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Malnourished in Mumbai

Severely underweight children in the city’s slum pockets in Shivajinagar, Dharavi and Mankhurd add to the already dismal malnourishment figures.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For long, we’ve considered malnutrition to be a rural problem, far removed from the complexities of urban life. So it comes as a bit of a shock to know that, despite the government’s assurances of working on curbing malnutrition, an urban centre like Mumbai has over 4,500 children falling under the malnourished category. What’s more, Mumbai ranks higher than other urban centres in the state with regards to percentage of malnourished children.

As per the latest government figures for June 2012, released by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which is set up under the Women and Child Welfare Development, Government of Maharashtra, out of a total 2,50,662 children weighed across the ICDS’ aanganwadi network in Mumbai, 4,648 children are severely underweight. The highest numbers come from Shivajinagar, where 511 out of a total 19,152 children surveyed were severely underweight, followed by Kanjurmarg (236 out of 12,122), Mahim, (277 out of 15,456), Andheri-3 (225 out of 12,398) and Mankhurd (192 out of 15,119).

It must be noted that the ICDS has not yet achieved 100 per cent coverage in Mumbai, and the figures disclosed through the June 2012 report may be only a part of the actual figures. Naturally, this means that these figures are indicative of only those children enrolled in the government outreach programme.

The ICDS’ main aim is to improve the health status of children in the age group of zero to 6 years. The aanganwadis are set up in slum pockets to monitor children as well as expectant and new mothers. A report is compiled for all aanganwadi reach and results, apart from data culled from local NGOs. An official from the Women and Child Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra, said that there was actually an improvement in the figures. “If you compare the figures for June 2011 with the figures culled in June this year, you will see that there is a 10 per cent improvement, in the sense that there is a 10 per cent increase in the numbers of ‘normal’ children weighed,” he told The Metrognome.

Meanwhile, an official from the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission, which takes stock of the ICDS figures and monitors the progress in the affected areas, told The Metrognome, “We visited the Shivajinagar area because the maximum number of severely underweight children were found there. There are a number of reasons for the high incidence in this category – the slums are in the worst condition, there is inadequate sanitation, the water lines are adjacent to gutters, there is no system to remove wastes. Plus, there is a huge migrant population residing there, with their own set of problems – no documentation and little awareness of health and hygiene. We did a micro-project there for five days to determine how to tackle the issue better,” he said.

A major roadblock to immediately treating the children in the moderately underweight to the more ‘dangerous’ severely underweight category, he added, is that the Centre’s funds for malnourished children are earmarked for rural areas and not urban pockets. “However, we have approached private companies who have agreed to help certain pockets which require intervention. Also, we will be setting up centres at Shivajinagar, Dharavi and Mankhurd, the training for which has already taken place. Also, after April 1 next year, the Centre has decided to release funds for urban areas as well, so that should make things easier.”

What do you think the government should do to reduce and eliminate malnutrition from the city? Write in with your views to the editor@themetrognome.in and we will forward them to the Women and Child Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra.

(Picture courtesy: www.footprintsworld.com)

 

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Train man

Ketan Goradia plans to decongest the Railways and save lives. Good news is, the Railways are receptive to his ideas.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Ketan Goradia (38) is not a railway engineer, he has had no formal training in how the Indian Railways work, and up till now, he had no idea of the level of persistence one requires to pursue government officials. But the Vile Parle resident, a civil engineer, has drawn up a set of comprehensive, workable plans to decongest the Western, Central and Harbour railway lines, which will save lives, prevent access to freeloaders and increase the capacity of all three lines by 100 per cent. What is heartening for him, is that the state’s chief minister is willing to let him make a 30-minute presentation, explaining the plans and their costs, to the Railway Board this week.

“Two years ago, I was travelling by train to Kalamboli, when a man fell out of the crowded train after Kurla and died on the tracks. I will never forget that sight,” Ketan recalls, adding that the incident shook him out of the complacency that most Mumbaikars are cursed with – that of thinking, ‘Bad things happen to other people’. “I wondered – what if it was me, who fell out of the crowded train and died? The Railways say that at least eight lives are lost due to train-related deaths every day. I thought I should study the problem and see if there was any solution.”

A voracious reader, Ketan set about studying the Railways’ existing plans and how tracks were laid, apart from commuters’ usage patterns. “Within a few months, I drew up a plan to decongest Churchgate and CST stations. The idea was to connect the Central and Western railways by a tunnelled network. We studied the timetables and which stations had the most congestion in peak hours. There was also a proposal to have a circular elevated Harbour line. All of these measures would reduce commuter congestion and most importantly, prevent deaths while crossing tracks.”

He contends that people cross tracks as “a matter of convenience” to get from one line to another, or to access another platform quickly. “Hence, it is necessary to prevent access to the tracks in the first place. We showed the proposal to the then Railways minister Dinesh Trivedi and railway board member (for Traffic) KK Shrivastav, who both said the plan was workable. I was sent to local railway engineers. But throughout, the feedback I got was that the Maharashtra government would have to pitch in with some percentage of the funds for the project. So I met then Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad, who said that the state would chip in with 50 per cent of the funds but that the proposal would have to come through the Indian Railways,” Ketan says.

Then Mamata Banerjee replaced Trivedi and the plan fell by the wayside. “But I was still studying the issue, still meeting with officials in Delhi and Maharashtra. I was lucky that I knew people who could connect me with the top officials in both governments and the Railways, or else I may not have been granted a meeting also. If I had gone from the bottom to the top of the hierarchy, I would have been stonewalled at each step,” he says.

Ketan also met a lot of ex-Railwaymen, who gave him inputs and shared their delight that somebody was doing the things that the Railways should have been doing. “I studied world Railway systems, especially the one at Hong Kong, which has the capacity of carrying 80,000 people per hour, per line coming and going. In our context, this was possible only with a metro line. The present trains were not up to the mark, even the signalling was not perfect. A few motormen told me that they literally cry every time they run over a person, but what could they do? At present, the train can stop only after 180 metres once the brakes are applied. If a person suddenly appears in front  of the train and the brakes are immediately applied, they are still going to run over the person,” he explains.

He came up with two solutions to the problem – one, isolate the system in such a way that people cannot get on to the tracks, and two, the platforms should be designed in such a way that they don’t feel the need to cross from one to the other. “We drew plans where the trains were unidirectional, and not going from fast to slow tracks, which disturbs the overall efficiency. In all, we drew up plans for 20 new lines for all of Mumbai, which would make the city the largest metro system in the world, greater even that Shanghai. This would necessitate the creation of underground stations and new stations, as well as a complete overhaul of some parts of the system.” (See ‘What some of the proposals say’ below for some of the proposals).

His other findings were that the Central Railway suburban services were functioning at a maximum 23 per cent capacity, the Western at 32 per cent and the Harbour at 27 per cent. “Unless these peak efficiencies were increased, we would continue to grapple with problems of congestion,” he explains.

“I have met the Chief Minister, finance minister Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule, several officials of MRVC, the Railway Board, and all of this was possible due to the efforts of legistlator Vidya Chavan, who got me meetings with politicians. The CM has said that he will let me make a 30-minute presentation when the Railway Board visits the state on Monday (October 15). He is very receptive to the idea, and so is MMRDA, which granted me two hours for a presentation last week, so I am hopeful that the plans will be put into operation.”

He says that he is not looking for credit, and he doesn’t mind that his plans had to be formally proposed by the Railways. “As long as somebody – anybody – takes up the matter and tries their best to increase the efficiency of the system, we will not lose precious lives and time while using the Railways,” he says.

What some of the proposals say:

– Phase I will increase capacity of all three lines by 100 per cent. This will take two to three years.

– Phase II will allow metro and local train services to increase connectivity to the new areas of Thane district like Kaman Road, Kharbao and Bhiwandi, and areas in Raigad district around Nhava Sheva, Uran, Panvel on Panvel-Kalamboli-Diva route, etc. The Railways will coordinate with the state government, BMC, MMRDA and CIDCO, to create an integrated road-rail-metro system to ensure that the need for at least 15 years of integrated mass transport requirement is taken care of.

– Station upgradation with modern facilities and aesthetics.

– One wholesale-cum-retail market to be added to each station for each category of goods to leverage Mumbai’s present strength as a wholesale market.

– Creating a new world-class common terminus near Kaman road station for out-station trains, which will allow trains of WR, CR, Konkan Railway and south-bound trains to leave from this common terminus and provide greater efficiency.

– Hydraulic train doors and air-conditioning.

(Train picture courtesy mumbai.jbss.in)

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Ab bus karo

A point-to-point bus service aims to solve your commuting woes, when autos and taxis are just too expensive to hire.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent revisions in auto and taxi fares have probably sent your monthly budget straight to the cleaners. And nobody’s really willing to wait for crowded BEST buses to lumber up and take them on board. But come to think of it, buses are actually a better road transport solution – they take a lot of people from place to place, and they don’t cause as much congestion as smaller vehicles do.

Which was what prompted Siddharth Sharma (37), a computer programmer who is an IIM alumnus, to start rBus, a bus pooling company that allows people to take a comfortable, point-to-point bus commute to work. All customers have to do is inform the company that they wish to take a bus from a certain point to a certain destination, and the bus arrives with prior intimation.

“I started rBus because in our city, there is a demand for good quality transport that saves people time and which is clean and hassle-free,” Siddharth tells The Metrognome. “BEST buses are often overcrowded and slow. Our buses reach on time, and customers don’t have to wait long hours for them to arrive or reach the destination. Also, once you have booked a seat, nobody else can take your seat.”

Additionally,  each bus is fitted with a GPS tracker, and users are informed of the bus’s location a few moments before it arrives at their requested spot. “Time is of the essence in Mumbai,” Siddharth says. “Besides, people want a comfortable commute from their homes to their offices. The way we work out the bus allocation is, we first study the demand on a particular route. If we have about 200 people on a route, we hire about ten 20-seater buses. There is no compulsion on the commuter to take a bus at a certain time, we work flexibly around the commuters’ timings,” he explains.

The buses are hired from private contractors, and payment for the service is taken on a monthly basis. “A non-AC bus would cost the commuter Rs 1,800 per month, while for an AC bus, it is Rs 3,500 per month,” Siddharth says. “So far, I have a pool of over 165 registered users. When there is a demand on a particular route, I get a contractor who provides the bus for that route.”

He says that from the time he started the company in July this year, demand is slowly going up, though consumers are often finicky about the pricing. He says he even revised his original pricing – Rs 3,000 per month for a non-AC bus and Rs 5,000 for an AC bus – because customers found the rates too steep. “But there are also various people who are interested in availing of the service. I have queries from the CEOs of certain companies, who are very interested in this project, since they are concerned about employees reaching office late owing to delays in travel,” he says.

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College boys preach gender equality

Students from six Mumbai colleges are doing their bit to stop the war between sexes and bring about gender equality.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

It normally isn’t easy for a bunch of boys, or even one boy, for that matter, to talk to a girl they’ve just met, about menstrual cycles and breasts. But when this group of boys talks about this and more, none of us flinch or avoid eye contact. There’s no nervous giggling among the group and I don’t think they’re ganging up on me and deliberately talking dirty. They’re not over 22 years old – some of them are still in college – and though they’re interested in girls, their thoughts are more focussed, more centred on gender equality.

What’s more, they’re empowering women by empowering men.

“I used to watch my father getting drunk and beating up my mother. As a child, it was a normal sight for me. Growing up, I decided that I would beat my wife, too, if she didn’t do what I said,” says Sagar Gamre (21) from DG Ruparel College. “But now I realise that women also have the same rights that men do. Who are men to ‘give’ women anything? Who are men to grant them ‘permission’ to live a certain way, to study further, return home late?”

This realisation didn’t come all at once – in fact, it wouldn’t have come at all if Sagar would not have associated with Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) and its honorary secretary Harish Sadani, who has been running gender-sensitisation camps among the youth for several years now. Sadani’s annual camps that address gender, sexuality, men-women roles and other such issues have resulted in several participants, like Sagar, becoming dedicated volunteers to the cause of gender sensitisation. Hearteningly, this year’s camp at Mangaon (Raigad district) has resulted in 30 young men coming back to spread the word in their respective colleges through an initiative titled Yuva Samvad. That’s five or six ‘leaders’ to a college. Not bad at all.

But the bunch wasn’t sure about the camp and what it would turn out to be. “Frankly, I wasn’t too interested in going, but I went because my friend Ashish went,” laughs Viplav Niwas, a student of Ruia College. “But the sessions held there put a lot of things in perspective for me. For instance, I remembered how my neighbour would beat up his wife regularly and everybody felt that it was okay for him to do so. Or how my own mother, an independent social worker, would come home every day and do the housework, and let my father take all the decisions at home.” His friend Ashish Date chimes in, “Growing up, I had not felt that there was anything wrong with our patriarchal systems, and if some men chose to dominate their wives or tell women in their families what to do, nobody could do anything about it.”

He adds that the camp and his association with MAVA changed his thinking so much, that he began questioning his family members as well. “In our family, if a woman is menstruating, she has to sit in a separate room and not touch anything. I said that this was wrong, that if they believed that God was pure, then touching God would make the ‘impure’ woman pure,” he grins. “Indian society trains men to look down on women in a hundred little ways. I hadn’t thought of these things before.”

Says Ajinkya Nimbare from Kirti College, “The problem is a lack of communication. What is a man trying to say when he is violent towards a woman? What is a woman trying to say when she refuses to have sex with her boyfriend or husband? Society makes men believe that women must do what they say, and if women refuse, they must be punished.”

Vivek Kumbhar, who graduated from D G Ruparel College last year, has been associated with Yuva Samvad for three years now. “I began to look at girls differently. In the camps, we were told that all the swear words we use address mothers, sisters and their body parts. We were told that every time we used a swear word, we were swearing at our mothers and sisters. That put an end to all swearing,” he laughs.

He has an interesting story to relate. “My mother had finished her schooling, but then she got married. My father didn’t let her study further. I didn’t think she needed to study as well – after all, women are safest in the house, right? But after working with MAVA, I began to wonder if we all hadn’t done her an injustice.” He proudly relates how, a few years ago, his mother did a balewadi course and is now a social worker.

Suraj Pawar, student social worker currently studying at TISS and associated with MAVA for a year, has already started taking sessions for college kids. “Sadly, people think that women’s studies (his subject at TISS) is not for men. I am the only man in the class,” he says. “I was in Class 12 when my sister got married. I was so heartbroken at her going away, that I cried for three days. I kept asking, ‘Why must women be the ones to leave their homes? Why do we burden our women with all of life’s tough decisions?’” A move to social work with an NGO was a natural transition for him.

The initiative

Through a series of interactive talks with college students, the selected youth leaders discuss gender, sex, sexuality, roles, expectations, sexual health, and other related topics. “The objective is to change men’s mindsets. We depend on women to empower themselves, but women would not need empowerment if men’s attitudes change,” explains Harish Sadani. “We target this age group because these boys will soon become men that constitute a decision-making society. The initiative involves using different, innovative media like street-plays, essay and poster-competitions, radio plays, poetry reading sessions, and talks and discussions by veterans in the field.”

All of the selected boys are NSS students. “They have to choose four to five projects in a year as part of their curriculum, and we thought that Yuva Samvad was a great project that would also make them socially aware,” says professor Pradeep Waghmare, coordinator-NSS Unit, Ruia College. “It is under the University of Mumbai and is aided by the state government and the UGC.”

Yuva Samvad currently takes place in these colleges: Ruia, D G Ruparel, Siddharth, Guru Nanak, GTB Nagar and Dr T K Tope (night college in Parel).

 

 

 

 

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New tariff cards are out

Get the new RTO-approved tariff cards for the ride of your choice and avoid being fleeced by autowallahs and cabbies. In the absence of recalibrated meters, you’ll know how much you need to pay.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Motor Vehicles Department has uploaded the new tariff cards for autorickshaws and taxis on its website; yesterday, the RTO-approved cards were issued to drivers of these vehicles all across the city. The ride you take today onwards might end in the driver trying to fleece you, but with tariff cards available for download in five categories, you really have no reason to be cheated on your fare. Get the new cards here.

Remember that all fares are rounded off; fares from paisa 1 to paise 49 are rounded off to a lower figure, while fares from paise 51 to 99 are rounded off to a higher figure.

Apart from the issuance of new rate cards, it turns out that the heads of auto and taxi unions in the city have issued “strict instructions” to their union members to “immediately inform the union if any member is using an unauthorised tariff card.” Speaking to The Metrognome, Shashank Rao, assistant general secretary of the Mumbai Autorickshawmen’s Union (MAU) said, “Ever since the government made the decision to hike the fares, we have strictly informed our men that they must procure RTO-approved tariff cards only. The new tariff cards have already come today (Wednesday, October 10), so all union members must have got them. Also, we have issued written instructions to our members that if they find anyone possessing a fake tariff card, they must inform the union immediately.”

However, he declined to say what the penalty for carrying a fake tariff card would be, insisting that “strict action” would be taken against such auto drivers.

Meanwhile, Thambi Kurien, general secretary of the Mumbai Rickshawmen’s Union, said that instructions for good conduct and the usage of the correct tariff cards and not rigging meters are always issued. “But we have no way of ensuring that they (auto drivers) are following these instructions. But since the RTO comes down very heavily on errant drivers, they (the drivers) have no option but to carry the correct tariff cards. Also, they know the consequences of tampering with the meters.”

Kurien – who broke away from the Sharad Rao-led MAU a few years ago to float his own union – said that the demand by both taxi and auto unions that meter calibration be postponed to next year, was not correct. “When the government agreed to a price hike, it was with certain conditions that all parties agreed on. One of these conditions was that all calibrations would happen within a period of 45 days from the rate hike. We will have to adhere to it.” Shashank Rao, meanwhile, said that it was unlikely that any autorickshaw driver had attempted to recalibrate the meter so soon. “We are waiting for the government’s reaction; we have asked that the recalibration be done not before May 2013 (when the next fare hikes will happen).”

A further complication to the entire calibration drama is that meter repairers and manufacturers are being coaxed by the transport commissioner’s office to finish the recalibration process within Rs 400, which these companies have refused to do. Generally, a mechanical meter is recalibrated in not less than Rs 600.

Meanwhile, A L Quadros, general secretary, Mumbai Taximen’s Union, said that the union members would strictly carry the new tariff cards issued by the RTO.

If you face problems on your commute

In the event that an auto or cab driver was rude, refused to ply to your destination, had a tampered meter inside the vehicle or had an unauthorised tariff card, call the RTO complaint helpline on 1800-22-0110, or fill out a complaint form to give full details of the offence. As per RTO sources, there has been a 20 per cent increase in complaints from commuters, for such offenses as meter tampering, refusing to ply, plying without meters, carrying fake tariff cards and demand for fixed fares.

“Commuters have three options – they can call the RTO helpline, or write a complaint using the RTO complaint form, or they can walk up to the nearest traffic cop and enlist his help,” said V N More, Traffic Commissioner, Motor Vehicles Department.

More added, “In addition to the existing penalties and action under the Motor Vehicle Act, we now register complaints under Section 120 of the Indian Penal Code against drivers and permit holders who tamper with meters or use bogus cards.”

Mumbai tweets on the auto and taxi fare hike:

@greyoceanblues: A Rs 35 auto ride costs Rs 60 now. Wow. #mumbai

‏@chin80: New Auto fares are soooo much! Rs. 25-30 more for same distance!!! Lag gayi..

@rickfare: @atulkarmarkar Hi Atul! The new fares have been updated on http://rickfare.com. Spread the word 🙂

@mysti: Download the new auto and taxi fare list from http://www.hindustantimes.com/farelist #mumbai

@htTweets: Mumbai’s steepest ever auto and taxi fare hike comes into effect from today. Here is the tariff list read.ht/T6n #ht

 ‏@Netra: Reminder 😛 : #Mumbai Rs. 15 as the minimum fare for autos & Rs 19 as that for taxis from Oct 11th : bit.ly/R5BDh8

 @bombaylives: Nice to see empty auto-walas, everyone seems to have moved to Buses. #bombay #mumbai

 

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Dear celebs, don’t endorse tobacco and alcohol

Maharashtra government to appeal to celebrities to stop endorsing products that promote addiction. Celebs can expect an open letter soon.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

The Maharashtra government is now going to appeal to celebrities – from film, television and sports – to not endorse products that promote addiction,  particularly among the youth.

Shivajirao Moghe, Minister for Social Justice and Deaddiction Activities, Maharashtra, said, “The youth are very attracted to film actors and sportspersons, particularly cricketers. Naturally, advertisers cash in on this popularity to sell the products that cause addiction among the youth. Celebrities should refrain from endorsing these products.” This appeal comes after a resolution to this effect was passed at the first of its kind, state-level deaddiction conference held in Pune last week.

The conference saw participation from a bevy of deaddiction experts, apart from state ministers. A total of eight resolutions, including this one, were passed during the conference.

Moghe, who also participated at the conference, said, “The resolution will now be placed before the state government.” He added, “I am going to write an open letter asking that celebrities do two things – one, that they should not endorse such products, and two, they should come out with ads that help in our deaddiction initiatives. They should actually do advertisements that tell the youth that drinking alcohol or chewing gutkha is bad for them.”

He contends that if youth icons take this essential step, it will go a long way in making the state addiction-free. “Celebrities exert tremendous attraction on the youth, so if they say a certain thing, young people do it blindly. The government wants influential persons like celebrities to make a positive difference to society, especially the youth.” Incidentally, stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Marathi actor Bharat Jadhav, Moghe said, have refused to endorse tobacco products in the past, while a daily newspaper had mentioned that actors Sanjay Dutt and Malaika Arora Khan had “vowed to stop endorsing” gutkha brands and tobacco products.

Early this year, the state government ran into controversy when, as part of its deaddiction initiatives, it proposed that the legal age for drinking should be 25 years in Maharashtra. Interestingly, this appeal could largely address gutkha advertisements, since alcohol is promoted through surrogate advertising. Additionally, Maharashtra banned gutkha consumption in June this year.

(picture used for representational purpose only)

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