As curtains draw on the year 2017, The New Indian Express brings you some of the reports published by the newspaper that created a positive impact.
Leprosy patient gets Aadhaar and pension
On December 2, 65-year-old Sajida Begum, a leprosy patient at Magadi Road’s Leprosy Hospital in Bengaluru, became the face of 86,000 lepers in India. TNIE reported how she had not received her pension for four months as she did not have Aadhaar. She could not enroll for Aadhaar due to losing her fingers and iris.
The story titled “No fingers or iris for Aadhaar, Bengaluru woman loses pension” went viral, seeing 3,800 shares on Facebook alone. Several other news websites picked up the story with the news being extensively shared on Twitter and Facebook. Innumerable national and international media houses -- including the BBC and Daily Mail UK -- and news channels retold Begum’s story.
THE IMPACT
Senior Reporter Suraksha P’s story resulted in a number of people coming forward to help Begum -- and that included popular Malayalam actress Parvathi Menon.
Out of the blue, Sajida received her pension for October and the Karnataka treasury department was quick to clarify that it will follow the Centre’s extended March 31 deadline for linking social beneficiary schemes with Aadhaar. The district disability officer visited the hospital and took note of how many of the 51 inmates at the hospital weren’t receiving disability pension. After national outrage, Unique Identification Development Authority of India leapt into action and exempted Sajida and six other leprosy patients from biometric identification and provided them with Aadhaar. Netizens tagged the Leprosy Mission Trust of India on Twitter and Facebook and questioned UIDAI if the same exemption would will be provided for all lepers.
Apathetic BBMP forced to pay compensation
On June 10, TNIE wrote on the apathy of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike towards the family of 34-year-old Shanthakumar, who was washed away while fixing an overflowing drain in Kurubarahalli on May 20, 2017.
Shanthakumar’s 24-year-old widow Saraswathi, and her two children were numb from the tragedy of losing him. His body was never found.
Then Bengaluru mayor G Padmavathi and Bengaluru development minister KJ George had announced `10 lakh for the family after visiting the spot. But BBMP officials responsible for handing over the compensation put a condition before Saraswati: Produce Shanthakumar’s body as proof of death.
THE IMPACT
The story by Senior Reporter Manju Shettar prompted Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty to take suo motu congnisance of the matter. Day after the report was published, the Lokayukta slapped a notice on the state government and BBMP, demanding an explanation for the delay in paying the compensation and asking them to provide a job to Saraswathi. The same day opposition leader Jagadeesh Shettar raised the issue in the state assembly. In September, BBMP officials gave a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to Saraswathi and the money was deposited as fixed deposit in the name of her two young sons as per Lokayukta’s direction.
To the help of heat wave victim
On April 20, TNIE reported about the death of 19-year-old Neelabai Jadhav due to heat wave at Chikkundi village in Kalaburagi. She had gone to collect firewood when she died. Villagers did not allow an autopsy and cremated her. The family asked for compensation. Report attracted the attention of CM Siddaramaiah and his media advisor Dinesh Amin Mattu.
THE IMPACT
After the report by Special Correspondent Ramkrishna Badseshi, Mattu wrote to Kalaburagi district health officer to provide compensation. He asked for an ‘Action Taken Report’ to be provided to Express. Chief minister asked Kalaburagi DHO to find out the possibility of providing ex-gratia. A team of doctors who went to Chikkundi confirmed Neelabai died due to heat wave. But the team found it difficult to pay ex-gratia as autopsy was not conducted.
Sex worker gets rightful loan
Karnataka Government had introduced the ‘Chethana scheme’ long ago to rehabilitate female sex workers. But none in the Dakshina Kannada district had been rehabilitated as banks were not keen on releasing loans. Several banks had ignored the request of female sex worker Sarita (name changed ) for a loan to escape the clutches of the sex trade and provide good education to her 11-year-old daughter.
THE IMPACT
After Special Correspondent Harsha wrote about Sarita’s helplessness on August 9, Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel responded by directing Syndicate Bank to release a loan. Syndicate Bank’s Suratkal branch manager Ravichandra without further delay released a loan of Rs 60,000 under Mudra scheme to Sarita.
Poor family that lived in toilet gets proper house
TNIE broke a story on October 5 on how a family of six was forced to stay in a public toilet in Udupi. The couple Madyappa and Renuka were hired to maintain a public toilet. However, they, their two kids and two other family members were made cook and sleep in the same toilet building located in the south side of Malpe beach.
THE IMPACT
As soon as the report by Senior Correspondent Prakash Samaga was published, Udupi Human Rights’ Protection Foundation took up the case and wrote to the district administration and the Udupi city municipality. The next day itself, the contractor came forward and provided the family with proper accommodation.
Lingambudhi Lake is garbage-free after TNIE report
Mysuru is one of the cleanest cities in the country, but TNIE wrote on Nov 13 about garbage being dumped in the Lingambudhi Lake which threatened the lives of thousands of birds and aquatic species.
THE IMPACT
A day after the report by Principal Correspondent Pavan M V was published, the Mysore City Corporation cleared the waste dumped in the lake and the forest department personnel started patrolling to prevent miscreants from partying in the lake premises. Ever since this story appeared, MCC has been daily cleaning up the lake banks. It has also installed dustbins around the lakes in city.
Anti-pothole campaign shows the road to BBMP
With frequent deaths and injuries due to potholes in Bengaluru, it was a nightmare travel on the city’s roads during the rainy season this year. TNIE took up the initiative to launch a sustained campaign in September-October.
THE IMPACT
After the series of stories by Ashwini M Sripad and Tushar Kaushik, BBMP commissioner promised to fix the roads. Potholes on many roads were then fixed in a stipulated manner, though the civic body missed several deadlines and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had to intervene.