The weekly

VOL 13 ISSUE 7 ursday, September 19, 2013

Observer

Nearly half of the total budgetfor Bangalore wards has beengiven to just twenty of the 198constituencies –14 of them con-trolled by the BJP.

e recently announced annualbudget of the BBMP (Bruhat Ben-galuru Mahanagara Palike) hasallocated Rs. 647 crore to the 198wards in the city. Statistics pro-vided by Janaagraha, an NGO,show that of this sum, Rs. 280crore (or 43 per cent) has been al-located to just 20 wards .

Of these 20 wards, 14 are repre-sented by members of the BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party), the rul-ing party within the BBMP. ewards which have received fundsin excess of Rs 10 crore includeByrasandra , Dr. Raj KumarWard, Katriguppe, Malleswaram,Padmanabha Nagar, Rajaji Nagar,Shivanagar, Sriramamandir,Sunkenahalli and Vasanth Nagar.

Collectively, these wards havebeen allocated Rs 191.5 crorewhich constitutes 29.5 per cent ofthe total allocation for wards.

Nine of these ten wards are rep-resented by members of the BJP.e statistics also show that out ofthe 198 wards, 70 have receivedfunds amounting to less than Rs.1 crore.

Ward Quality Score, a unit ofmeasurement created by Janaa-graha, analyses the performanceof various wards on the basis offive parameters - water supply,mobility, sanitation, publicamenities and environment. Onthe basis of these indicators the

NGO identified fivewards which have thelowest Ward QualityScore. ese are Got-tigere, Singasandra,Kadugodi, KuvempuNagar,and anisan-dra. Issues which arecommon to all thesewards include thequality of roads, foot-paths and streetlighting.

Apart fromanisandra (whichhas been allocatedRs. 2.45 crore), theothers have all beenuniformly allocatedRs. 0.31 crore. All ofthese wards are rep-resented by non-BJPmembers.

According to thestatistics, the averageper capita allocationof the top 10 wards isRs. 6,125. e wardwith the highest percapita allocation isVasanthnagar (Rs.11,856). e averageper capita allocation of the fivewards with the lowest Ward Qual-ity Score is Rs 349.

According to Srikanth Vish-wanathan, coordinator and advo-cacy, research and capacitybuilding, Janaagraha, one of themain reasons behind the unevenallocation of funds by the BBMPis the lack of an objective frame-work on the part of the municipalbody. He said that lack of efficientadministrative structures aggra-

vate the problem.When asked about the purpose

behind compiling and publishingsuch data, Vishwanathan said thateasy access to such statistics couldhave the effect of compelling theadministration to assess the qual-ity of life among the citizens ofBangalore.

Prachi Sinha, senior advocacyassociate, Janaagraha, said thatthe organization seeks to enhancedemocratic values by providingcitizens with a wide range of data

so as to enable people to make in-formed decisions on the basis offacts.

Mr. Ramamurthy, who works atthe office of the Chief AccountOfficer, said that the budget hadbeen sent to the state governmentfor approval. Despite repeated at-tempts, the Additional Commis-sioner (Finance) could not becontacted.

When asked to comment onthe issue, the Deputy Commis-sioner of the BBMP said that the

Chief Account Officer would bein a better position to explain thematter.

Ramamurthy, who works at theoffice of the Chief Account Offi-cer, said that the budget had beensent to the state government forapproval.

Despite repeated attempts, theAdditional Commissioner (Fi-nance) could not be contacted.

e ward population statisticshave been derived from a websitecalled bcity.in.

Bhaskar Dutta Lowest ranked ac-cording to WorldQuality Score.

Wards which receivedthe highest allocation.

Gottigere: 0.31 cranisandra: 2.45 crKadugodi: 0.31crKuvempu Nagar: 0.31 crSingasandra- 0.31 cr

Allocation

Vasanth Nagar: 30.39 crSunkenahalli: 22.91 crRajaji Nagar: 19.89 crShivanagar: 16.62 crKatriguppe: 31.05 crByrasandra: 25.64 crDr Rajkumar Ward:10.32crMalleswaram: 10.39 cr Padmanabhanagar:12.14crSriramamandir: 12.15 cr

PAGE 2 PAGE 3 PAGE 6

Right to Educationdenied to childrenof immigrants.

Ignorant governmentofficials violatingMotor Vehicles Act

Exclusive: Ramyaspeaks out over‘gimmick’ jibes

Singasandra(169)

Gottigere(194)

Kadugodi (83)

anisandra(6)

Kuvempunagar(11)Malleshwaram(45)

Vasanthanagar(93)

Rajajinagar(99)Shivanagar(107)Sriramamandir (108)Dr Rajkumar Ward(106)

Sunkenahalli (142)

Byrasandra (169)Katriguppe (163)

Padmanabhanagar (182)

Lion’s share of BBMP budget goes to BJP wards

Graphics: Anand Jain

From rags to a life of dignity

e Weekly Observer ursday, September 19, 2013 2

Language barrier leavesslum children illiterateMore than 40 children from Ra-jarajeswari Nagar are denied ed-ucation in their mother tongue.

e children, belonging to im-migrant families, have never beento school. 14 families from UttarPradesh have been residing in amakeshi slum in front of Rajara-jeswari Hospital with their chil-dren for the last six years. ey sellso toys which they get fromMumbai ,making an average of Rs.600 per day.

According to Article 21A of theConstitution of India: the stateshall provide free and compulsoryeducation to all children of the ageof six to fourteen years.

SumaK., the P.R.O. of KarnatakaEducation Department said, “Ihave not come across this infoma-tion maybe because there have

been no surveys in this regard forthe past three years. Earlier weused to have this survey annually.And I assure you that I will per-sonally look into the matter andwill talk to the Block EducationOfficer and resolve it with StateProject Director, Mr. SubodhYadav as soon as possible.”

She added, “ We are carrying outthis survey again this year fromSeptember 17 to September 21.”

Baijnath, 48, a resident of theslum and father of five, said: “eschool authority said that they willteach Kannada and English, butwe want our children to learnHindi instead of Kannada.

“When the school authority isasked to teach them Hindi, theysay go to your own state and teachthem whatever you want to. Wehave asked many teachers to come

and teach them in our tents. Weare even willing to give fees butnobody comes to teach our chil-dren.”

Act 350 A states that every stateand local authority shall endeavorto provide adequate facilities forinstruction in the mother tongueat the primary stage of educationto children belonging to linguisticminority groups.

Act 350 B specifies that a SpecialOfficer for linguistic minorities isappointed by the President to pro-tect linguistic minorities under theConstitution.

Sunny,19, said: “We want tostudy but the problem is we can-not understand the language andthe school authority refuses to ad-just.”

Vishal,15, said: “I spend all myday selling so toys with my elder

brother, we do not know whatstudy is but we want to.”

However the P.R.O said: “As perthe language policy of Karnataka,the first language is Kannada, thesecond language is English and the

third language is Hindi, and that iswhy there are no Hindi mediumschools in Bangalore. So, I willarrange temporary teachers forthose children and will visit theplace the day aer tomorrow.”

Nibedita Mohanta

Children in the slum denied education in their mother toungue

Over 30 children have beenbrought to a shelter home in thelast year from the streets andslums of the city.

According to Medha, HR of Vid-yaranya, the NGO which rescued31 children, a lot of children didn’teven know their names when theywere brought to the Open Shelterfor Children, Medahalli. She saidthat they were orphans and someamong them were mentally chal-lenged.

Puneeth, coordinator of the proj-ect, said that the volunteers do fieldwork in the slums and look for des-titute children. He added: “Most ofthese kids have single parents whodon’t want to keep them and aremore than happy to give them to us.e children are rag pickers andbeggars.”

Ibrahim, seven, was recentlybrought to the shelter. He is beingcounseled for depression. Accord-

ing to his case file, aer the death ofhis father, his mother married an-other man of a different religion.

Puneeth said, “He is a Muslim andis not able to come to terms witheverything suddenly changing inhis house and being done in a

Hindu way. He was found lying onthe street, crying aer his fatherthrew him out of the house one

evening.”Dhanush, six, is the only boy from

among the rescued children whostudies at SJES Central School,Medahalli, while the rest of themgo to a government school.

Puneeth said, “He insisted that he

wants to study English so wearranged for fundraisers.” He addedthat Dhanush and his brothers were

begging for several years in a slumat Majestic.

Manikanta, the elder brother, said,“Dhannu and I were beaten daily byour father. He was a drunkard. Ourmother comes to visit sometimesbut we don’t miss her anymore.”

Sudha, a computer teacher atMeddahalli Government School,where the rest of the children study,said that every year new studentscome to the school from OpenShelter. “I have seen them trans-form from beggars to self respect-ing young boys and girls.”

Medha, a human resouces workerfor Vidyaranya, said the childrenlike their new family and that mostof them have forgotten their pastlives at the hands of harsh singleparents. She added that they areprovided with education and a de-cent living standard has developedover the years.

Amu, the cook, said that she pre-pares three full meals a day whichare relished by the kids.

Hema and Devpriya, whose par-ents became daily-wage workersaer migrating from Tamil Nadu,are the only two girls present in theshelter as of now.

Both children are completely bald.Puneeth said, “When they came,their hair had some gruesome kindof disease. It is being treated nowand they are on daily medication.”

Ashraf, the landlord of the shelter,said that they are doing a com-mendable job. “Earlier, neighbourssused to complain of children mak-ing noise all the time but I knewthat it is for a good cause. My ownchildren are always playing withthem.”

e NGO has been functioningfor the last 22 years. M.C Ramesh,a senior member of Vidyaranya,said that every year, at least 25 chil-dren are brought at the shelter.

Bhavika Bhuwalka

Rescued children being taught by Nagesh at the Open Shelter

e Weekly Observer ursday, September 19, 2013 3

Babus violating law: Ignorance or arrogance?

Government officials were caughton the wrong foot when their ve-hicles parked in state secretariatpremises were found to violate theMotor Vehicle Act.

About one out of every ten vehi-cles parked in Vidhan Soudha werefound to have ‘registrationmark’(RM), commonly known asnumber plate, marked solely inKannada letters and numerals, vi-olating the Motor Vehicle Act1988and its attendant Motor Vehicle

Rules 1989 as well as KarnatakaMotor Vehicle Rules1989.

Section 41(6) and 64(d) of MotorVehicle Act, 1988 empowers centralgovernment to frame rules with re-gard to “manner in which and theform in which the RM, the letter &

figures shall be displayed.” e government has framed the

Central Motor Vehicle Rules1989which, under section 50(2d) states,“e letter of the registration markshall be in English and the figureshall be in Arabic numerals.”

Even the Karnataka Motor Vehi-cle Rules1989 state the same.

Maruthi Sambrani, Joint Com-missioner(Enforcement),TransportDepartment, said,“ We have askedthe drivers of the government offi-cials to change the number plates

violating the rules, but it’s not pos-sible to ask the same to higher offi-cials as they may get offended.”

On the responsibility of the trans-port department to create aware-ness among people about laws andrules, Sambrani cited lack of funds

as the reason behind not advertis-ing these in media.

When pointed towards the in-stances of even the police-vehiclesviolating these rules and the needfor creating awareness among theenforcing authority, Sambrani said,“Why should we do that? Aren’tthey supposed to know the rulesand laws?”

None of the drivers of the govern-ment’s vehicles agreed to commenton the issue except one who wasnot aware of any such rule. He saidhis boss is a higher official in thegovernment of Karnataka.

A Deputy Director from the De-partment of RuralDevelopment &Panchayati Raj Institutions, whoalso had the official car bearingregistration marks written in Kan-nada said that he was not aware ofany such rule. He even asked hisdriver, who didn’t know either.

e Deputy Director said, “I amunaware of any such rule. As manypeople here are doing it, I too fol-lowed them without applying mymind to the legality of such action.”He, however, declined to spell outhis name.

Bangalore City Traffic Police’s(BCTP) website mentions ‘Defec-tive number plate’ as a traffic of-

fence, violation of which costs Rs100 as a fine.

A traffic police constable in thesecretariat premises declined totake action against the officials, vi-olating these rules, citing theirhigher positions in the official hier-archy.

Most of the people interviewedclaimed ignorance about any suchrule. Basheeruddin, contractor ofthe Vidhan Soudha parking lot,said that there is no fine for writingplates in Kannada and it’s totallylegal.

He said, “When in Maharastrapeople are using Marathi on theirRM then what is the problem inusing Kannada in Karnataka?”

Pratap, an HR executive inKhivraj Motors, was among the fewwho knew about the rule. “ere isa safety issue involved. If everyone,

following these officials, starts writ-ing their number in regional lang-guages then it will become difficultto trace the cases of hit & run as notall residents or policemen can readKannada here”, said Pratap.

Gaurav Kumar

Kannada registration mark on the vehicle of the DeputyDirector of RDPRI, who did not give his name

A vehicle of an unknown Karnataka government official

A police vehicle without regis-tration mark: Enforcer orviolater?

Government cheques cashed by street ‘brokers’

Brokers give instant cash to peo-ple holding cheques issued by thegovernment in return for ahealthy commission.

Working under the noses of po-lice, Munniraju, a broker at SilverJubilee Road said: "We only cashgovernment cheques. In return weget commission ranging between10-20% of the amount mentionedin the cheque. Even if you don’thave a bank account you still get thecash.”

A person using their service, whoasked not to be named, said, “I fre-

quently use the facility because I re-ceive the cash immediately. Even ifa person doesn’t have a bank ac-

count, the broker opens a bank ac-count for him and aer giving themoney, they close the account.”

Munniraju added, “e cashwhich we use in this whole opera-tion is from a bank.”

But he refused to detail how hegets money from the bank. He alsodeclined to reveal the name of thebank.

On being asked whether he canprovide instant cash amounting toRs 3000, he said that it was not aproblem.

Jalajakshi N S, 35, Manager ofState Bank of Patiala said, “e bro-kers are cashing governmentcheques in an illegal manner. We, asa bank, cannot do anything about

it. It is up to the police and the gov-ernment.”

A senior police official stationedat Silver Jubilee Road, just a shortdistance from where the brokersoperate, said, “Brokers cash govern-ment cheques for people who needmoney immediately provided theyare given a certain amount as com-mission. We cannot take any actionagainst them until a complaint isregistered.”

He added that he believed whatthe brokers are doing is not illegal.

DCP, Central Division, BangaloreCity was not available for comment.

Ishan Bhattacharya and

Mayuri J Ravi

Broker (circled) one of many cashing in on government cheques

Public officials claim ignorance of Motor Vehicle Act which requires registration plates in English letters and Arabic numerals

e Weekly Observer ursday, September 19, 2013 4

More machines, fewer mechanicse city bus transport corpora-tion has placed an order for ap-proximately 4500 new busesdespite there being an acute short-age of mechanics.

Karnataka Chief Minister, Sid-daramaiah, recently launched thenew BIG Trunk bus service of theBMTC.

e mega project will involve thepurchase of more than 4500 newbuses and will cost approximatelyRs. 2900 crores.

However, according to the Man-aging Director of the BMTC,Anjum Parvez, the bus corporationis currently facing an acute shortageof mechanics.

Parvez said: “We are runningshort of skilled mechanics workingfor our depots. ere have beensome complications with the hiringprocedure in the last few months.”

e Majestic bus station, which isone of the largest bus stations in thecity, is also one of the depots where

buses are serviced and repaired. Amechanic working there, on condi-tion of anonymity, said: “eamount of workload that we gethere is huge. It would be easier if wehad more people working here and

lending us a helping hand.”On being asked about the work-

load, he said that there are 60 me-chanics working in the Majesticdepot and they have to handle atotal of 220 buses. “is has to stop.

It would be nicer if they could em-pathize with us a little bit.”

e BMTC is now looking to hiremore mechanics. However, theprocess has not yet gathered the re-quired momentum and is progress-

ing slowly.According to Parvez, the BMTC is

waiting for the go-ahead from theDepartment of Women and ChildDevelopment to commence withthe hiring procedure. is, he said,is because of certain issues pertain-ing to reservation for physicallychallenged people.

However, when contacted, thewomen and child development de-partment said that they weren’taware of any such situation.

Parvez, commenting on the hiringprocess, said: “For now we’ve giventhe authorization to hire privately;both individuals and from firms.e official hiring process, however,which involves hiring from recog-nized agencies, will start in sixmonths.” He added that the short-age of mechanics wouldn’t be animmediate problem as the buseswere yet to arrive.e Chief Minister’s office, despiterepeated attempts, remained un-available for comment.

PranayLakshminarasimhan

Understaffing has resulted in an increased workload for these mechanics at the Majestic Bus Depot

Two women drugged and traffickedTwo trafficked women rescuedfrom Mumbai’s red light districtwere brought to an NGO in Ban-galore for rehabilitation.

One of the victims belongs to Kar-nataka and the other hails fromAndhra Pradesh. e women weretrafficked to Kamathipura, a redlight area in Mumbai, and rescuedby a foundation there. ey werelater brought to a Bangalore NGO,Vidyaranya.

Kolhapure, Deputy Superinten-dant of police, Anti-Human traf-ficking unit, said: “We have arrestedthe trafficker from Majestic inMarch this year who is identified asa 40-year-old man, Naveen KumarShetty. Majestic is a common pointfor the traffickers to take the vic-tims to Mumbai. One of the victimsidentified him when we prepared asketch during our investigation.Around four to five girls have beentrafficked in Majestic and taken toMumbai’s brothels.”

Kolhapure added that they con-

ducted a decoy operation with theInternational Justice Mission inMumbai, where they acted as cus-tomers and caught hold of the traf-fickers involved in the prostitutionracket. “We are trying to find out ifmore people are involved.”

Ashwini (name changed), a 29-year-old victim who was rescued in2009, belongs to Tumkur. Accord-ing to her, she performed house-hold chores before coming toVidyaranya. She said: “One daywhen I was down with fever, amember of the family where I usedto work, offered me tea which wasspiked. I fell unconscious. Laterthey took me to Mumbai. Onlywhen the girls at Kamathipura toldme, I realized that I was sold forprostitution.”

She added: “I was taken to Mum-bai in 2004. Even then I tried escap-ing a couple of times, but the copsbrought me back to Kamathipura.e police are the ones who workhand in glove with these people.”

According to Ashwini, the policereceived a tip-off regarding the

prostitution racket and they shiedher to an NGO in Mumbai, eRescue Foundation, where she livedfor four months before returning toTumkur.

Vidyaranya is helping the UnionMinistry of Women and Child De-velopment in implementing ascheme, Ujjawala, which seeks to

prevent trafficking of women andchildren for commercial sexual ex-ploitation through awareness pro-grams.

According to statistics of the

NGO, the number of cases regis-tered against women trafficking in2011 was 50. In 2012, this numberincreased to 66 and between Janu-ary and September this year, 22cases have already been registered.

Gopal Rao, General Secretary ofUjjawala, said: “One common wayin which the women are lured into

prostitution is by promising themrespectable jobs. ose who fallprey to such situations are mostlypoor or in dire need of earning ahandsome amount of money.”

e case of Amisha (namechanged), 23, is similar. She wasforced into prostitution aer shele her home in Andhra Pradeshfollowing a tiff with her parents andcame to Bangalore looking for ajob.

According to Amisha, a womaninitiated a conversation with her ata bus stop and ended up promisingher a job. She said: “I was taken intoa small apartment in Venkateshpu-ram. e woman offered me lunchwhich was spiked. I felt dizzy in awhile and spent a day and halfsleeping inside the bus which wastaking me to Mumbai.”

Amisha added that she was forcedinto prostitution in Mumbai’s‘Bhendi Bazar’ and was there fortwo months. Aer that, due to re-peated police raids in the area, shewas transferred to Pune, where shespent the next two years.

e police conducted raids in thearea, rescued her and shied her toPune. She lived there for threemonths and was later brought toUjjawala in July this year.

Karishma Ravindran

The two trafficked victims rescued from Mumbai’s red light district.

e Weekly Observer ursday, September 19, 2013 5

No social security for domestic workersMore than 500 domestic workersworking in an apartment buildingdo not have any sort of social se-curity or welfare fund.

Radha, coordinator of the Do-mestic Worker’s Rights Union, said,“e workers from Maruthi Layout,Vasanthapura and Gubbalalu workat the Mantri Tranquil Apartments,Kanakpura Road, without holidaysand bonus despite being asked towork for extra hours.”

On July 29, 2013, the domesticworkers went on a protest to asserttheir rights in accordance with“e Domestic Worker Welfare andSocial Security Act 2010” whichsays that every domestic workerwho is 18 years of age, but is not yet65, and who has been engaged inany domestic work for not less than90 days during the preceding 12months shall be eligible for registra-tion as a beneficiary. Section 19 ofthe act entitles them to the Domes-tic Workers Welfare Fund.

According to the act, the Kar-nataka Government has already in-troduced the social security scheme

for domestic workers. However, theworkers have not got any benefici-ary or welfare fund till date.

On July 31, 2013, the complaintwas registered with the authoritiesof the labor department. It was fol-lowed by a notice issued to the Res-ident Welfare Association (RWA) of

the Mantri Tranquil Apartments.e RWA has been asked to takesteps for the betterment and secu-rity of the workers.

Rosi, 32, a domestic worker, said:

“As per the Minimum Wage Act,1948, the domestic workers are en-titled to one holiday a week. eworkers in this apartment do notget any holidays. In fact if they stayback at home for certain personalreasons they end up losing theirjob.”

She added that because of increas-ing prices, unavailability of necessi-ties and for the sake of the children,they decided to unite and have theDomestic Worker’s Rights Union to

voice their grief. “ere are a totalof 1320 apartments which need tobe taken care of by us.”

Geeta Menon of the Stree JagruthiSamiti, who has been working forwomen rights for the last 30 years,has joined hands with the union toform the Workers Facilitation Cen-

tre (WFC). She said, “Despite thelabour department’s notice to theapartment, we haven’t seen muchimprovement apart from a fewhouses increasing the workers’

salary.”Shalini, program coordinator,

said, “When we initially contactedthe RWA requesting them to sortout the problem, they ignored ourdemands.” According to the RWA,a meeting regarding the issue willsoon be held.

e authorities at the KarmikkaBhavan (labor department) said,“Two months have passed since thefirst notice was served, still therehas not been much improvement.Hence, we will again issue a warn-ing notice this month.”

Geeta Menon said, “Inspired bythe protests the workers of a neigh-boring apartment have come forthfor their rights.”

Domestic Workers Rights Union members protesting in front of the Mantri Tranquil apartment building.

Rosi, domestic worker and mem-ber of Domestic Rights Union

Aurosmita Acharya

New Mayor: We will supply milk to beat malnutrition

Bangalore’s new city mayor hassaid he will begin supplying freemilk to the city’s poorest in a bidto tackle malnutrition.

B. S. Satyanarayana, elected twoweeks ago, said a recent MedicalCheck-up Camp conducted by theBBMP had triggered the move.

e camp, held on August 21,found more than 300 children suf-fering from Severe Acute Malnutri-tion.

More than 2.6 lakh children wereexamined from July 15, 2012 to Au-gust 21, 2013, of which 3,444 werefound to be suffering from SAM.

Aer undergoing the requiredhealth care treatment, out of the3,444, 551 children upgraded toreach moderate weight categoryand 565 improved to the normalweight category in the last twomonths.

ere are 2,320 children still reg-istered as suffering from SAM, ofwhich 1,051 are suffering fromSAM this year. e report does nothave update on the remaining 2,328malnourished children . Accordingto Dr. Venkatesh, the medical offi-cer of BBMP, the children are nowin the normal weight category, butthey haven’t updated the report.Hesaid: “Our duty is to check whether

the child is malnourished or not.ere is hardly any infection in thechildren living in the slum areas.”

B. S. Satyanarayana, the newlyelected mayor of BBMP, has takencharge of the city. e Weekly Ob-server spoke to him regarding hisstrategies to tackle this issue.

Speaking exclusively to eWeekly Observer, Satyanarayanasaid: “About this issue, we havegiven a letter to the state govern-ment regarding the supply of milkto the places where these malnour-ished children reside. Once we re-ceive a conformation letter, we willstart with the milk supply. We alsohave health care treatments for

these children. BBMP always con-ducts medical check-up camps inslum areas. We ensure that thecamp is set up at regular intervalsof two months as per the schedule.We have medical checkups at thehealth care centre for them. Sec-ondly, we have planned distributingmilk along with mid-day mealschemes in the city. Many familiesdo have Below Poverty Line (BPL)cards. We don’t have a specific an-swer as to why the children are mal-nourished. eir health is notproperly taken care of and lack ofmaintenance is one of the key rea-sons for malnourishment in theslum areas.”

Anagha Sawant

Newly elected Mayor, B. S.Satyanarayana talks about mal-nutrition to the Observer.

Movie actress Ramya has reas-sured the people who voted her into power that she WILL move toMandya.Speaking exclusively to the WeeklyObserver, the star of movies likePolladhavan and Singam Puli, wasresponding to criticism from herown district.In the build-up to the elections lastmonth the actress, 30, promisedvoters she would live among them.But the people of Mandya don’tseem to be holding their breath.

Her promise to live in Mandya isbeing described as an "electiongimmick" and a "film dialogue”.

"Where is she? She hasn't fol-lowed what she said. If she were tocome, it would happen by now. Iam upset." K. Ranganath, a securityguard said.

“She won and now she has gone.No use voting these people.

Vote for those who live here,”Sadiq Khan, an auto driver said.

ere is also confusion over theactress’ ability to manage her con-stituency.

"How would it be if some un-known came and started rulingyour home? He wouldn't knowwhere is what, how can he rule?"said Sunil Kumar, a resident ofMandya.

He added: “Casteism, popularity,and the media have made her winthe election. She has no develop-mental intentions.”

“She is a teddy bear the Congresshas placed for votes. Totally unfitfor ruling,” said Sanjay, another res-ident.

Divya Spandana, also calledRamya, has been a successful ac-tress in South Indian films for 10years now. Her political careerstarted when she joined YouthCongress in 2011.

Today, she is the Member of Par-liament for Mandya constituency,where most people know and talkabout her. Her career in politics is

being compared with Ambareesh,who was a film actor too, and isnow the MLA for the constituency.He had been the MP until 2009.

"Ambareesh had built a homehere before elections many yearsback, but on the day the result wasannounced, he le for Bangalore,"said Kumar, a businessman. "esepeople can't live here. Ramya keeps

roaming around, but she can't live,"he said. “Her aims are for Bolly-wood and Hollywood. She can’t un-derstand Mandya,” he said.

“e situation is complicated, butI believe in Ambareesh, he will helpRamya,” said Manju, a shop owner.

Although a majority of the peopleis not hoping she would come andlive with them, some have heldtheir belief in her promise.

"Ramya should be given moretime. We waited for Ambareesh,now we'll wait for her," said Chitra,

a student at PES College.“If she finds a home that suits her

and the vaastu, she will come,” saidSuresh, a shopkeeper.

Workers at a hospital said theyhave given her a chance, and if shedoes well they would give her 100more chances.

"She spends around 3 days a weekhere. I think she will come. Buteven if she doesn't stay here, she hasto work. We can only hope shewill," said Renuka, a nurse.

Ramya has confidently respondedto this, saying, “I will be stayingthere. ere's no need to doubtthat. In fact I've looked at a coupleof houses will zero in on a place bythis week end. My office is also get-ting ready.”

While Ramyais confidentshe would beshiing toMandya soon,

people here do not seem to behopeful.

Salsa Dance Experience

Where: No 8, 2nd Floor, Grand Allied

Plaza Above Nalli Silks, Magrath Road

When: Sept. 22 – Oct.20

Time: 8:00 PM – 11:30 PM

Entry Fees: Rs. 200

Bangalore Literature Festival

he Bangalore Literature Festival, en-

deavors to bring together some of the

biggest names of literary world

Where: Crowne Plaza @ Velankani

Park | Electronics City, Bangalore

When: September 27, 2013

“I will be staying there.ere's no need to doubtthat. In fact I've looked at

a couple of houses. I will zeroin on a place by this weekend.My office is also getting ready.”

e Weekly Observer ursday, September 19, 2013 6

THEATRE

Events

Observer Team: Editor– Chitharth Mathivanan Chief Sub Editor– Aurosmita Acharya News Editors–Bhavika Bhuwalka, Nikita Narvekar, Gaurav KumarSub Editors– Karishma Ravindran, Pranay Lakshminarasimhan, Bhaskar Dutta Picture Editor– Anagha Sawant Design Desk–Apurva Venkat Reporters– Ishan Bhattacharya, AnannyaSarkar,Mayuri Ravi Emergency Call Service s- Neha Singh Proof Readers– Anand Jain , Nibedita Mohanta Email– editor@iijnm.org An IIJNM Publication (For Private Circulation)

CULTURE

International eatre Festival

Going Solo - India`s only theatre festi-

val of solo performances launches in

October 2013, with shows in Banga-

lore, Delhi and Mumbai, with 3 shows

in 3 cities totalling 18 performances

across 12 days!

Where:Dyvasandra Industrial Layout

Mahadevapura , Whitefield, Bangalore

Entry Fees: Rs. 300-750

When: Oct.13

Time: 8:30 PM onwards

LITERATURE

Kitsch

Mandi: Tribal

Floral live

Where:

Princess No.

3, Ramanama-

harishi Road

Bellary

Road,Near Palace Grounds,

Sadashivnagar

When: September 29

Time: 11:00AM – 11:00PM

Anand Jain

Ramya househunts as Mandya waitsExclusive

“I wanted tobuild a

cycle shop. Iwent to theDistrict Com-missioner andhe approved it.

He told me to go to Municipalityoffice, get the paper work done. Ithas been three months since then,and nothing happened. Whereshould I go? ere is no leader toapproach. e workers don't workif a leader does not stand and get itdone. If they live here, we knowwhere to go. Where can we go oth-erwise?

- Safir, a cycle mechanic

Bangalore University organizes its 49th athletic meet

Students of Bangalore University during the march past ceremony and St. Anne’s student participants were among those who attendedBangalore University’s 49th annual inter-college athletic meet held at Kanteerva Stadium. Photographs courtesy: Anannya Sarkar.