The Daily
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 5
Friday, November 28, 2014
A granite crib as bosses won’t pay for creche Agnivesh Harshan
F
emale construction workers are forced to expose their children to hazardous building sites because contractors are failing to provide creches. Indramma works at a construction site behind Christ University in S.G Playa. She is a migrant worker from Bellary. Her child, less than a year old, was lying on gravel just a few meters away from a dangerous tool kit of hammers and shovels. There was cement dust in the air which suffocated everyone around. The child’s cries were drowned out in the loud noise from the machinery nearby. Two other women at the site also had their children with them. There is nowhere else for them to go. Under government rules contractors are legally obliged to provide creche facilities for these infants, but those rules are being flouted and ignored. "You may think I am being irresponsible but I like to keep my child with me. It's a cruel world and I don't trust her with anyone. I tend to her between the work. I feel nobody can take care of her as well as I can," said Indramma, a migrant construction worker. "The government has schemes
A baby, less than a year old, lies swaddled in a blanket on a granite heap as her mother works nearby for the protection of construction workers, especially lactating women and their children. It is the responsibility of the contractors and engineers to build crèches at a safe distance from the construction site. They fail to do so or find loopholes in the law which mandates the construction of these creches. "The law states that creches are only to be installed if there are 50 or more lactating women. They save the expense by hiring slightly less
than the limit," said Srivalli, Deputy Labour Commisioner. "It should be an inclusive programme which includes the labour department, the Woman and Child Development Department, NGO's and whistleblowers. Only then will there be genuine change," she added. District Child Protection Officer, Divya Narayanappa, said: "If the creches are not built a case must be booked against the engineer and contractor. It is also the responsibil-
ity of Anganvadis to take care of these children who have parents who cannot afford to take care of them. "This issue, however, is a concern of the labour department and human rights department. We are helpless because the mother is an employee there and we cannot separate the mother from her child."
Varsha Pillai from CRY (Children's Rights and You) said: "These kids are supposed to be enrolled into a local anganvadi. The
sad fact however is that there are hardly enough anganvadis nationwide. "Plus the parents of such children are usually migrant workers and do not usually have the requisite ID proofs required to enroll their children into such institutions. CRY has a volunteer force which helps such parents to admit their children to such daycare programs." Human rights activist B.T. Venkatesh said, “Construction workers in India are mostly from Orissa and Karnataka. Their migration is a prime example of urban immigration. It’s not only an issue of crèches, They need drinking water, proper wages and accommodation and safety measures which are denied by the contractors. The solution to the issue would be strong labour unions and the state missionary should act with the civil society for the labourer’s welfare.” “Construction workers do not have their own labour unions as they are migrants who usually do not have ID proofs. It is a contract based labour for a specific period and is not a permanent job. Therefore memberships to labour unions are generally denied.”
‘Yelling donkey’ Afrojack ruining Indian culture Suharika Rachavelpula ‘Western style’ concerts could be banned in Bangalore after a council meeting passed a resolution to outlaw them amid dubious claims of drink, donkeys and even date rape drugs. One corporator who cited a recent Afrojack concert in the city claimed he had recorded covert footage of drug dealing and handed it to police, as part of his submission to the council that these events should be banned in the city. He also claimed 1kg of heroin had been recovered and several people arrested during the gig last weekend by the Dutch based music producer and DJ. Police, however, denied ever receiving any recorded material from the corporator, NR Ramesh, and made no arrests on the night of the concert or afterwards. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike passed a resolution on Thursday asking the state government to ban all western artists' concerts in the city. Shantha Kumari, Mayor, said, “The resolution was passed in the house and is sent to state govern-
ment.” N R Ramesh, BBMP Bhartiya Janta Party corporator, said, “These events are an invasion on our Indian culture. Girls have free entry and boys have to pay up to Rs. 25000. They consume alcohol, drugs and carry brown sugar (heroin) with them to these concerts. They give date drugs to girls and take advantage of them. These artists keep yelling like donkeys and audience does accordingly,” he said. The resolution came after the Sunburn Afrojack concert was held on November 23 in Bangalore. “Police had caught more than 1 kg of heroin and arrested the people possessing it. We also did a sting operation and the video has been submitted to BBMP commissioner” claimed Ramesh. According to him, the people arrested in the concert for substance possession were taken to the Yelahanka Old Town Police Station. But the police there have denied making any such arrest. “No cases of any illegal activities like drugs were registered in any police station in Yelahanka where the event took place,” said Venkatesh, Sub-Inspector of police.
Suresh Patil, a local event organizer, said, “Illegal activities like drug abuse happens only in some events, not all of them.” Sylvester Aswin, who attended the concert said, “It was the best thing I have been to. I don’t know why these political party people have to do this.” Ninad Shah, former head of Sunburn festival and currently the cofounder of muzenly.com, said: “Drug abuse has nothing to do with bringing international bands here. It is more about the atmosphere one is exposed to. International music has always been in India, it's not something new.” He added, “At present, the taxes on alcohol have gone up. That makes it easier for the youth to buy drugs that are available in less than what alcohol could cost. International bands or music has no relation to this.” He added: “Goa has been like the drug capital of India forever now. Psy trance originated there. What about that?”
About international bands coming to India, he said that bands don't think about laws when they plan a concert, but think about the
BBMP Corporator, N.R. Ramesh, called Afrojack a ‘yelling donkey’ audience. “It will make a difference to their organisers maybe, but not the bands,” said Shah, who was
also a part of Percept Live and Percept Sports and Entertainment.