BMTC Training - Women Safety

 

December 2017 - Delhi Journal

Better Bommanahalli

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Indira Namana

19th Nov 2017 marks the Birth Centenary of Iron Lady, Former Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Smt Indira Gandhi. 

Being one of the most Respected World Leader and an Inspiration to many women Smt Indira Gandhi stood for Secular Ideas and Unity of the Nation. 

Every Indian should celebrate the achievements if Smt Indira Gandhi who stood undeterred and faced every adversity with great dignity and spirit.

Smt Indira Gandhi lead India’s numerable achievements such as:

-Green Revolution to make India self-sufficient in food grains

-Liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan

-Nationalisation of banks, gave access of banks for all

-Abolishing privy purses of princely states

-India’s first Nuclear Test

-Space program, putting India in the world space map

-20-point programme to fight against poverty

-India’s First Environment Protection Act, to save Environment

On the occasion, 100 candles were lit and books on Smt Indira Gandhi was given out as a mark of respect to one of the Greatest Leader and the most Admired Women Leader in the World. 

Rangoli Competition

 

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12th Nov 2017 HSR Layout witnessed a grand Rangoli Competition, organised by HaSiRu Mithra at BBMP Grounds 19th Main. The Objective of the program was to given an opportunity to women who are creative and to display a common form of art in a unique way. Over 20 teams participated in the competition, the winners took away Rs750, Rs500, Rs250 for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place respectively. 

'HaSiRu Mithra has been working on several Civic issues including Waste Management, Lake Revival, Infra issue, Roads, Women Safety etc and Rangoli Competition is an effort to celebrate creativity and involve more and more women in different activities' said Lalithamba, one of the organizer. 

Kavitha Reddy said, 'We want more and more events for women, so that we see more women in public spaces and it's an ideal way to work towards making public spaces safe for women'.

One Million New Votes Campaign

OMNV - One Million New Votes Campaign is a B.PAC initiative to make elections a truly Democratic process by giving every Bengalurean a voice. Voting is the best way to build a Better Bengaluru, and since the Assembly Election are scheduled in 2018 ensuring every eligible citizen, is a registered voter is important.

Unfortunately, in the past a large number of the educated citizens have opted out of casting their vote, probably because they think that voting is an exercise in futility, reflecting in poor voter turnout. We want to impress upon the educated citizens that their votes do count. In Bengaluru City, educated citizens form a large section of voter and B.PAC is aiming to create an awareness and guide the citizens to register as voter through OMNV Campaign.   

We will run the OMNV Campaign in your Apartment Complex and Localities with sole objective to enroll new voters through a group of eager and committed B.PAC Civic Leaders & Volunteers.

We will be issuing Appreciation Certificate to the Apartment Management Committee & RWAs for the commitment to 100% registrations in their Apartment Complexes and Localities for supporting the OMMV Campaign towards strengthening Democracy.

Citizens can register to be both online ( http://voterreg.kar.nic.in/ ) and offline, and submit with the documents to BBMP via B.PAC Civic Hub Offices before 20th Nov 2017.

What do you need: Filled Application + 2 Photos + ID Proof + Address Proof + DoB Proof.

New Voter or Change from one Constituency to another = Form 6
Change of Address in same Constituency = Form 8A
Error Correction = Form 8

B.PAC- Civic Hub Office 

#227, 31^st Main, 7^th Cross, Sector 1, HSR Layout, Bengaluru – 560102

Kavitha Reddy: +91 9342016482 or Lalithamba: +91 9448063776

National Students Day

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Chinnara Ganitha - Making Math Easy

For over few months Kavitha Reddy, Trustee Kaagaz Foundation in association with B.PAC & Biocon Foundation has been distributing Math Workbooks for Govt School Children across Bommanahalli Constituency for the 2^nd year in running. With an objective of popularizing and making Math learning easy Chinnara Ganitha workbooks are designed for children from 1-7^th standard children.

Kaagaz Foundation has been working on Environmental Campaigns, Child & Women Safety Campaigns, Education and Health Camps. This year Child & Women Safety awareness programs has been conducted in Schools and Colleges, and additionally over 3000+ Chinnara Ganitha have been distributed to the Govt School Children. There has been a very positive feedback about Chinnara Ganitha and this has encouraged extending the distribution of these workbooks to Govt School across Bengaluru.

Kavitha Reddy said, 'We want Govt School Children to have access to more books and learning tools, thereby making learning easy and effective. Children coming from less privileged background need quality education and our objective is to make it possible by various learning interventions'. 

Final Journey on My Shoulder!

People who have known me for many years know that I am seldom emotional in public, I take even the most difficult situation with less tension or worry and fully trust Destiny! 

For few months, I was worried about my father, something was bothering me all the time, I tried to get him to make peace with people who had hurt him beyond reconciliation, being the most stubborn man, I had little success here and there I felt he will not carry any bitter memories, because he had a lot of good, happy and cheerful memories that could erase his past wounds. 

True Communist at heart he lead his life on his own terms, never was attached to wealth or fame, true to Communist Ideology he spoke his mind and cared for the poor and people who needed help. 

He was no ordinary man, one of the best Volleyball player of his time, whose picture was on a full page of the sports edition whenever he played a tournament. Sacrificed his and his family comfort to educate as many as he could and also ensured no one left our home hungry! Made financial sacrifices for both his and my mom side of the family without any expectations whatsoever. When people were busy making money and getting rich he and my mom choose to educate others children, give food and shelter to anyone who came to my house and made sacrifices without thinking twice. 

He sounded rude to many, but that was he, never apologetic and the candidness that could sometime put one in a spot! Disciplined, Health freak, who could put Ramdev Baba to shame when it comes to Yoga, me and my brother grew up watching his perfect Shirshasana! 

He was never hospitalized (except for 3 days when he had to undergo a minor treatment) in his life! Fit, healthy, no medical condition and walked 4-6 kms every day even at 76 years and went everywhere by walk refusing to even take a drop in car or bike! 

22nd Sept 2017 9.00pm I rushed home after my mom's call only to see him still, few neighbors helped me to take him to the hospital and declared brought dead! I could not make a call to my brother all I did was to send a message at 9.31pm saying 'He is no more', and my brother rushed from Hyderabad with his wife and kid. 

Holding back my emotions and largely keeping calm in the face of tragedy........I gave my shoulder to take him through his last journey, he never differentiated me because of my gender, he was proud of me for what I stood for, he never praise me in my presence but everyone with whom he interacted with knew he was too proud of me. 

Giving my shoulder to carry my father was indeed my way of thanking him and also my mom for treating me equal, and making me strong enough to carry the most heavy responsibility with dignity and pride! 

My mom pulled the biggest surprise when she declared that we have to donate his eyes and also cremate him and not bury him, eye donation was ruled out as he did not have good eyesight and doctor did not recommend, but she held her nerve to re-define our practice yet again, saying that he never craved for any materialistic things and cremation is what he would have wanted. 

The man who did the funeral arrangements and drove my father's body to the crematorium was a Muslim, what more can be a fitting tribute to a man who disliked the politics of religious hate that is going on in India, till his last breathe he spoke against religious fanatics and was one of the biggest Modi critic!

In his death my father broke the tradition, showed all religions are equal with a Muslim being part of his last journey and a daughter who gave her shoulder in his last journey....just the way he wanted!

RIP....his life revolved around Water and he joined River Kaveri at the end of his journey! 

#KavithaReddyForBommanahalli

Ganesha Festival Weekend - Aug 2017

Politics in India is not easy, more so if you seek change and worst if you are a woman! Very few dare to break the barrier and stay firm in the heat and dust of Indian Politics. As the Women Reservation Bills gathers dust, women Leaders who dare to make a difference are fighting to be counted and working 10 times harder for every opportunity than their male counterparts. Competency, Skills, Talent, Work all takes a back seat when it comes to women and they are seen as someone who lack money power. 

But the fight to be go on, the fight to make a mark, the fight to enter Assembly or Parliament should go on undeterred! A B.PAC study that was conducted recently showed that women how have taken to politics are much more active compared to the male counterparts, numbers many be less but ability to work was more stronger than men. 

I met Shri Rajeev Gowda RS MP along with the B.PAC team to hand over the famous Misogyny Speech Apron, that was sent by the Australian Women Elected Representatives as promised during an event in Bengaluru. We also got to talk about women in politics and how there is a need to bring in more women into the mainstream.

I used the occasion to share my detailed profile, as I aspire to contest from Bommanahalli Assembly Constituency on a Congress ticket. He shared insights and was impressed with the work I have done, and about the active digital engagement I am already active in.  

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On 26th Aug 2017, I also participated in a unique Ganesha Festival event which along with all the festivities focused in cultural activities by Children, Painting competition on locality issues, Eco-friendly theme and also raising awareness about the issues that are impacting the lives of the residents. My team also used the occasion to do a voter registration drive. 

I was happy to join Shri Kupendra Reddy RS MP, Shri Ugrappa MLA and Shri Vasudev Reddy T Ward President to show our solidarity for the cause and for the people. 

Later in the day also attended a meeting at KCDC regarding serious Environment, Health and Social problems which the citizens are suffering due to the badly managed KCDC unit. 

Women Safety Workshop

                  Women Safety Workshop for 200+ Female Students of Govt Degree College, HSR Layout

Incidents of crime against women have been on a rise in India for last few years. More and more women are joining the urban workforce and safety of women continues to be a critical area of concern, in spite of many laws laid down by the Government.

In key economic hubs like Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, there has been a steady increase in the number of cases of harassment and molestation being reported. However, the conviction rates are poor because of the poor judicial system, lack of awareness, faulty methods of collecting forensic evidence and limited use of modern technology.

Most cases of sexual harassment at home, work or public places are often not reported due to cultural inhibitions in many parts of the country; where the stigma is attached to the victim/survivor rather than the perpetrator of the crime, who often gets away.

Sadly an increase in brutal crimes against women across the country (both rural and urban) is going to have a huge impact on women playing a major role in the economy if the country. One can debate and nuance the cause of increasing crime against women, but mobility and freedom are indeed a key factors that determines the level of participation of women in the economy, politics and social structure. The fear is that the increase of violence against women will deter participation of women in all fields and will end up pushing India 15-20 years backwards.

Yes there is a lot that the Governments have to do to create a safe environment for everyone irrespective of gender. Our society should indeed take more responsibility in not just condemning the crimes against women but also grooming the boys in their homes to respect women and treat them as equals, and more importantly as humans.

Is that enough? No, women need to start taking control, unless they become confident about themselves and be prepared at all times, they will end up being curtailed with restrictions and fears. 

At Kaagaz Foundation, we have been propagating the concepts of women's safety which increases awareness to deal with any unsafe situations, also also teach women how to protect themselves against a physical attack using commonsense and basic self-defence techniques. 

Kaagaz Foundation in association with B.PAC #BSafe programs has been organizing Women Safety Workshops in Schools and Colleges collaborating with organizations like Parihar, Durga, Enfold etc. 

Nanna Olage Indira, a women safety handbook is a step towards making the environment safe for women, to empower women so that they can continue to contribute towards India's progress was also distributed free of cost to the participants of the workshop. 

- Kavitha Reddy
Trustee Kaagaz Foundation

5th Edition of HSR 10K Freedom Run

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The 5^th Edition of the HSR 10K Freedom Run organised by Kaagaz Foundation that was to be held on 15^th Aug 2017 was postponed due to heavy rains and was held on 20^th Aug 2017.

This year the Run had two important objectives, awareness & campaign for Greener and Safer Bengaluru. Kaagaz Foundation firmly believes that greater citizen participation will force necessary attention on the set objectives, and would result in getting the relevant authorities to take affirmative action for a Better Bengaluru.

Kavitha Reddy, Trustee Kaagaz Foundation said 'HSR 10K Freedom Run is dedicated to campaign for a cause, the 1st Edition was to Save Agara Lake and since then we have taken up two causes each year and have worked for the cause to make a positive impact. This year the cause is Greener and Safer Bengaluru, along with our various Environmental initiatives we will be doing Safety workshops for Children & Women to create awareness and work with the Govt to strengthen laws and implementation of the policies'.

On the occasion of Independence Day and the 5th Edition of HSR 10K Freedom Run by Kaagaz Foundation, five Heroes of the Neighbourhood who have shown a relentless dedication for the betterment of the locality where honoured, which include:

Shri. Anis Padela & Team of KHHSP - RWA

Hon. Right For Road Team

Shri. Anil Benni

Dr. Sunil Kumar Hebbi

Smt. Arathi Aleya

The Run was flagged off by Sunanda V Reddy, President Mythri Mahila Koota at 6.30am, due to the postponed date only 300+ of the 600+ Runners made it to the start point. The Run also had Runners from African Nation for the 1^st time.

10K Women’s Winners with Time

1st Place - Neera Katwal 45:36.675

2nd Place - Parul Yadav 51:09.611

3rd Place - Vandana Arora 52:16.110

10K Men’s Winners with Time

1st Place - Michael Biwott 32:35.445

2nd Place - Santosh Shet 36:49.747

3rd Place - Deepu T M 39:03.115

The event was extremely environment friendly, coffee/tea was served in the mud cups to reduce waste, in all the editions water was served in re-usable cups keeping in mind the environmental aspect.

Jigna Modh, Trustee Kaagaz Foundation said, 'We have been doing many Runs to create awareness on various issues, HSR 10K Freedom Run is our prime event, and have always ensured that all our events are Eco-friendly, we do not mind spending more to keep all our events  Eco-friendly'. 

The Run time and e-Certificates were shared to the Finishers right after the event. The Runners you could not make it have an option to run in the next race that is scheduled on 1^st Nov 2017!