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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