State Government: e-presence, n-response

State Government: e-presence, n-response - Newskarnataka.com

While launching his social media presence via twitter (@cmofkarantaka) and Facebook (facebook.com/CM of Karnataka) recently, the CM had said: "I understand there is a need for a presence on social media to be able to respond to people, especially the younger generation. It is a necessity".

A social media presence to respond to the people? Its a noble objective, and seems to follow the PM's vision, but the reality is painful. 

Take the case of Jayanti Bhattacharya in Bangalore

She is six months pregnant, 33 years old and represents bangalore's young generation. She resides at the Golden Enclave in Bangalore and usually walked to and from Manipal Hospital for her check ups. On September 24th after a glucose test at the Manipal Hospital, she returned to her residence walking, a journey that usually takes her five minutes.

Bhattacharya slipped and fell on her knees. Her phone, bag and medical reports went flying. She was helped to her feet by another woman. She was dazed and in shock and her knees were scraped. Soon her anguish turned to anger. She decided to 'connect with the CM'

Bhattacharya went home, soothed her wounds, changed, and returned to Manipal Hospital to check if her baby was fine.  She took out her handycam and filmed her way to the hospital. The Hospital confirmed that her baby was fine, as was she,  and she felt reinvigorated.

She titled the video '100 minutes of horror' and sent it to the chief minister, "Dear Chief Minister....this is the route I take every day. This is what I go through every day. I am going to show you what pedestrians like me go through. I am six months pregnant and I just fell down because there is no pavement to walk on." 

The video depicts the semi existent / non existent pavement in all its glory -  uneven, loose, missing slabs, open ditches, stagnant water, street vendors, barricades and blocked storm water drains.

Bhattacharya goes on to say in the video: "This is old Airport Road. This is not a tiny town in the middle of nowhere."

Apart from the CM, Bhattacharya also sent the video to the authorities in BBMP, BWSSB, Mayor Shanta Kumari and corporator M Chandrappa Reddy on September 25. It is learnt that  It is learnt that till date there has been no response.

According to Bhattacharya, the owner of TLB, the the leather boutique in Indiranagar, the pavement has been in this condition for two years.

Speaking to newskarnakata, Ms. Bhattacharaya said, "I waited for a week for a response, before I spoke to the media, though they had called me within an hour of the video being sent. I was hoping for a response and some action as the pavement is dangerous for all who use it and must be repaired.  She added, " there has not been even an email response from any body and I was surprised, especially aftter the CM's effort to connect with the people and the Prme Minister's initiative in this regard. I appeal to the government and BBMP to correct the situation, or I will approach an organization called 'bangalore rising' to help get this done".

Digital India

Recently, the union cabinet approved PM Modi's dream e-governance initiative at a total cost of Rs: 1 Lakh crore. 

The project aims to ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically and help people gain benefits from the latest information and communication technology.

The project also aims to ensure that all villages in India have high speed Internet. Sources say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head the monitoring group of the project and aims aims to complete the project by 2019, election year.

The Digital India programme is a transformed version of the already running National e-Governance Plan. The project aims to provide thrust to nine pillars identified as growth areas. These pillars include -- broadband highways, everywhere mobile connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance, e-Kranti (which aims to give electronic delivery of services), information for all, electronics manufacturing, IT for Jobs and early harvest programmes.

All this augurs well for the tech savvy and busy younger generation who want to connect with their jurisdictional bureaucracy and public representatives and vice versa. 

An unresponsive government

At www.newskarnataka.com too, our experience has been similar to that of Ms Bhattacharya. We have carried a number of stories on civic inequities in the citizens interest and sent them to the appropriate authorities as per the email Id's mentioned on their web sites, ( In the case of Mangalore, incredibly, the Mangalore City Corporation website, does not list an email id for the Mayor on the contact us page !) but to no avail. There has been no response. Its not clear if they have escaped the inbox for the spam box, not been monitored, or just plain ignored.

The state government seems to have taken a cue from the central government's e thrust and set up a variety of e mechanisms. however they do need to revisit their usage and response methodologies, if they are 'to connect with the people'

Hell on Wheels ( An abridged version of this appeared in the Deccan Herald "Right in the Middle" column on 29/9/2013)

My name is Myra. I am a young woman, dressed modestly in jeans and a T shirt. Its twilight in an erratic monsoon season in Mangalore, and  I am ensconced in a crowded covered bus stop, cringing from the splashing rain, and waiting eagerly for my bus to arrive. I am eager to go home after a hard day’s work at a premium eatery in Mangalore.

My bus crawls toward me and stops a little away  from the actual bus stop, blocking all the traffic behind it. I am compelled to, along with others, leave my comfort zone for the rain drenched street.

I fold my umbrella in a hurry splashing water on all who can smell what remains of my morning perfume ritual,  and climb up the steep steps of the bus,. Unlike the intercity Volvo bus, the steps are more like a stairway to heaven, when all they really are, is an ascent into hell.

As I get onto the first step, I hold onto the side bar of the doorway to prevent myself from sliding backwards. The bus starts moving and I start swinging, quite like an orangutan in a forest, those lovely cuddly creatures you generally see gracing the discovery channel. The fact is, they were discovered eons ago, but the camera was discovered only in the 18^th century.

The bus snails forward and  I am pulled up the steps by a guy who stands in the doorway, with the top of his six pack abs showing above the last buttoned button of his denim shirt, the 4^th from the top. His half open shirt leaves uncovered a hairless muscled chest and a huge gold bracelet cum necklace that adds color to his deep brown tan. His shirt is tucked into a low waist slim fit pant, around which hangs a 2 inch belt snugly fastened. 

The guy is reasonably good looking, his crew cut and piercing brown eyes and rippling biceps adding to his aura.. He has a pen strategically perched on his right ear, and in his left hand, between the middle and ring finger, is an A4 sheet of paper folded 8 times! I notice all of this in a jiffy, without actually looking at him.

 I reach the top step and this guy shifts his position to stand in front of me. I have a tough time not leaning into him, and not falling backwards, as the bus starts, with a jerk. I am now looking at the top of his crew cut and mentally comparing his 6 pack abs with Shah Rukh’s 8 pack in Happy New Year.

I am now at the front of a serpentine sardinish queue, and I am witness to the heroism of our captain and driver. He negotiates the Bendore well junction, with deft and sharp turns of the steering wheel, using the palm of his sole and heel of his palm to good effect, on the brakes and the horn respectively, to avoid the buttery two wheeler population and pedestrians in a hurry to get to the other side, and, respectfully, but loudly and continuously make the vehicle yell at people to get out of the way…Mr. Higgs boson, the God particle is on the way…

I can see that it’s not entirely his fault though, the road during evening return rush hour is so chaotic, that the policeman posted there can only cover his mouth with the thin pretty surgical gauze handed out to them by the powers that be, pull his bowler down into his face, cross the road and watch from the sidelines, much like the lineman in the FIFA world cup. Occasionally however, he does cross into the minefield to ensure, at great risk to his life and liberty, that the great Mangalorean bus trick fulfills its promise!

The kilometers crawl and  time flies. The bus is now at the next stop on its roundabout journey, from and to the state bank of India near the DC’s office, and there are about 20 passengers waiting to get on, an equal number of gents and ladies.  Even as it grinds to a stop, I can see a clutch of people performing the bus jump, the athletic event where you jump and run in the direction in which the bus is moving – so as not to trip over yourself. 

The gents are shooed to the back door, and the gentle ladies, are welcomed through the front door by handsome crew cut. I am pushed further back into the bus, how, I am still not clear, and I don’t think either Einstein, Ramanuja or Newton will ever figure it out.

Inch by excruciating inch, I am repressed, and as it restarts with a jerk and I ram into a guy in front of me before I steady myself. He turns around and glares at me. I say “ sorry”, but I notice, he is not. I get the feeling that he quite liked the feeling.  

I worry about my handbag which hangs in front of me on a long strap. I hold on to the overhead rod for dear life even as my left hand protects my body and hand bag. I resolve to pursue my resolution, to learn to use a two wheeler – if my parents agree, in the near future,  to fund one for me….  I know I have to battle my own demons before I battle theirs.

Another two stops, the same chaos. Familiarity with the route, experience and a glimpse of the external environment through the flapping tarpaulin, tell me I am nearing my destination.  I am glad that I have survived the journey, nay enjoyed the stress of it. I admire my gumption and perseverance. I am in one piece, but my shoulder nymph lodes have started to explode.

I now have a new problem on hand… how to push forward in an environment in which everything and everyone is moving in the opposite direction. To me it seems like a complex physics problem, and physics was never my favorite subject. 

I realize that I cannot wait until the destination arrives and I start to weave in and out of serpentine sardinish queue, inch by inch, often holding on to the overhead rod with both my hands. Somehow I reach the front door, and as the bus slows further (it was already slow because of the traffic) to a stop. I am pushed out of the bus in a rush, that in the end I am glad to be free of moving overcrowded prison.

I am too tired to walk, and I decide to take an auto to cover the short distance to my home. I am a cautious girl, always have been, and I do not want to haggle with an auto driver about his right to change (sic) once I reach my home. So, I decide to check if I have the right amount of change. I open my handbag to take out my little red purse, in which I keep my daily accrual of wealth.

 I search among the items of makeup and a million other little things, but can’t find it. It is then that I realize that I have been purse picked. By this time the bus has already moved on and I am left holding the bag…literally. 

I go over the journey again, my suspicion fixed on the man who didn’t look sorry, when I said sorry. People see a wry smile on my face as I now really feel sorry for him – at best he can have a decent vegetarian meal with the loot. I forgive him his trespasses and walk home tiredly, my resolve to get a two wheeler stronger than ever.