ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 12 Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The Weekly

One woman every hour assaulted on a

Bangalore bus, admits BMTC

Almost 500 women

a month are as-

saulted on public

buses, according to a new

helpline.

According to Bangalore

Municipal Transport Cor-

poration’s own statistics,

2,972 women were accosted

on their buses in the first

six months after the launch

of the helpline.

Shanta Das, BMTC

Complaint Officer, said,

“There has been a 28 % in-

crease in eve teasing of

women by conductors.”

She added that no driver

has been sacked but that

five have been suspended.

That means at least 25

women face harassment by

staff every single day while

using public transport.

In a survey conducted

last year by Bengaluru Bus

Prayaanikara Vedike , a pas-

senger forum, in 2012-13,

of 2,647 women questioned

in Bangalore, 1,803 cases

of harassment in buses were

reported. That means 69

per cent of the women re-

ported being sexually ha-

rassed on buses.

Vulgar language, staring

pointedly, physical attacks

such as touching, feeling,

grabbing, indecently expos-

ing, stalking, photography

or shooting videos without

consent were the major

forms of harassment, ac-

cording to the survey.

The launch of this

helpline in April may have

contributed to the spike, ac-

cording to the BMTC.

Most of the conductors

harass women by inappro-

priate behaviour while col-

lecting the fares, according

to complaints received.

Eve teasing is punishable

under Section 298 (A) and

(B) of Indian Penal Code

which prescribes up to three

months of imprisonment

for making obscene gestures

or remarks to a woman.

Section 354 (IPC) is for

those who use force or as-

sault a woman to outrage

her modesty.

Shanta added, “Most

women do not complain

thinking it is trivial but since

the Nirbhaya case, there has

been a change in approach.”

In a horrific incident on

December 16 last year, a

paramedic student Delhi was

raped repeatedly and mur-

dered by a group of men.

She added: “We have a

three-tier complaint response

system. The first step in-

volves warning the alleged

staff, followed by their sus-

pension and then their ter-

mination from service. So

far only one case that has

come up to me and there

has been no conviction. We

can’t take actions on our

own.”

Mrinali Ghosh, a regular

commuter, said, “Once I

asked for change and the

conductor passed lewd com-

ments.” Neha Shankar, a

CA student said, “Often

when the buses are crowded,

the conductors makes way

through the ladies section,

making us feel uncomfort-

able.”

Govind, a conductor,

said, “Not everybody is

same. Sometimes things hap-

pen because of the crowd.

I don’t do anything inten-

tionally.”

Jayaprakash L, Joint Chief

Security and Vigilance officer

at BMTC, said, “There have

been two incidents where

we have suspended five of

our staff this year so far.”

In March one driver and

two supervisors were sus-

pended and in May one driv-

er and conductor were sus-

pended for a minimum pe-

riod of six months.

Soumya Chatterjee

Underground workers remain hidden, afflicted by health issues

Only 10 per cent of the

people engaged in manual

scavenging across the city

are registered in govern-

ment records.

M. Venkatesh, State Pres-

ident of the Dalit Bahujan

Movement said: “In Ban-

galore, there are around

2,000 people engaged in

manual scavenging but only

202 have been registered by

the state government. Two

months ago, we submitted

a report with 100 additional

names of people to be reg-

istered as manual scavengers

but no action has been taken

yet.”

“Bodies like BBMP and

BWSSB hire manual scav-

engers through contractors

but they don’t take their re-

sponsibility. The reasons

why a majority of them are

not registered are because

they would have to rehabil-

itate them and enable

schemes for their welfare,”

added Venkatesh.

The workers suffer from

health issues like skin in-

fections, asthma, kidney and

liver problems, infertility,

respiratory problems, repro-

ductive tract infections, car-

diac issues and blindness.

Manimala, 33, who

worked as a manual scav-

enger for 10 years, said: “I

have wheezing and thyroid.

I faced liver damage, kidney

failure, eye problems, Tu-

berculosis and jaundice due

to the work I did.”

Akhila Vasan, 44, an ac-

tivist with the People’s

Health Movement in Ban-

galore said: “Many of them

depend on liquor for work-

ing. No person in his senses

can work in such stink and

garbage.”

(Continued on page 3)

Shruti Suresh

Vinod, BMTC conductor

Shanta Das, BMTC Complaint Officer

A BBMP sweeper

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 14, 20142

Suicide rates fall as calls to helpline double

The number of people

calling a suicide helpline

in the city has almost

doubled in the past two

years.

Sahai, Bangalore’s first

suicide prevention helpline,

rescued several emotionally

distressed people from all

over India.

Lata M. Jacob, Clinical

Manager of Medico Pastoral

Association that runs Sahai,

said: “The distressed people

feel there is no other way

than killing themselves. The

feeling is so overwhelming

that it takes over their think-

ing process.”

She claimed that rela-

tionships, financial issues

and health issues are the

three most important causes

of suicides. The helpline re-

ceived 1,083 calls from sui-

cidal people until March this

year. The numbers saw a

rise from last year, when

984 calls were received and

also from 2012, when the

number was 590. Out of

the 1,083 calls, 49 were from

youths.

However, the suicide

rates have fallen. According

to reports by SCRB (State

Crime Records Bureau),

11,266 people committed

suicide in Karnataka in 2013

and 12,753 people in 2012.

‘Sahai’ which means ‘one

who helps’ was launched on

October 2, 2002 by

NIMHANS (National In-

stitute of Medical Health

and Mental Sciences), Rotary

East and MPA (Medico Pas-

toral Association).

In 2010, according to a

report, it was found that

Sahai lacked volunteers.

However, Jacob said that

the problem has been solved

since then.

She claimed that people

from all walks of life come

forward to volunteer. A the-

oretical training for six days

is started after they have en-

rolled followed by a practical

training where they are

taught how to talk to the

callers.

Captain Akku Pahlajani,

coordinator of Sahai, said:

“The volunteers don’t get

paid. They serve the society

with complete will and ded-

ication.”

Mahrook Lalkaka, who

has been working as a vol-

unteer in the helpline for

ten years, said, “It gives me

immense satisfaction to pro-

vide whatever little help I

could give to the distressed

people.”

Lalkaka claimed that they

have received a few hoax

calls as well.

She added: “They come

across the helpline in either

newspapers or on the in-

ternet and simply call for

the sake of it. Neither their

problems seem real nor do

they show any improve-

ments over time.”

Jacob said that many

callers had visited them after

coming out of their suicidal

phase.

She added, “We have 15

psychiatrists from

NIMHANS, St. Martha’s

and many other hospitals

who belong to the admission

panel of Sahai.”

She said if any caller is

in need of counselling, Sahai

refers them to these doctors.

Marking the World Suicide

Prevention Day on Septem-

ber 10, Sahai arranged a

campaign where several peo-

ple from various fields as-

sembled to raise awareness.

Lake needs lakhs after ex-mayor’s broken promise

A lake which a former

mayor pledged to clean

up almost a year ago is

still lying in a state of

neglect.

The Kempambudhi lake

has been in a bad condition

for several years. When the

ex-mayor, B. S. Satya-

narayana, inspected the lake

in December 2013, he had

made promises to clean and

restore it. However, the lake

is still contaminated.

M.G. Ramachandra, a lo-

cal, said: “All the water flow-

ing into the lake is sewage

water, without getting treat-

ed. There is only one treat-

ment plant which is used to

provide water for mainte-

nance of a park adjoining

the lake.”

Another local, Raju, con-

firmed that sewage water

was flowing untreated into

the lake.

Prakash, a local shop-

keeper in the area, talked

about the ex-mayor’s visit.

He said that the former

mayor had promised to al-

locate Rs. 50 lakhs for de-

velopment of the lake.

He said: “Nothing has

been done in this regard.

The sewage water directly

flows into the river. There

is only one treatment plant

here and that is used to treat

water for a deer park nearby.

Even water from a nearby

slum enters the lake untreat-

ed. ”

A dhobi ghat, which is a

place where laundry is done

in bulk, is situated right be-

side the lake. Siddaiah, a

launderer, recalled the ex-

mayor’s visit. He admitted

that discharge from the laun-

dry goes into the lake

unchecked. Another laun-

derer, Venkatachala, too ad-

mitted to the same.

Prakash, a resident near

the lake, blamed a nearby

slum for many of the prob-

lems. He said: “The slum is

dirty and unclean, and peo-

ple defecate openly.”

He spoke about the for-

mer mayor’s visit, and said

that there hadn’t been any

improvement since his vis-

it.

Laxmigowda Nityananda

Anand, Deputy Chief En-

gineer of the water board

for Bangalore, explained

about the main problems

that the lake faces.

He said: “Firstly, there is

too much silt in the lake.

Secondly, untreated sewage

flows into it. Thirdly, natural

water channels which flow

into the lake get encroached

upon, and fourthly, lake area

also gets encroached upon.”

Anand said that this en-

croachment might not be

recognized on looking at

the lake, since they will be a

little far from the water body.

He also suggested a

measure that could be taken

to restore the lake. He said:

“After de-silting the lake,

the silt itself could be used

to create an island at the

centre. This has been suc-

cessfully implemented in

other lakes too. “

Satyanarayana said, "I had

commissioned Rs. 1 crore

at the time. I can only allo-

cate funds and direct people

to do what is required. If

local corporators are not

implementing it then what

can I do? I can't keep going

to the lake."

He said he hasn’t visited

the lake since December

2013, but the encroachments

have been cleared.

Sharangee Dutta

Lata M. Jacob, Clinical Manager of MPA, Bangalore

Tushar Kaushik

B.S.Satyanarayana

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 14, 2014 3

Thefts and rowdies plague old age home

An old age home is in cri-

sis after three workers

were accused of theft

and rowdies turned the

home's garden into a

drinking den.

Three committee mem-

bers meant to look after

Christu Seva Samaj Anatha

Ashramam were accused of

pocketing funds sent for the

home.

The inmates at Christu

Old Age home on Old Ce-

ment Road were being lured

into drinking and smoking

by rowdies who reside in

the same premises.

Dr.. Abraham Natesan,

the manager, said: “The in-

mates have the tendency to

drink after work. I have

strongly warned the inmates.

If they indulge in such ac-

tivities, I will call the doctor

and check if they are intox-

icated. If found guilty, they

will have to move out of

the home."

“This organization is

surviving on donor funds

received only from Banga-

lore. There was a committee

of 11 members set up to

run the place. Three mem-

bers were pocketing around

Rs.10,000 each from the

funds received from the

donors for eight months.

They even took some sugar

and coffee given by the

donors,” Natesan said.

He added: “Those mem-

bers would often entice the

donors against Christu saying

that he is dishonest. The

committee has been dis-

solved and there is an on-

going case against those

members. The court hearing

is on the 20th of October.

The members will be asked

to explain what they did

with the funds. Based on

their explanation, punish-

ment will be given.”

Brother Christu Raj has

been managing the home

for the last 18 years with

the help of Bishop Francis

Jackson and Dr. Abraham

Natesan.

The Ashram currently

has 27 women and 25 men

above 60 years of age.

Christu Raj said, “In the

last 18 years, I have seen 86

people from this old age

home die because of old

age or illness.”

Bangalore police contacts

the organization when old

people are found on the

streets, railway stations or

bus stops from where they

are brought here.

MICO, a Bosch initiative,

sponsors the inmates with

free lunch every day. Christu

Raj, also a social worker has

shelled out money from his

own pocket many times to

meet the medical expenses

because of the lack of funds.

Some doctors conduct

monthly free health check-

ups and provide them with

tablets and injections if re-

quired.

Abraham added: “The

doctors of Bowring hospital

show no respect when in-

mates are taken to them

during emergencies.”

Anthony, an inmate said:

“I have been here for the

past 8 years. We take turns

to wash clothes and clean

the mess. We help each other

and get our work done. I

also monitor all the activi-

ties of the inmates. I am

happy here and so are the

inmates.”

Ridhi Agrawal

(Continued from page 1)

“Their work is carried

on by the next generation.

Depending on alcohol to

carry out their jobs just adds

to these issues.” she added.

Prabhu, 30, worked as

manual scavenger for 14

years. He said: “There is no

way we could work without

alcohol. We were paid for 8

hours work but made to

work for 10 hours.”

Venkatesh said: “These

people consume alcohol be-

fore and after doing their

job. Major chunk of their

earnings is spent on buying

alcohol.”

Ramachandran, 37, an

activist working with Janasa-

hodaya, said: “They are sup-

posed to receive over Rs.

7,000 a month, but they end

up getting a little more than

Rs. 5,000. They aren’t pro-

vided homes by the state’s

slum department and don’t

have permanent jobs.”

“Manual scavenging ac-

tivities leads to many health

problems which reduce their

life span to an average of

45 years,” Ramachandran

added.

In September, Sridhar

Nagarajappa, 20, and Bandri

Marappa, 22, died due to

suffocation in a manhole

they had gone to clean in.

Both of them were hired

by Bangalore Water Supply

and Sewerage Board

(BWSSB).

Ramachadran said: “The

Supreme Court in March

passed a rule according to

which the family of the de-

ceased has to be paid Rs.

10 lakhs. The primary em-

ployer has to be punished

in such a case as entering a

sewer without safety gear is

prohibited by law.”

“No care is taken before

employing these people to

clean sewers and manholes.

The contractor paid Rs. 5

lakhs to each of the families

of the deceased, but they

are yet to receive the com-

pensation from the govern-

ment,” he added.

A sweeper with the City

Municipality Corporation

(CMC), Pushpalatha, said

that she has not been paid

for the last three months.

Her daughters had to drop

out from school due to un-

paid fees.

According to Ramachan-

dran, these people have no

work or life security. In the

deaths that happened in Sep-

tember, the government is

yet to arrest anyone.

He added: “Their health

problems leave a life-long

impact. Also, the caste based

discrimination leaves their

children in the same place

as them. They have BPL

cards, but the benefits such

as ration do not reach them.

They should receive a salary

equal to that of class IV

employees in the nation.”

According to him, there

has been no change in the

ir living conditions despite

Prohibition of Employment

as Manual Scavengers and

their Rehabilitation Act, 2013

being passed. Sweepers and

cleaners are engaged in man-

ual scavenging without any

safety gear or precautions.

“The police employ a lot

of them to do the menial

jobs. The real threat lies

there, when they’re forced

to do such things by the

protectors of the law,” he

adds.

Dr. Abraham Natesan and Brother Christu Raj

Shruti Suresh

BBMP sweeper, Pushpalata with her daughters.

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, October 14, 20144

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Ridhi Agrawal, Chief Sub Editor - C.L. Ramakrishnan, News Editor - Sharangee Dutta , Sub Editors - Soumya Chat-

terjee, Vignesh S.G, News Desk- Sameer Deshpande, Design Head - Samreen Tungekar, Design Desk - Saheli Sen Gupta, Shalini Raja, R.

Suharika, Picture Editor - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, Reporter- Tushar Kaushik, Proofreaders - Shruti Suresh, Subhash Arvind.

There has been a

steady increase in the

number of bodies remain-

ing unclaimed at Victoria

Hospital, according to

staff.

The number of un-

claimed dead bodies autop-

sied this year from January

to June is 294 while in 2013,

it was 517.

A forensic expert from

Victoria Hospital, who didn’t

want to be named, said, “We

receive around 40-45 un-

claimed dead bodies every

month.”

She added, “Usually these

cases come under the

Medico Legal cases which

are medical cases with legal

implications for the attending

doctor, where the doctor

examining the patient finds

some investigation by law

enforcement agencies to be

essential.”

She said: “When the po-

lice find an unknown body

in a locality, they approach

the media and provide details

of the unidentified body. If

no one comes to claim them

even after three days, the

police provide us with req-

uisition form 146(1) and

146(2) from the police man-

ual and we conduct the au-

topsy. Once the autopsy is

done we handover the report

and the unclaimed body to

police.”

Another Forensic Expert

from Victoria Hospital said:

“Many unclaimed bodies are

of homeless people and of

the ones living on railway

platforms.

“We receive more un-

claimed bodies during sum-

mer because of extreme

heat,” he said.

Mr. Radhakrishnan (48),

a sanitary worker, said: “I

have been working here for

six years. Every year we re-

ceive more unclaimed bodies

than the previous year. At

times we receive 4 to 5 of

them a day. Most of them

are of men.”

He added, “As autopsy

is done after 3 or 4 days,

these bodies turn hard in

the cadaver cabinets. We

sprinkle hot water and keep

them under the fan so that

these preserved bodies lose

their hardness. The autopsy

is then conducted by the

doctors. The body is cleaned,

packed and handed over to

the police after clearing all

formalities.”

Police from Victoria Hos-

pital Police Station said: “As

no one is aware of the med-

ical history and medical com-

plications of these uniden-

tified bodies, they come un-

der the Medico legal Cases.

We reach out to the ad-

dresses in case one is found.

If the body remains un-

claimed after three days, we

go on with the autopsy, after

which the body is handed

over to Mr. Trivikrama Ma-

hadeva, the undertaker who

buries the body in the Burial

Ground on Mysore Road.”

“Government of Kar-

nataka allots Rs. 200 as burial

charge for every unclaimed

dead body that we pay to

the undertaker. The law al-

lows only burial of un-

claimed bodies and not their

cremation”, added the po-

lice.

Trivikrama Mahadeva, an

undertaker, said, “Out of

the Rs. 200 I get for burying

the bodies in the burial

grounds, I am left only with

Rs. 30 after the burial after

spending Rs. 170 for the

burial charges.”

BPL patients denied benefits in funding gap

There is a huge gulf

between state funds being

allocated and the money

required by government

hospitals to function in

Bangalore.

Victoria Hospital, whichreceives around Rs. 31 lakhsper month, needs a sum ofat least Rs. 40 lakhs per dayfor medicines alone, accord-ing to hospital staff.

Rahamathulla, Medicinesin-charge at the BangaloreMedical College, responsiblefor allocation of funds, said:“The government dividesthe funds received by varioushospitals through us.”

“The funds allocated toVictoria Hospital are aroundRs. 3.75 crore per annumfor medicines and Rs. 1 crorefor medical equipment.Bowring Hospital receives3.7 crore for medicines andRs. 5.5 crore for medicalequipments.”

The lack of medicinesand equipment in govern-ment hospitals is forcingBelow Poverty Line (BPL)patients to turn to privatehospitals. They then losethe 50 per cent discountthey are entitled to.

Rahamathulla added,“Protocol says doctors work-ing in government hospitalsshould not suggest patientsto go to private centres fordiagnosis.”

Hospitals also lack med-icines in their stores. Abhi,son of patient Bhagyammain Victoria hospital, said:“Only one or two out of10 medicines were providedin this hospital. The restwere bought from othermedical shops and were cost-ly.”

He added, “I paid Rs.

2,500 for a biopsy gun formy mother as it was notprovided by the hospital.”

Raghu, a pharmacist atVictoria hospital, said: “Costof all medicines required bythe patients would be Rs.40 lakhs per day which thegovernment does not pro-vide us.”

Dr. Sharmista, a cardiol-ogist at Victoria Hospitalsaid, “We provide Comput-erized Tomography (CT)scan but we suggest our pa-tients to go out for MRIscans.”

Abhi said: “My motherwas taken for a blood scanto private centres as thishospital did not have scanfacilities.” The treatmentcost him Rs. 5000.

Mr Rahamathulla added:“Scanning centres in hospi-tals also work according totimings. During emergencies,patients have had to go toprivate diagnostic centres.”

Prakash, in charge of thescanning department at Vic-toria Hospital, claimed thatthere is no problem there.He added that patients whohave BPL cards are beinggiven 50 per cent discount.

Afshan, duty officer atAsian Diagnosis Centre, said:“About 40 to 50 patientscome here each day fromVictoria and Vanivilas Hos-pital of which three patientscome for MRI scans, whichcost Rs. 10,000.”

Dept of Forensic Medicine at Victoria Hospital

Suharika Rachavelpula

Abhi with a biopsy gun

C.L.Ramakrishnan

Unclaimed and forgotten: burying the dead at Rs. 30 a corpse