

diranagar stations.

The bicycle stand in

Byappanahalli, one of the

terminals of Namma Metro,

had all the cycles locked at

4 p.m.

“The bikes have never

been used ever since

ATCAG, or the Automated

Tracking and Control of

Green Assets, collaborated

with Namma Metro in 2012.

Two bikes have been mis-

placed after they started with

the service,” said Shashi, a

security guard at the Byap-

panahalli metro station.

Cheejish, a customer care

superintendent of Namma

Metro, said that none of

the metro commuters use

bikes.

The bicycle stand at Swa-

mi Vivekananda stop had

five bicycles missing. Sunil

Kumar, a guard, said that

they had been missing for

over eight days now. “The

stand in Indiranagar was

completely vandalized

overnight on September 6,

which caused damages of

over Rs. 10 lakhs. The mis-

creants used a crowbar to

jack the lock holes, but were

unsuccessful. Thankfully, the

bikes did not get stolen but

the device had to bear the

brunt”, said Sathiya, an

ATCAG technician.

The bicycle stand in MG

Rd is the one most com-

monly used. Rakesh, a daily

bike user, said, “I use the

bikes frequently, however,

people have a habit of not

parking them back properly

in time that makes this fa-

cility inaccessible a lot of

times.”

Srinidhi, the manager of

ATCAG, said: “Users and

their statistics are tracked.

So, in case they park it in

malls or nearby areas and

try locking it themselves, we

get to know. Dock stations

have alarms that set off if

anyone tries to take them

without swiping a card. Even

if the bikes are stolen, we

have theft insurance. And

before issuing cards we take

the customers’ details. I do

not believe the 5 cycles are

stolen, but we will find them

soon.”

“The bike commuters

from Byappanahalli are usu-

ally cycling enthusiasts who

go for a ride in the morning

or evening. So these guards

do not know exactly what

happens with the bikes, so

they think they are always

locked”, Sathiya said.

Bicylces parked at S.V. Road Metro Station

Shalini Raja