Society | Citizen Matters, Bengaluru

Can RWAs ban pets, feeding of strays during COVID?

August 17, 2020 Keerthana Sharma

Stray animals and even pets have been mistreated due to fears that they will transmit COVID. But a recent government circular clarifies this is illegal.

We saw two extremes of Bengaluru’s police, say lockdown relief volunteers

July 22, 2020 Deeksha Sudhindra

Pushed to battle a contagion while enforcing a lockdown, the Bengaluru police received both praise and flak from relief volunteers for its role.

Post-COVID working conditions could be more exploitative for informal workers

July 18, 2020 Pragathi R

Predicting that informal workers in urban centres could take longer to bounce back from the effects of the lockdown, experts suggest a slew of measures that can mitigate their difficulties.

P.S.: Padarayanapura candidates need not apply

July 15, 2020 Bhanutej N

After Padarayanapura’s long COVID ‘seal-down’, its residents are unable rebuild their lives, thanks to enduring stigma and a battered local economy.

a domestic help preparing food in the kitchen

Call them back to work; They’re waiting

June 24, 2020 Harsha Raj Gatty and Manasi Paresh Kumar

In earlier articles in the Ground Reality series, we looked at cash shortage, food insecurity and domestic conflict in poor urban households during the lockdown. They are now trying to rebuild their lives. This is about how we can help.

Domestic workers to protest loss of jobs, wages during lockdown

June 15, 2020 Geeta Menon

As per a survey of domestic workers in Bengaluru, large numbers have lost jobs permanently during lockdown. Several others who work in apartments suffer from the discriminatory practices of RWAs.

When Bengalureans decided they couldn’t simply watch hungry migrants trudge helplessly

June 4, 2020 Mohit M Rao

The acts of kindness from individuals during the lockdown are innumerable and difficult to quantify. Many were no more than just donors, but their contribution saved the day for the thousands stranded far from home.

Meeting a community’s needs during lockdown

May 29, 2020 Lalithamba Vishwanathaiah and Anil Misquith

During lockdown, two indviduals identified and fulfilled the varied needs of a community of workers near HSR Layout. Can Bengaluru evolve a model to support such communities locally, they ask.

“He wanted to get home after lockdown, but death got to him first”

May 28, 2020 Lt Col Biju Ninan Biju

There are many less-known casualties of the COVID-19 lockdown. Among them was a man who lived and died in his makeshift trolley in KR Puram.

What Don Anderson’s biography can tell you about Bengaluru

May 26, 2020 Krupa Rajangam

The biography of Donald Anderson, a Scot who grew up in colonial Bengaluru, gives insights into the city’s history and transformation over time.

A migrant colony that was invisible in plain sight

May 22, 2020 Renuka Viswanathan

This Whitefield colony was another forgotten settlement, abandoned without work, food or hope. Who lives there? How could the government have helped them?

Podcast: What makes citizen activism in Bengaluru unique

May 21, 2020 Grace Madigan

Bengaluru has a extraordinarily large number of citizen activists working to make the city more liveable. Listen to our podcast on how these groups evolved and what they’ve been doing.

What Lockdown 4.0 relaxations mean for Bengaluru

May 21, 2020 Vikram Rai

With phase 4 of the lockdown, several restrictions have been relaxed in Bengaluru. Here’s an explainer on what these relaxations are.

Daily wagers struggle for food during lockdown

May 18, 2020 Radio Active 90.4MHz

Gopal, Treasurer of the Karnataka State Construction Workers’ Union, describe how the COVID-19 lockdown has pushed workers into further poverty and desperation.

Stuck between govt, builders and contractors, workers court hunger and destitution

May 17, 2020 Navya P K

How well did builders in Bengaluru support migrant workers during lockdown? And should they have reason to worry at all about the workers’ exodus now?