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In this episode, we talk about Maharashtra, where school students
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have taken up the responsibility to highlight civic infrastructure problems
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using social media. We also talk about Delhi Chief Minister
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Rekha Gupta, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with top
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bureaucrats being issued notices for discrepancy and to prove their
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eligibility during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. But first,
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we talk about a strike by Delhi Transport Corporation bus
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drivers and conductors that has disrupted public transport across the city.
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Last week at the Vazirpur bus depot in north-west Delhi,
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all 150 buses stood parked, while drivers sat outside on mattresses.
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It was the third day of the strike and workers
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said they were refusing to back down until their demand
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for better pay was addressed. Now, of course, at the
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heart of the protest are wages. Drivers and conductors say
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that they are being paid Rs 862 per day and
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that this is not enough to manage their families, daily travel,
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food and other expenses. And what's worth noting here is
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that these aren't DTC employees as such.
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Yeah, so just to clarify, these are not drivers technically
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directly employed by DTC. These are drivers who are employed
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by private operators who get contracts from DTC to operate
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buses on specific routes.
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That's the Indian Express's Devansh Mittal, who reported on the
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issue for the paper.
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So they can't be said to be technically employees of
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the Delhi Transport Corporation.
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But yeah, they are the people who are driving those buses.
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Meanwhile, the Transport Minister has said that private concessionaires managing
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DTC electric buses have been directed to resolve the issues immediately.
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But the union says no government representative has reached out
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to them so far. So what are Delhi bus drivers
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and conductors demanding and how is this affecting commuters across
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the capital? To answer these questions, my colleague Ichha Sharma
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is joined by Devansh.
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Devansh, we know that the immediate demand, of course, is
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better compensation. But you highlight how the dispute encompasses much more.
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So talk about why more than 10,000 DTC bus drivers
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have gone on strike. Like, what are they asking for?
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Yeah, so they've gone on strike demanding a couple of things.
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One is so currently they are earning rupees 862 every
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day that they work, which turns out to somewhere between 21-22,000
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a month for working six days a week. And out
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of it, some provident fund is also cut. So basically
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they earn on average around 20,000 rupees a month. So
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they are asking that this be increased from 862 per
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day to 2000 per day. So what they're saying is
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that they're supposed to get a basic increment, which is
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like an increase in their salary every five years. And
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the last increment happened in 2019. So the next one
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was supposed to happen in 2024, which has not happened.
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And what the union also tells me is that their
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dearness allowance, which is supposed to go up every six months,
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has not happened in the last 18 months since this.
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Government took over. So that increase has also not happened.
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A combination of these factors and the already existing low
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wage floor means that they're asking for an increased wage.
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That is the central pillar of their demands in this strike.
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Other things that they're asking for is medical insurance, some
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guarantee of a job in case a driver dies due
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to an unfortunate accident, some annual bonuses and better working
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conditions in general. They're also asking that they get paid
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extra to work on government holidays.
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Devansh, as you mentioned earlier, that their employment arrangement is
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slightly more confusing. So, if the Delhi government contracts a
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private company to operate a public bus, who is ultimately
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responsible for the worker?
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See, that's a tricky question.
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So what the union, the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union says
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is that although it's technically up to the private companies,
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which are, you know, managing and operating these buses on
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specific routes. And even the government has repeatedly said this,
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that these drivers are not our employees. And we have
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told those private operators to talk to drivers and listen
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to their demands. But the union says that any one
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operator won't do it individually. It will have like if
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the government directs those private companies is the only situation
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which this increase is going to happen. So technically, it
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is the private operators who can increase the salary of
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these drivers. But I think it will have to be
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a conversation between the government and the private operators who
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do it together across the board. It won't be that,
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you know, like, Just one private company who's operating these
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buses can individually raise their salaries.
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And this wage hike that we are speaking about, how
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has the union come up with the 2000 rupees per
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day figure? Like, is it based on some comparable transport
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jobs or cost of living?
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I think the union has not done any specific studies
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or research based on what I've told you like their
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basic increment which is supposed to which is in hike
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in their wages every five years has not happened since 2019.
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The next one was supposed to happen in 24 which
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did not take place as well as their dearness allowance
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DA which is supposed to go up every six months
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that has not gone up for the last 18 months
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so three times. So combined with these two things and
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what drivers tell me is that, you know, Delhi is
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getting more and more congested day by day and driving
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these really massive vehicles in these really, really congested roads
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is a very stressful task. And I mean, they have
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to complete their number of allocated kilometers, the number of
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rounds that they have to take on particular routes, etc.
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So what they tell me is that these are really.
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Stressful jobs, which really deserve salaries, which are above sort
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of what they say are minimum wage salaries of, you know,
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daily wage laborers. They say that you need to be
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really skilled at these jobs. And these are basically very
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stressful jobs.
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Right.
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And during your reportage, when you spoke to a few drivers,
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they mentioned how they have to do gig work on
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the journey home to kind of supplement their income. So
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on ground, how are their living conditions?
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Yeah, so this was one driver that I had met
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at the GT Karnal DTC depot in northwest Delhi, who
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told me that, you know, like after he gets done
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with his day job, which is as a DTC bus driver,
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while going back home to Sonipat, he also... picks up
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customers through rapido and you know earns maybe 100 200
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250 rupees extra on the site to just to support
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his household expenditure now i mean i don't know how
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many dtc drivers do this sort of gig work on
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the site but from a large number of them and
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who i've talked to one big issue that all of
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them face is that many of them come from delhi's
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neighboring districts in Haryana, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jajjar and commuting itself
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takes a significant chunk out of their salary because even
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though they're DTC bus drivers they don't get free bus
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rides and they either come by the metro which is
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itself expensive or they come on their own private two-wheelers
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which takes like 100 to 200 rupees of petrol every
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day commuting these really really long distances a lot of
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them tell me that this 20 000 that they're earning
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plus you know maybe some incentives that some of them
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earn here and there by completing all their stops and
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completing their route perfectly so this 20 25 000 salary
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in a world where things are so expensive It's not
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really able to afford them the kind of life that
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they want. So some of them supplemented with gig work.
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Some of them have taken loans, which they now have
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to repay by taking more informal loans from families and friends.
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And Devansh, even in a city with one of India's
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largest metro networks, how integral and indispensable are DTC buses
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in the capital's public transport ecosystem?
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So basically DTC has around 6,840 buses. So the earlier DIMTs,
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the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System to operate the cluster
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buses was also sort of taken over by DTC sometime
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earlier this year. So DTC now basically operates all close
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to 7,000 buses in Delhi. And DTC has an average
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daily ridership of around 40 lakh people. Now in recent
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years this is the largest such strike which has been
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carried out by DTC drivers and even for the last
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one week I have personally seen passengers who didn't know
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there was a strike going on standing at bus stops
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for the last couple of hours waiting for their bus
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because You have to understand that metro is really expensive
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compared to DTC, especially for women for whom DTC is
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completely free. So this is a really, really significant part
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of the public transit system in Delhi. because of its cheapness,
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because of its reliability. So, you know, Metro has deployed
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additional trains to manage the additional crowds from the strike.
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And on Thursday or.
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Friday, it recorded its highest ever ridership of almost 82
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lakh people. Just for context, Metro's average ridership is around
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65 lakh people in a day. It recorded a ridership
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of 82 lakh people because of this ongoing DTC strike.
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So this DTC forms a really significant part of the
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public transit system, especially for lower income people.
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Right.
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And speaking of the negotiations, interestingly, on one side, you
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have the transport minister saying that every demand except the
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wage hike, of course, has been accepted. Conversely, the union
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says none have been met. So how do we read that?
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So basically, so if you go through the transport minister,
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Pankaj Kumar Singh's remarks, he says that all the demands
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except the wage hike have been increased and he has
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told the private companies to accept these demands. But we
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have not heard yet or the drivers have not heard
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yet from the private companies accepting those demands. And even
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if those demands about, you know, working on government holidays,
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and some kind of medical insurance, better working conditions are accepted.
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The central demand of a wage hike from rupees 862
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to maybe 2000 or somewhere in between, I think.
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That is the key demand which will stall.
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the resolution of this strike, at least for the next
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couple of days. So the union guys I'm talking to
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tell me that even till now, even till Sunday, they
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haven't heard about whether their demands have been met or not,
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and certainly not about the wage hike demand and that
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their protest slash strike will continue.
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And they weren't given that thousands of drivers and conductors
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are off duty. And we just spoke of how significant
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they are to the public transport ecosystem. What's next for
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the government to look at?
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That is anyone's guess, but from what I've been hearing
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right now, so the Delhi government did arrange some additional drivers,
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you know, people who had been promoted, they've been telling
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them to go back to drive some buses, etc. So
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over the last, maybe starting from Friday, there have been,
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I mean, some buses have been operating. But there are
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still large scale disruptions to the DTC service. Bus services
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are still patchy and they're still not operating everywhere. I mean,
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we expect more conversations to happen between the union, between
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driver representatives, between the government, between owners of these private
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companies which operate DTC buses. But we don't know right
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now what will happen and when the resolution of these
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demands and the strike will take place.
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And next, we focus on Maharashtra, where school students have
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taken up the responsibility to highlight civic infrastructure problems using
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social media. In several districts across the state, students have
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been posting videos highlighting the problems they face on their
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daily commute to school.
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You say that our children are the future of India.
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But is there no other way to educate our children?
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Does the government think that our children should be taught
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only to read?
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For many families in rural Maharashtra, getting their children to
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school means navigating pothole-ridden roads, railway tracks and muddy, difficult-to-cross paths.
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These conditions often leave parents worried about their children's safety.
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So the students, taking.
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Matters into their own hands, have started creating mock news
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reports filmed on mobile phones and videos making direct appeals
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to political leaders, hoping that their posts will push authorities
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to act.
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But have these social media posts actually led to any change?
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And what do these videos tell us about the state
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of basic civic infrastructure.
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In parts of Maharashtra?
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To understand more, we are joined by the Indian Express's
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Pallavi Smart, who reported on the story for the paper.
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So Pallavi, what prompted school children across Maharashtra to start
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using social media to highlight problems with roads and other
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civic infrastructure?
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So there is no particular answer to what exactly prompted
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these children, but it is certain that this is a
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generation of children that is increasingly comfortable questioning authority and
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documenting problems and demanding solutions.
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And they know how to use the tools such as
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social media, which is at their disposal in order to
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get heard.
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By the authorities.
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We can't accurately say where it originated. But the video
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of three girls performing a mock ground report while holding
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umbrella as a boom mic, which went viral in July, became.
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Like a talking point.
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And then we could see many such videos coming up
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from different parts of Maharashtra, where school students in their
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uniforms are complaining about local civic and infrastructure issues on
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social media.
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Right.
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And talking about the case that you mentioned about the
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three girls, They were from Khanpe village in Raigarh district.
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So tell us about that post and have the authorities
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taken any action after the video was circulated?
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That video featured three girls who are class 10 students
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in a school in Khanpe village in.
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Raigarh district of Maharashtra.
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It was merely a fun activity for them to do
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that mock news report just because one of their friends
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was carrying her mother's mobile phone on that particular day.
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And they realized the impact of their video only after
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3-4 days when it went viral and also prompted repair work.
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The girls told the Indian Express that they were talking
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about the potholes on the road while walking. And that
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gave them an idea to do a ground report on
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the poor conditions of the road. That is based on
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similar kind of mock interviews that they have done.
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In their schools for extracurricular activities.
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This is particularly among those videos where significant action is
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taken where the local MLA ordered immediate repair work of
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the road and the authorities have also assured complete reconstruction
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of the road post-monsoon.
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Okay, so in this case, we did see authorities actually
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responding to the video and taking action. But what about
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the other places? Like we saw children from Bahirwadi make
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a mock news report about their difficult journey to school.
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So tell us about the problems they are dealing with
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and has the viral video led to any concrete action?
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Unlike to the Kanpe village, they haven't had any resolution
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to their issue as yet. Basically, these children from Gohirewadi hamlet,
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it's in Trambakeshwar, taluka of Maharashtra's Nashik district. They have
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to go to Pegalwadi village to attend school. Taking the
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regular road would take them hours to reach Pegalwadi and since.
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That is a highway, parents are reluctant to let their
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children walk along it.
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The alternative for them is a shorter trail connecting Goherewadi
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hamlet to Pegalwadi village which is not a proper road
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as it is a trail connecting Goherewadi to Pegalwadi through
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farm fields in the village. It is extremely slippery, muddy
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and waterlogged especially during monsoon and all this is because
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an alternative road connecting the hamlet to the village remains
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stuck with no agency taking the initiative to construct it.
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Their viral video definitely brought some prominent opposition leaders, political
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personalities to visit that hamlet.
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But the children are.
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Still waiting for a resolution for their daily hardship.
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And Pallavi, can you tell us about Vadiv, which is
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an island in the Palghar district and it doesn't have
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a permanent road or a bridge connecting it to the mainland?
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So people there have been forced to walk along railway
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tracks to get to school or the market, which is
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another thing that children from the place have highlighted. Tell
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us how long has this been the case?
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In Palghar, that is not particularly, you know, children's issue
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because it's an issue for all residents of Vardhiv, which
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is an island in Palghar. It does not have a
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permanent all-weather road bridge connecting it to the mainland. As
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a result, all Vardhiv residents, including the children, use pathways
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along railway bridges and the tracks, whether to travel to work,
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to go to markets or to reach school. The situation
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has been like this for decades. Adult residents have noted
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that they have been pressing on that demand for road
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for many years. But now they have a proposal on
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paper to construct 700-meter permanent bridge between Wadhiv and Vaithi.
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But it is now pending for administrative approval. Right, and
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now coming to Satara, the report notes that Mansi Mane's
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videos have previously resulted in repairs. So, tell us more
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about that and why has the road to her college
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remained unresolved despite the repeated attention? The attention has led
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to repair works at isolated spots but it is important
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to note that it is a roughly 8 km route
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from Musford which has multiple stretches which are damaged with
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potholes and other issues also. It has been in poor
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condition for 10-15 years. There is an official proposal for
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repairs now and work will begin once the proposal is approved.
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And across these cases, how much difference has social media
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visibility actually made in getting authorities to respond to civic problems?
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Niharika, although we have managed to cover four such instances
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in the recent past, multiple such videos have emerged from
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different parts of Maharashtra and in many cases, issues have
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been resolved. While Kanpe girls managed to get their road
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repaired with an assurance of reconstruction of the road after monsoon,
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in Palghar, a proposal is now ready to construct a
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permanent bridge. Among multiple similar videos from across Maharashtra, many
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have resolution to the issue in sight now. Whereas in
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other cases, even if it is not completely resolved, at
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least the issue has come under the spotlight with authorities
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forced to take cognizance of it at least, especially after
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school children appealing on camera.
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And Pallavi, what do these stories tell us about the
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larger state of basic infrastructure and access to schools in
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parts of rural Maharashtra?
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These stories have once again highlighted the poor condition of
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public education, particularly in rural.
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Parts of Maharashtra.
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We need to understand when the issue at hand currently
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is As basic as how to reach the school, the
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condition of the school, the teaching quality and other matters
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become secondary.
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Parents in rural areas are willing to send their children
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to schools.
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But with issues like this, many have noted how safety
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of their children is more important to them than education.
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This can easily result into children dropping out of schools.
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And in the end, we talk about top bureaucrats including
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Election Commissioner Dr.
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S.S.
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Sandhu and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta being issued notices
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for discrepancy and to prove their eligibility during the special
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00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.140
intensive revision of electoral rolls. The Indian Express's Hari Kishan
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00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:40.009
Sharma reported that among the top bureaucrats against whom SIR
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notices have been issued for discrepancies and no mapping are
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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kantapande, Principal Scientific
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Advisor to PM Ajay Kumar Sood, Health Secretary Punya Salela,
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Fishery Secretary Abhilaksh Likhi and his wife, Department of Ex-Servicemen's
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Welfare Secretary Sukriti Likhi, Fertiliser Secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra and
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Land Resources Secretary Narendra Bhushan. They are among the people
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who remained unmapped with the last SIR. In all, 593
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people have received notices at the New Delhi Moti Bagh
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polling booth under the Delhi-Kant Assembly constituency. And along with bureaucrats,
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Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Chief Minister Arvind K. Trival,
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New Delhi MP Masudi Swaraj and former Delhi BJP Chief
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Virendra Kumar Sachdeva were among the 33 lakh electors in
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the capital who have been named amid the SIR for
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00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:38.079
the issuance of notices to prove their eligibility. The bureaucrats
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against whom SIR notices are being issued for name mismatches
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00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:47.089
include Expenditure Secretary Vumlanmang Volnam and Comptroller and Auditor General K.
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00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:50.849
Sanjay Murthy, has received a notice for parent name mismatch.
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The Indian Express's Devan Schmittal reported that notices will be
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issued and disposed of between August 31 and October 29.
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The final electoral roll will be published on November 4.
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Delhi had 1.45 crore electors before the SIR began. Names
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of 97.5 lakh electors made the draft roll published on
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31 August. For those born in India before July 1, 1987,
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the Election Commission requires a document proving date and or
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00:24:19.589 --> 00:24:23.329
place of birth. For those born between July 1, 1987
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00:24:23.329 --> 00:24:27.490
and December 2, 2004, the Election Commission requires a document
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00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.539
for the elector and one parent. And for those born
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00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:34.980
after December 2, 2004, the Election Commission requires documents for
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00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.509
the elector and both parents. The categories follow the requirements
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under the Citizenship Act, 1955. You were listening to Three
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00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:49.099
Things by the Indian Express. Today's episode was edited and
393
00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:53.279
mixed by Suresh Pawar and produced by Ichha Sharma and me,
394
00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.339
Niharika Nanda. If you like the show, then do subscribe
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to us wherever you get your podcasts. You can also
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recommend the show to someone you think will like it.
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Share it with a friend or someone in your family.
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about us. You can also tweet us at Express Podcast
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and write to us at podcasts at indianexpress.com.
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00:00:00.540 --> 00:00:04.030
In this episode, we talk about Maharashtra, where school students
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00:00:04.070 --> 00:00:07.730
have taken up the responsibility to highlight civic infrastructure problems
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00:00:08.150 --> 00:00:11.289
using social media. We also talk about Delhi Chief Minister
4
00:00:11.349 --> 00:00:14.769
Rekha Gupta, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with top
5
00:00:14.830 --> 00:00:18.429
bureaucrats being issued notices for discrepancy and to prove their
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00:00:18.489 --> 00:00:23.000
eligibility during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. But first,
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00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:26.280
we talk about a strike by Delhi Transport Corporation bus
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00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:30.660
drivers and conductors that has disrupted public transport across the city.
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Last week at the Vazirpur bus depot in north-west Delhi,
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all 150 buses stood parked, while drivers sat outside on mattresses.
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It was the third day of the strike and workers
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00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:58.420
said they were refusing to back down until their demand
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for better pay was addressed. Now, of course, at the
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heart of the protest are wages. Drivers and conductors say
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that they are being paid Rs 862 per day and
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that this is not enough to manage their families, daily travel,
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food and other expenses. And what's worth noting here is
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that these aren't DTC employees as such.
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00:01:20.090 --> 00:01:24.769
Yeah, so just to clarify, these are not drivers technically
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directly employed by DTC. These are drivers who are employed
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by private operators who get contracts from DTC to operate
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00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.560
buses on specific routes.
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00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.859
That's the Indian Express's Devansh Mittal, who reported on the
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issue for the paper.
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So they can't be said to be technically employees of
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the Delhi Transport Corporation.
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But yeah, they are the people who are driving those buses.
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Meanwhile, the Transport Minister has said that private concessionaires managing
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00:01:56.739 --> 00:02:01.120
DTC electric buses have been directed to resolve the issues immediately.
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00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:04.840
But the union says no government representative has reached out
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00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:07.569
to them so far. So what are Delhi bus drivers
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00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:11.349
and conductors demanding and how is this affecting commuters across
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00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:15.110
the capital? To answer these questions, my colleague Ichha Sharma
34
00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:16.490
is joined by Devansh.
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Devansh, we know that the immediate demand, of course, is
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00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:25.810
better compensation. But you highlight how the dispute encompasses much more.
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So talk about why more than 10,000 DTC bus drivers
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have gone on strike. Like, what are they asking for?
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Yeah, so they've gone on strike demanding a couple of things.
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One is so currently they are earning rupees 862 every
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00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:47.340
day that they work, which turns out to somewhere between 21-22,000
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a month for working six days a week. And out
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of it, some provident fund is also cut. So basically
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00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:00.979
they earn on average around 20,000 rupees a month. So
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they are asking that this be increased from 862 per
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day to 2000 per day. So what they're saying is
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that they're supposed to get a basic increment, which is
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like an increase in their salary every five years. And
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the last increment happened in 2019. So the next one
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was supposed to happen in 2024, which has not happened.
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And what the union also tells me is that their
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dearness allowance, which is supposed to go up every six months,
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has not happened in the last 18 months since this.
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Government took over. So that increase has also not happened.
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A combination of these factors and the already existing low
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wage floor means that they're asking for an increased wage.
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That is the central pillar of their demands in this strike.
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Other things that they're asking for is medical insurance, some
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guarantee of a job in case a driver dies due
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to an unfortunate accident, some annual bonuses and better working
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conditions in general. They're also asking that they get paid
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extra to work on government holidays.
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Devansh, as you mentioned earlier, that their employment arrangement is
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slightly more confusing. So, if the Delhi government contracts a
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private company to operate a public bus, who is ultimately
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responsible for the worker?
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See, that's a tricky question.
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So what the union, the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union says
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is that although it's technically up to the private companies,
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which are, you know, managing and operating these buses on
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specific routes. And even the government has repeatedly said this,
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that these drivers are not our employees. And we have
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told those private operators to talk to drivers and listen
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to their demands. But the union says that any one
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operator won't do it individually. It will have like if
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the government directs those private companies is the only situation
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which this increase is going to happen. So technically, it
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is the private operators who can increase the salary of
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these drivers. But I think it will have to be
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a conversation between the government and the private operators who
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do it together across the board. It won't be that,
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you know, like, Just one private company who's operating these
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buses can individually raise their salaries.
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And this wage hike that we are speaking about, how
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has the union come up with the 2000 rupees per
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day figure? Like, is it based on some comparable transport
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jobs or cost of living?
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I think the union has not done any specific studies
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or research based on what I've told you like their
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basic increment which is supposed to which is in hike
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in their wages every five years has not happened since 2019.
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The next one was supposed to happen in 24 which
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did not take place as well as their dearness allowance
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DA which is supposed to go up every six months
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that has not gone up for the last 18 months
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so three times. So combined with these two things and
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what drivers tell me is that, you know, Delhi is
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getting more and more congested day by day and driving
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these really massive vehicles in these really, really congested roads
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is a very stressful task. And I mean, they have
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to complete their number of allocated kilometers, the number of
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rounds that they have to take on particular routes, etc.
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So what they tell me is that these are really.
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Stressful jobs, which really deserve salaries, which are above sort
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of what they say are minimum wage salaries of, you know,
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daily wage laborers. They say that you need to be
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really skilled at these jobs. And these are basically very
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stressful jobs.
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Right.
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And during your reportage, when you spoke to a few drivers,
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they mentioned how they have to do gig work on
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the journey home to kind of supplement their income. So
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on ground, how are their living conditions?
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Yeah, so this was one driver that I had met
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at the GT Karnal DTC depot in northwest Delhi, who
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told me that, you know, like after he gets done
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with his day job, which is as a DTC bus driver,
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while going back home to Sonipat, he also... picks up
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00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.350
customers through rapido and you know earns maybe 100 200
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250 rupees extra on the site to just to support
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his household expenditure now i mean i don't know how
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many dtc drivers do this sort of gig work on
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the site but from a large number of them and
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who i've talked to one big issue that all of
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them face is that many of them come from delhi's
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neighboring districts in Haryana, Sonipat, Rohtak, Jajjar and commuting itself
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takes a significant chunk out of their salary because even
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though they're DTC bus drivers they don't get free bus
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rides and they either come by the metro which is
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itself expensive or they come on their own private two-wheelers
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which takes like 100 to 200 rupees of petrol every
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day commuting these really really long distances a lot of
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them tell me that this 20 000 that they're earning
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plus you know maybe some incentives that some of them
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earn here and there by completing all their stops and
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completing their route perfectly so this 20 25 000 salary
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in a world where things are so expensive It's not
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really able to afford them the kind of life that
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they want. So some of them supplemented with gig work.
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Some of them have taken loans, which they now have
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to repay by taking more informal loans from families and friends.
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And Devansh, even in a city with one of India's
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largest metro networks, how integral and indispensable are DTC buses
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in the capital's public transport ecosystem?
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So basically DTC has around 6,840 buses. So the earlier DIMTs,
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the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System to operate the cluster
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buses was also sort of taken over by DTC sometime
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earlier this year. So DTC now basically operates all close
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to 7,000 buses in Delhi. And DTC has an average
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daily ridership of around 40 lakh people. Now in recent
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years this is the largest such strike which has been
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carried out by DTC drivers and even for the last
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one week I have personally seen passengers who didn't know
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there was a strike going on standing at bus stops
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for the last couple of hours waiting for their bus
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because You have to understand that metro is really expensive
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compared to DTC, especially for women for whom DTC is
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completely free. So this is a really, really significant part
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of the public transit system in Delhi. because of its cheapness,
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because of its reliability. So, you know, Metro has deployed
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additional trains to manage the additional crowds from the strike.
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And on Thursday or.
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Friday, it recorded its highest ever ridership of almost 82
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lakh people. Just for context, Metro's average ridership is around
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65 lakh people in a day. It recorded a ridership
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of 82 lakh people because of this ongoing DTC strike.
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So this DTC forms a really significant part of the
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public transit system, especially for lower income people.
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Right.
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And speaking of the negotiations, interestingly, on one side, you
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have the transport minister saying that every demand except the
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wage hike, of course, has been accepted. Conversely, the union
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says none have been met. So how do we read that?
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So basically, so if you go through the transport minister,
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Pankaj Kumar Singh's remarks, he says that all the demands
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except the wage hike have been increased and he has
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told the private companies to accept these demands. But we
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have not heard yet or the drivers have not heard
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yet from the private companies accepting those demands. And even
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if those demands about, you know, working on government holidays,
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and some kind of medical insurance, better working conditions are accepted.
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The central demand of a wage hike from rupees 862
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to maybe 2000 or somewhere in between, I think.
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That is the key demand which will stall.
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the resolution of this strike, at least for the next
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couple of days. So the union guys I'm talking to
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tell me that even till now, even till Sunday, they
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haven't heard about whether their demands have been met or not,
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and certainly not about the wage hike demand and that
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their protest slash strike will continue.
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And they weren't given that thousands of drivers and conductors
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are off duty. And we just spoke of how significant
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they are to the public transport ecosystem. What's next for
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the government to look at?
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That is anyone's guess, but from what I've been hearing
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right now, so the Delhi government did arrange some additional drivers,
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you know, people who had been promoted, they've been telling
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them to go back to drive some buses, etc. So
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over the last, maybe starting from Friday, there have been,
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I mean, some buses have been operating. But there are
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still large scale disruptions to the DTC service. Bus services
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are still patchy and they're still not operating everywhere. I mean,
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we expect more conversations to happen between the union, between
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driver representatives, between the government, between owners of these private
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companies which operate DTC buses. But we don't know right
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now what will happen and when the resolution of these
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demands and the strike will take place.
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And next, we focus on Maharashtra, where school students have
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taken up the responsibility to highlight civic infrastructure problems using
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social media. In several districts across the state, students have
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been posting videos highlighting the problems they face on their
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daily commute to school.
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You say that our children are the future of India.
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But is there no other way to educate our children?
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Does the government think that our children should be taught
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only to read?
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For many families in rural Maharashtra, getting their children to
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school means navigating pothole-ridden roads, railway tracks and muddy, difficult-to-cross paths.
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These conditions often leave parents worried about their children's safety.
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So the students, taking.
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Matters into their own hands, have started creating mock news
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reports filmed on mobile phones and videos making direct appeals
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to political leaders, hoping that their posts will push authorities
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to act.
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But have these social media posts actually led to any change?
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And what do these videos tell us about the state
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of basic civic infrastructure.
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In parts of Maharashtra?
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To understand more, we are joined by the Indian Express's
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Pallavi Smart, who reported on the story for the paper.
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So Pallavi, what prompted school children across Maharashtra to start
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using social media to highlight problems with roads and other
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civic infrastructure?
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So there is no particular answer to what exactly prompted
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these children, but it is certain that this is a
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generation of children that is increasingly comfortable questioning authority and
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documenting problems and demanding solutions.
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And they know how to use the tools such as
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social media, which is at their disposal in order to
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get heard.
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By the authorities.
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We can't accurately say where it originated. But the video
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of three girls performing a mock ground report while holding
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umbrella as a boom mic, which went viral in July, became.
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Like a talking point.
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And then we could see many such videos coming up
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from different parts of Maharashtra, where school students in their
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uniforms are complaining about local civic and infrastructure issues on
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social media.
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Right.
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And talking about the case that you mentioned about the
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three girls, They were from Khanpe village in Raigarh district.
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So tell us about that post and have the authorities
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taken any action after the video was circulated?
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That video featured three girls who are class 10 students
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in a school in Khanpe village in.
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Raigarh district of Maharashtra.
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It was merely a fun activity for them to do
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that mock news report just because one of their friends
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was carrying her mother's mobile phone on that particular day.
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And they realized the impact of their video only after
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3-4 days when it went viral and also prompted repair work.
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The girls told the Indian Express that they were talking
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about the potholes on the road while walking. And that
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gave them an idea to do a ground report on
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the poor conditions of the road. That is based on
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similar kind of mock interviews that they have done.
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In their schools for extracurricular activities.
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This is particularly among those videos where significant action is
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taken where the local MLA ordered immediate repair work of
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the road and the authorities have also assured complete reconstruction
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of the road post-monsoon.
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Okay, so in this case, we did see authorities actually
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responding to the video and taking action. But what about
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the other places? Like we saw children from Bahirwadi make
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a mock news report about their difficult journey to school.
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So tell us about the problems they are dealing with
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and has the viral video led to any concrete action?
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Unlike to the Kanpe village, they haven't had any resolution
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to their issue as yet. Basically, these children from Gohirewadi hamlet,
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it's in Trambakeshwar, taluka of Maharashtra's Nashik district. They have
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to go to Pegalwadi village to attend school. Taking the
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regular road would take them hours to reach Pegalwadi and since.
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That is a highway, parents are reluctant to let their
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children walk along it.
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The alternative for them is a shorter trail connecting Goherewadi
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hamlet to Pegalwadi village which is not a proper road
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as it is a trail connecting Goherewadi to Pegalwadi through
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farm fields in the village. It is extremely slippery, muddy
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and waterlogged especially during monsoon and all this is because
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an alternative road connecting the hamlet to the village remains
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stuck with no agency taking the initiative to construct it.
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Their viral video definitely brought some prominent opposition leaders, political
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personalities to visit that hamlet.
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But the children are.
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Still waiting for a resolution for their daily hardship.
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And Pallavi, can you tell us about Vadiv, which is
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an island in the Palghar district and it doesn't have
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a permanent road or a bridge connecting it to the mainland?
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So people there have been forced to walk along railway
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tracks to get to school or the market, which is
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another thing that children from the place have highlighted. Tell
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us how long has this been the case?
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In Palghar, that is not particularly, you know, children's issue
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because it's an issue for all residents of Vardhiv, which
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is an island in Palghar. It does not have a
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permanent all-weather road bridge connecting it to the mainland. As
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a result, all Vardhiv residents, including the children, use pathways
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along railway bridges and the tracks, whether to travel to work,
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to go to markets or to reach school. The situation
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has been like this for decades. Adult residents have noted
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that they have been pressing on that demand for road
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for many years. But now they have a proposal on
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paper to construct 700-meter permanent bridge between Wadhiv and Vaithi.
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But it is now pending for administrative approval. Right, and
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now coming to Satara, the report notes that Mansi Mane's
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videos have previously resulted in repairs. So, tell us more
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about that and why has the road to her college
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remained unresolved despite the repeated attention? The attention has led
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to repair works at isolated spots but it is important
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to note that it is a roughly 8 km route
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from Musford which has multiple stretches which are damaged with
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potholes and other issues also. It has been in poor
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condition for 10-15 years. There is an official proposal for
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repairs now and work will begin once the proposal is approved.
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And across these cases, how much difference has social media
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visibility actually made in getting authorities to respond to civic problems?
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Niharika, although we have managed to cover four such instances
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in the recent past, multiple such videos have emerged from
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different parts of Maharashtra and in many cases, issues have
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been resolved. While Kanpe girls managed to get their road
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repaired with an assurance of reconstruction of the road after monsoon,
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in Palghar, a proposal is now ready to construct a
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permanent bridge. Among multiple similar videos from across Maharashtra, many
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have resolution to the issue in sight now. Whereas in
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other cases, even if it is not completely resolved, at
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least the issue has come under the spotlight with authorities
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forced to take cognizance of it at least, especially after
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school children appealing on camera.
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And Pallavi, what do these stories tell us about the
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larger state of basic infrastructure and access to schools in
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parts of rural Maharashtra?
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These stories have once again highlighted the poor condition of
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public education, particularly in rural.
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Parts of Maharashtra.
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We need to understand when the issue at hand currently
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is As basic as how to reach the school, the
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condition of the school, the teaching quality and other matters
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become secondary.
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Parents in rural areas are willing to send their children
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to schools.
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But with issues like this, many have noted how safety
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of their children is more important to them than education.
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This can easily result into children dropping out of schools.
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And in the end, we talk about top bureaucrats including
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Election Commissioner Dr.
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S.S.
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Sandhu and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta being issued notices
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for discrepancy and to prove their eligibility during the special
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intensive revision of electoral rolls. The Indian Express's Hari Kishan
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Sharma reported that among the top bureaucrats against whom SIR
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notices have been issued for discrepancies and no mapping are
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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kantapande, Principal Scientific
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Advisor to PM Ajay Kumar Sood, Health Secretary Punya Salela,
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Fishery Secretary Abhilaksh Likhi and his wife, Department of Ex-Servicemen's
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Welfare Secretary Sukriti Likhi, Fertiliser Secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra and
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Land Resources Secretary Narendra Bhushan. They are among the people
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who remained unmapped with the last SIR. In all, 593
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people have received notices at the New Delhi Moti Bagh
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polling booth under the Delhi-Kant Assembly constituency. And along with bureaucrats,
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Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Chief Minister Arvind K. Trival,
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New Delhi MP Masudi Swaraj and former Delhi BJP Chief
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Virendra Kumar Sachdeva were among the 33 lakh electors in
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the capital who have been named amid the SIR for
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the issuance of notices to prove their eligibility. The bureaucrats
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against whom SIR notices are being issued for name mismatches
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include Expenditure Secretary Vumlanmang Volnam and Comptroller and Auditor General K.
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Sanjay Murthy, has received a notice for parent name mismatch.
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The Indian Express's Devan Schmittal reported that notices will be
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issued and disposed of between August 31 and October 29.
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The final electoral roll will be published on November 4.
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Delhi had 1.45 crore electors before the SIR began. Names
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of 97.5 lakh electors made the draft roll published on
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31 August. For those born in India before July 1, 1987,
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the Election Commission requires a document proving date and or
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place of birth. For those born between July 1, 1987
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and December 2, 2004, the Election Commission requires a document
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for the elector and one parent. And for those born
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after December 2, 2004, the Election Commission requires documents for
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the elector and both parents. The categories follow the requirements
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under the Citizenship Act, 1955. You were listening to Three
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Things by the Indian Express. Today's episode was edited and
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00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:53.279
mixed by Suresh Pawar and produced by Ichha Sharma and me,
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00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.339
Niharika Nanda. If you like the show, then do subscribe
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00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.170
to us wherever you get your podcasts. You can also
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recommend the show to someone you think will like it.
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Share it with a friend or someone in your family.
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It's the best way for people to get to know
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and write to us at podcasts at indianexpress.com.
