Speakers Corner 3rd Session

The third Speakers' Corner was held on 30 th November, 2007 in Samsung India Software Operation. It was the first time that the Speaker's Corner was held in company and was very well received.

It was held in an area next to their cafeteria and the ambiance was casual. Slowly people started flowing into the session. Many of them who were on a coffee break plugged in and got involved! Within some time, almost hundred people were keenly involved in listening to others and expressing themselves.

The session was kicked off by Shruti who is the coordinator of the Yuva Janaagraha programme at Janaagraha. She started the session by giving them a brief introduction about the origin of the concept of Speakers' Corner. The session was then taken over by Sultan who was the moderator and oversaw the proceedings.

The audience was a mixed bunch. People were from different parts of the country and that kicked off the topic of “who is a banglorean?” Employees were eager to grab the mike and have their say, so much so that some of them refused to let go of the mike. As the session picked up momentum, people got immersed in the discussions and expressed their views. A plethora of topics were raised and discussed. Some of the interesting viewpoints are given below.

The Topics

• Auto drivers refuse to take passengers to their destinations.
• Auto meters seem to be incorrect and when the passenger threatens to call the police the auto driver then asks the passenger to pay a lesser amount and promises to get the his meter checked
• The condition of the roads across India are in a pathetic state and something needs to be done immediately about it.
• Development in Bangalore is happening very quickly with the new airport almost completed. But there is no connectivity to the airport. So how are so many people supposed to get there?
• There are so many unnecessary bumps and potholes on the roads which lead to congestion of traffic.
• When it rains in Bangalore no one can go anywhere on time because the drainage system is in a very bad shape due to which the streets become clogged and inaccessible.
• The public transport is very bad as everything is written in Kannada. And since Bangalore is a metropolitan city not everyone can read Kannada which is why not many travel by public transport.
• There are more and more people coming in to the urban areas from the rural areas and also people have been pouring in to the city due to the IT revolution but there is not enough space to accommodate all of them in the city, as a lot of unplanned growth has happened in a very short span of time.
• Bangalore was ‘The City of Lakes' and is now called ‘The Garden City' but it doesn't seem to be living up to any of them. The lakes are being drained out to make way for tennis courts and the trees are being cut down to make way for larger roads. There is also a depletion of ground water.
• No one in the city has a sense of belonging anymore. Everyone has a “Chalta Hai” attitude now which is why no one cares for what is happening to the city anymore.
• No one listens to the grievances of the citizens. So where are people supposed to lodge their complaints?
• There is a lot of corruption in the city, starting from police officials to the government offices. Anyone can get anything done for a small amount of money.
• Bangalore carries a very good image in the rest of the country as the Silicon City but doesn't live up to its image.
• The political scenario is also in a mess with no stable government in power and the politicians fighting among themselves.
• The citizens of Bangalore are paying a very high tax level but aren't seeing the money being put to any good use and aren't even seeing any development.
• The unorganised sector such as the maids, auto drivers etc. don't have any kind of security. The government should look after them as well.

Solutions Discussed

• Satellite Towns should be built near Bangalore because the city is already too full and can't take any more people.
• The city should be run like a company and should have a CEO who is the head.

The overall outcome of the session was very well received by the people. They were very passionate as well as enthusiastic to discuss the different problems that concerned the city. From language barriers to voters list, everyone had a view. The feeling of excitement and interest was palpable. Many of them expressed that these sessions should be held more often.

All in all, this Speakers' Corner achieved what it had set out to. It got a group of people to discuss and debate issues, to look at their city and their city's problems and also acknowledge that it we who make this city. All of them agreed that they need to start taking ownership of issues as citizens instead of whining about the problems.

Conclusion:

We wrapped up by taking feedback from the audience.

Please write in with your view, comments and suggestions at shruti@janaagraha.org or leave a comment below! Your feedback will help us deliver better.

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