Annual Report 2009-10

Registration No.: JAY-4-00405-2007-08 #285/B, 38th Cross, 8th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore-560082 Tel: +91-9886024990, 9916135836 www.rastr.in email: info@rastr.in

The activities of RASTR at present are in the areas of education, fight against corruption, women empowerment, proper rural & urban development, health care, guidance to youth, culture, protection of environment & sustainable development, etc. We work actively in creating awareness among the people about the need for the creation of an honest and just society, liberate the society from evils like greed, selfishness and exploitation, and to make citizens realise their rights and duties, and also to cultivate good civic sense. Herewith we present a brief account of the prominent activities of Rashtrotthan Sankalp during 2008-09, other important matters of the Trust, and the programmes and activities we plan to take up during the next year. The report ends with expression of our thanks to all associates, supporters, well-wishers and friends of Rashtrotthan Sankalp.

Mahila Sahaya Vani Support Anekal

Emmanuel Orphanage and Day Care Centre (a registered Voluntary Organisation) is a nodal agency for the Mahila Sahaya Vani of the Department of Women and Child Development of Govt. of Karnataka. Under this Vanitha Sahaya Vani Scheme, any person can dial 1091 and report the case of a woman in distress and the nodal agencies and Police arrange for their immediate rescue, relief, rehabilitation and legal aid if required. Emmanuel Orphanage, run by our associate, Mr. Soundarrajan (a dedicated social worker for nearly 3 decades), has nearly 25 women victims reported under the 1091 Sahaya Vani scheme. The cases are mainly related to dowry harassment, domestic violence, denial of maintenance allowance on separation, etc. Mr. Soundarrajan is following the cases of the women in different courts with the help of the Legal Services Authority (LSA). Some details of the Sahaya Vani and nodal http://www.bcp.gov.in/english/proactivepolicing/VSV.html http://dwcd.kar.nic.in/index.asp Mr. Soundarrajan was in need of certain law books, which will help in making these cases stronger and getting justice for the affected women. In May 2009, we had requested friends of RASTR to contribute towards this cause. In response, our friends responded swiftly. We bought the required books. We visited the Sahaya Vani Center in Anekal town on June 13th, 2009 to hand over the books to the Kendra. Along NGOs are available at:

with that we also distributed notebooks to school going children attached with Emmanuel Orphanage.

Katriguppe Main Road (Ward-54) Garbage Menace Addressed

It is a well-known fact that garbage collection in some areas of the Garden city (Bengalooru) is the worst it can be. Contributors to this condition are the apathy of the administration and the ignorance and indifference of the public who throw away garbage from their homes/shops on roads or vacant sites. Public themselves are partly responsible for the spread of diseases and destroying the beauty of city. In May 2009, Rashtrotthan Sankalp took up a mission to clear up the Katriguppe Main Road in Ward-54 under the Bruhat Bengalooru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) of this mess. We filed complaints with the zonal BBMP office. Followed up with spot visits along with citizens and officials (Environment Engineer / Health Inspector). One of the letters submitted to the Joint Commissioner of BBMP South Zone is embedded below.

Letter to Jt. Commissioner, BBMP

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Kannada and English versions of the leaflets distributed in the surrounding areas as part of the awareness campaign are reproduced here below.

Images of one of the areas where garbage was dumped before and after we took up the case may be seen here, which shows that constant efforts from the citizens can make a big difference in the society.

Before (May 2009)

After (July 2009) 6

Prevention of Beggary Act, 1975 Audit

There have been a lot of pro-people Acts, which have come up, and a lot of committees that have been set up for the welfare of the people. The question is how much efficient has the government been in implementing the act or the findings of the committees. One such Act, which has failed heavily, is the Karnataka Prevention of Beggary Act, 1975. Even after 34 years of passing an Act, the state has been inefficient in implementing the Act in its totality. Beggary the most inhumane condition in which a person can be, caught our eyes when we set out to work towards a self reliant Nation. In order to get more information on this we filed RTI applications with Beggary Relief Centers all over the state, the Department of Social Welfare, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), and the Urban Development Department of Government of Karnataka. It was shocking to see the outcome of the information obtained. We are now planning to get into the second phase of this activity, by questioning the concerned departments and ministries to take initiatives and lead in this direction and to make Karnataka a Beggary free state. Rashtrotthan Sankalp is coming up with a detailed report on the issue and will be submitting the same to all the departments and ministries concerned. A few pictures taken during our study and public audit on the topic may be seen here.

Traffic Rules Violation Audit Belgaum

Citizens are often heard of complaining of the traffic chaos, blaming the traffic police for the mayhem and advising on "what the government should do". However, they do all this as if they have no responsibility in this. The traffic system in the Belgaum City is in a pathetic condition. Most people of Belgaum are either unaware of the traffic rules or dont care to follow them. Traffic sense does not prevail in the minds of any one be it residents or the enforcing authorities. Innumerable cases of violations can be found almost at every nook and corner of the city. Traveling on the main roads is not at all a safe. Traffic rules are being completely ignored and violated in many ways. Rashtrotthan Sankalp took an initiative to look into this aspect in detail. Associates of Rashtrotthan Sankalp conducted a survey in May 2009. Almost every case of traffic violation and road & footpath was captured. The study Belgaum Traffic along with informative material on Traffic rules was Report published. The report is embedded here for reference.

Mayhem at a Level Crossing RTI Activities

The Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005 is a landmark law empowering citizens to know the affairs of the government / administration and participate in civic affairs. Rashtrotthan Sankalp has for the past 3 years conducted several awareness programmes to educate the citizens on this fundamental right in different parts of the country. Rashtrotthan Sankalp makes frequent use of RTI to obtain information on various civic affairs and use it to educate people on these matters.

Upcoming Activities for the year 2009-10

Pursuing the implementation of Prevention of Beggary Act 1975 with the government to make the Beggary relief system effective. Workshops on RTI and Civic affairs in educational institutes and among the community. Traffic Awareness campaigns.

Thanks & Appreciation

Our sincere thanks to all associate organisations, well-wishers, and financial supporters. In particular, we would like to mention the following people/organisations/groups: Mahiti Hakku Adyayana Kendra and Shri. Vikram Simha for their continuous support for all our works related to Right to Information Act. Shri Sundeep Jalan for his help in legal matters.

Shri. Soundarrajan for providing us an opportunity to work in Emmanuel Day Care Center and also for assisting us in all the legal matters related to running a Trust. Our financial supporters, Shri Amrutheshwar, Shri Sharad Virmani, Shri Suraj B C, Shri. Shripad Saraf & Shri Amit Kamat. Shri Ram Prasad Nidwannaya for assisting us in all Finance related matters. Our volunteers and well-wishers for their faith in us, tremendous efforts, cooperation and encouragement.

Jai Hind!