YEH MERA INDIA

Swachh Bharat & manual scavenging co-habit
Lucknow: Over a year ago when Parliament passed a stringent anti-manual scavenging legislation, the husband-wife duo of Krishna and Ratna had hoped that government help would come and they would be able to shun the “horrific” job of cleaning night soil with their hands.
But at a time when the Centre and the State governments are engaged in carrying out their own versions of “swachhata abhiyan”(cleanliness drives), every day at the strike of dawn the couple, with their little girl child, go from one home to another with a basket and a broom cleaning dry toilets in the bylanes right in the heart of the state capital.
Krishna and Ratna are not the only ones engaged in manual scavenging. Dry toilets exist in around 1,000 homes in at least a dozen localities in the older part of the city. This is despite the fact that forcing people to clean dry toilets can attract stringent punishment, including up to five years of imprisonment.
Though the district authorities officially “liberated” 57 manual scavengers last year, NGOs working in this area claim that there are still over 125 people engaged in cleaning dry toilets in the city.
“Each person cleans at least 25 – 30 homes...We have been doing this for the past 10 – 15 years. Last year, after the stricter anti-manual scavenging law was passed, a lot of buzz was created by local authorities and surveys were done, but nothing changed for us,” says Krishna, a worker at Sadatganj area. Asked why he continued to do the cleaning although he took up other odd jobs during the day, he explains: “It is about two hours of early morning work every day. I make Rs.3,000 per month...I want to quit this job but house owners whom we have been serving for decades and with whom we have developed close ties, plead with us not to quit. I took over this job from my parents, but I would not pass it on to my kids.”
The dilemma is the same for his other colleagues, be it Sanjay and his wife Sunita or high-school educated Rohit who took over the work from his parents. Enter the narrow streets of Billozpura, Hussainabad, Bhadeva, Ghanta Gharaiya, Kachcha Bagh, Lakadmandi, Tudiaganj, Asharfabad, Victoriaganj, Shahganj, Nakkhas and Akbari Gate, and you will find people carrying baskets and brooms cleaning dry toilets.
Ajay, the son of a former manual scavenger who now works as a social activist, asks what one could do when the authorities responsible for removing the social evil live in denial. “I have approached every authority in the state, right up to the Chief Minister, but no one is ready to listen,” he rues as he shows elaborate document with data on manual scavengers as well the numbers of homes where dry toilets still exist.
“Last year, when the civic authorities conducted a survey of the city to identify manual scavengers, our team went along to identify them and also identifying homes with dry toilets.

RTI Exposes: Around 150 Resolution passed but not acted upon in 5 years
Mumbai: 142 resolutions passed by the BMC in last five years, mainly concerning public welfare and developmental issues could not be implemented for want of approvals either by the state or central government.
A reply to RTI query field by activist Anil Galgali revealed that most resolutions when sent to the Central and State Government for necessary approvals do not receive the desired response or simply languish due to lack of follow up by the BMC officials.While replying to the query, the Municipal Secretariat said that from May 2009 to May 2014 around 143 resolutions were discussed in the House by the Councilors, and till  date the BMC received report on just a single resolution.
Galgali alleged, “This is mainly because of lack of interest on the part of Municipal Secretary department. The department does not follow up or pursue the issue well enough.
The Municipal Secretary Department is the nodal agency between the central and the state governments, and the BMC is supposed to strongly pursue any proposal, resolution or any communication.
Galgali further said, “But it seems that this department has failed to take up the issues and seek appropriate responses on its proposals and communications from the respective government departments.”“As a result the efforts of various Councilors who initiate and move these proposals and further debate to get them approved by the House go in vain,” he added. Galgali has also demanded action from the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner against the Municipal Secretary for this negligence.   

Bengalooru Roads sub standard!
Bengaluru: The quality of roads in Bengaluru just cannot get worse. A report by the Quality Control Engineering (QCE) wing of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) states that more than 90 per cent of the roads are sub standard.
Officials of the wing have inspected 189 works, executed between April and September, 2014, and found that 171 works did not conform to quality standards.
Following the report, Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash Adi has issued notice to BBMP commissioner and executive engineer (Quality Control) to furnish the statement of utilization of funds during 2013-14 towards road works. Justice Adi has directed the BBMP commissioner to submit a report in person by January 7, 2015.
“If road work or any civil work is executed during rainy season, it may also amount to deliberately screening the evidence of substandard work. I have sought a report on the action initiated in pursuance of the report of the executive engineer of Quality Control,” Justice Adi said.
The QCE wing report says that of the road works inspected, only 9.52 per cent were approved as standard, while the remaining were substandard or inferior. It said that use of substandard construction materials was also the reason for pathetic condition of the roads.
“The office of the Quality Controller has not recommended action against the engineers or contractors concerned for substandard works. Besides, the BBMP has not initiated any action in this regard. These 189 works were executed within a span of six months and that too during rainy season. It is not known why rainy season is chosen for executing asphalting work,” Justice Adi added.
Irregularities:
Saidatta, president of the Karnataka Janahita vedike, had filed a complaint with the Upa Lokayukta alleging irregularities in road works taken up by BBMP during 2013-14. The complaint said that the BBMP had spent nearly Rs 1,000 crore on development and construction of roads.
However, none of the roads is of standard quality. Saidatta has provided a copy of the QCE report, along with the complaint, and has blamed contractors, BBMP officials and local political leaders for the substandard works.
The complainant stated that the BBMP commissioner had not taken any action on the complaint field in this regard by the Opposition Leader in the BBMP council.         

What’s common from Bhutan to Brazil !
 Its destination IndiaHyderabad: From Indian bureaucrats to executives from as many as 87 countries around the world, when it comes to gaining proficiency in English, it is not England they go to, but India. Indian defence personnel to Indian Foreign Service (IFS) probationers, corporate executives and government officials from non-English speaking countries, they all look to English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) to learn or hone their language skills. The unique university caters to ministers, bureaucrats, doctors, engineers and others from different parts of the world not just graduate and post-graduate courses in English but also 11 foreign languages.
 “Every year about 400 executives from the countries right from Bhutan to Brazil come here for English proficiency under ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation) programme,” EFLU Vice-Chancellor Sunaina Singh told IANS.
“These are extension services apart from regular courses. We are completely nationalistic in our approach. As Indian experts on English, we train foreign citizens who come to us. They don’t just learn English but also learn culture and go back as ambassadors of India,” she said.
Under a new initiative, EFLU through the Ministry of External Affairs established Centres for English Language Training (CELTs) in Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries like Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
“We are going to set up soon more such centres in five African countries – Sudan, Djibouti, Central Asian Republic, Tago and Mauritania,” she told IANS.
The university engaged in research, training and teaching English language, foreign languages and their literatures, linguistics, inter-disciplinary and cultural studies is uniquely placed at national and international levels. Only one of its kind in South Asia, it has its main campus here while two campuses are located at Lucknow and Shillong. Students from neighbouring countries come here through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
EFLU offers a range of short-term, self-financed and need-based vocational courses in addition to MA, Ph.D. programmes for on campus students and also diploma and distance courses. The university today teaches about 11 foreign languages – German, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. It plans to add the Norwegian language.   


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