VOL. 13 ISSUE 6 Monday, March 17, 2014

PAGE 6PAGE 4 & 5

Election special: Did Aam Aadmi Party’s rallying call fall on deaf ears?

Health special: An Observer check-up on the city’s deteriorating health

D A I L Y

In a clear violation of existing animal welfare rules, businessmen in one of the city’s largest markets continue to keep a large number of animals under extremely unhygienic and unhealthy conditions.

Russell Market, which is located near the Shivajinagar Bus Station, one of Bangalore’s most populated areas, is the location of a flourishing and extremely profitable trade in animals which are il-legally housed by the dozens in small, airless cages and later sold as pets on exorbitant prices.

In recent times, apart from being the focus of much media attention and scrutiny following the outbreak of a fire that engulfed many shops in the area, the market has also been under the scanner for its conspicuous and illegal activities regarding the animal trade.

Media reports dating back to 2011 have focused attention on the manner in which authorities turn a blind eye to this blatant disregard of animal welfare laws.

Kiran Sikander Rudra, General Man-ager, People for Animals, Bangalore says, “These dealers in Russell Market

are breaking every single rule in the book. The manner in which these ani-mals are being kept and treated is abso-lutely shameful. “

One of the major attractions and sources of income in the area are the ‘Wet Shops’- which sell many varieties of fish, many of which are kept in shod-dily constructed aquariums within the confines of the market.

According to Rudra, these Wet Shops are the planned end-points for a major fish smuggling ring which begins trac-ing its operations through Singapore, Chennai and Bangalore.

The fish which are smuggled in this

manner and sold for high prices are re-ferred to as ‘parrot fish’.

Rudra adds that the reason why these fish attract so much attention and such high prices is because of the fact that their natural coats are chemically stripped off and then replaced with ar-tificial colours.

“In order to increase their popular-ity and saleability in Indian markets, these fish are often tattooed with Om signs. This is a total contravention of the law.”

Syed, the owner of a shop and aquar-ium called ‘Zooland’ confirms that these fish are indeed sold in the city by

his establishment as well as others in the Russell Market.

“I used to sell the tattooed parrot fish. The process of tattooing these fish is carried out in Singapore. From there they are brought to Chennai and then they finally come to us. At present I don’t have any of them. The main prob-lem with these fish is that the artificial colours soon wear off. However, when they are brought to the city I will be the first to know. Mine is the largest in the wet shop business here”, says Syed.

Each of these fish are sold for Rs 1,200, he adds.(continued on page 3)

Rare fish and pedigree dogs sold at marketBhaskar Dutta

A demonstration held by a city film workers’ union, protesting against the formation of a new union, turned violent after police intervention.

According to policemen present at the scene, the conflict occurred after hundreds of members of the Karnataka Film Workers Union (KFWU) protest-ed against the proposed formation of a new labor union by former Dance Di-rectors Association President, Rajesh Brahmavar. (continued on page 3)

Film workers’ union protest turns violent after policemen lathicharge unruly crowd

Motorcycles vandalized during the lathicharge by policemen in Gandhi Nagar Policemen charging a group of protestors in Gandhi Nagar with their lathis to bring the situation under control

anannya sarkar & Bhaskar Dutta

The Daily

Observer 2 Monday, March 17, 2014

“You go to any government organization wearing the AAP cap and officials will co-oper-ate with you out of fear, such is the power of AAP.”

Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Admi Party leader and ex-Chief Minister of Delhi, was in Ban-galore for two days to address AAP supporters. On his visit, he conducted rallies on the 15th and 16th of March in several parts of the city.

On 16th March at 4 pm in Freedom Park, numerous people came to support the AAP and to join Kejriwal in his fight against corruption. He addressed the public that after stepping down from the CM post he visited Haryana, Od-isha, Uttar Pradesh and Karna-taka and found that people are not happy with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress rule.

K e j r i w a l said: “I would like to contest against Nar-endra Modi, if the people of Varanasi want me to do so.” This will be decided in the next rally at Va r a -n a s i o n

23rd March.”

Manjunath, 32, a worker at an electronic service centre, specially designed a cap for Ke-jriwal with a light and battery, which was noticed and praised by the former CM. Kejriwal asked the members of his party to make more caps of that pat-tern and distribute them.

Manjunath said: “I have not voted once in my life since fourteen years because I did not want to waste my vote for the corrupt leaders but now I will vote for AAP as Arvind Kejri-wal is fighting against corrup-tion and I know he is a clean politician. He has inspired me that he will save our country.”

He added: “Till now the party has formed a majority and I am sure AAP will get 60-70% vote.

“The maximum spending l i m i t

for each candidate for a constituency, as set by the Election Com-mission, is rs 70 lakhs but only rs 20 lakhs have been used by AAP candidates because we are spending from our own pocket. To eradi-cate corruption and to get something better we are willingly spending from our pocket,” N. Sachidanda, 79, retired senior accountant ITI and an AAP member, said.

Mr. Raghavendra, 36, an active member of North Bangalore con-stituency of AAP, said: “If you go to any gov-ernment organization wearing the AAP cap or badge or as an active member of AAP, the government officials will co-operate with you

out of fear, such is the p ow- e r

of AAP. It is just

after a few days that

people have start-ed realizing the

power of the com-mon man and if AAP governs the country then the name cor-

ruption will be erased from the country’s surface.”

Though there was a crowd of about 2000, not many female supporters were present at the rallies.

“There are women support-ers but they have their choice of whether to come out of home or not but we know that women are supporting AAP,” Raghav-endra added.

On Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s comment that ‘he (Kejriwal) is a kid, inexperienced activist

turned politician,’ Raghaven-dra said, “Running a country is like running a home. One has to take care of each member’s wishes to run the family happily and peacefully and this is what Kejriwal is doing, which no oth-er politicians have ever done in this country.”

When interacted with some other supporters of the party, Ravindra C.S. from Banasvadi, said: “We are not making false promises to the public; for the

past six months we are visiting people by our door to door cam-paign to know their problems and helping them in sorting out. We believe in the power of com-mon man, so we are standing together to kick out corruption. All educated people, uneducat-ed people, youngsters and older people are supporting us and in our fight against corruption.”

AAP supporters were seen brooming the ashes away after the fire crackers was burnt.

Nibedita MohaNta

Kejriwal likely to contest against Modi

aNaNd JaiN

None of the above: a good idea

AAP supporters gathered in freedom park to support Kejriwal

Elections this year will be differ-ent from what India has seen so far, and a major change brought into the electoral process is the much debated “None of The Above (NOTA) option.”

The Daily Observer took a peek into what Bangaloreans feel about the change in system, which is being followed in 13 countries, including France, Ukraine, Spain and Bangladesh.

NOTA will be the last option on a ballot machine. Introduced first for state Assembly elections last year, this option will allow voters to ignore all candidates. It will not, however, impact electoral decisions. The candidate with maximum votes in a constitu-ency will be declared winner.

The Chief Justice of India, P. Sathsivam, said: “Democracy is all about choices and voters will be empowered by this right of negative voting.”

In its interviews with a range of Bangaloreans from auto drivers to school teachers to rich busi-nessmen, TDO found that only 2 of 25 people had an idea about NOTA.

While a majority of them seemed unaware about NOTA, others did not understand the idea.

Krishna Reddy, a security guard, said: “I’m uneducated, I don’t understand all this. Even if I do, can I say no?”

Maqbool Ahmed, a business-man, said: “I will definitely vote for Congress. I don’t care about such an option.”

Nagraj, 57, continued the tone: “I want Modi to be PM. So I’ll vote. And vote for BJP.”

There were contrasting views among people who did under-stand this option.

Chandru, a bus conductor said: “This will tell us how many people are not happy with the Indian de-mocracy. It’s a good thing. Only if we know if there is a problem, we can think of solutions.”

On the other hand, Dhanraj Jain, a businessman, said: “There is so much value for my vote. I can’t waste it.”

He added: “All candidates can-not be donkeys; there will be one horse at least.”

There is a possibility of increase in voters due to this option. The problem however, remains in in-forming people about the NOTA option.

“It’s a good option, but I wouldn’t know about it if you hadn’t told me. We need to pub-licize it.”

My vote is valuable. I don’t want to waste it. Not all candidates can be donkeys, there will be at least one horse. We don’t need this. - Dhanraj Jain, businessman

In this scenario, nobody is a good politician. I don’t feel like voting. So I’ll go for NOTA, if there is no AAP candidate from my constituency.- Nagaraj, auto driver

I think this is useful. But I’m still 50-50 about it.- Vinay, BMM Student

I think this can be mis-used. People can press that button by mistake. There is a possibility.- Venkatesh, Lodge owner

The Daily

Observer 3Monday, March 17 , 2014

Masood, the owner of another wet shop in Russell Market said that the fish were easily available and that he would be receiving his next consignment by the end of the month.

“I sell the tattooed parrot fish. I know they are in demand because this is the only place where you get it. I don’t have it now, but it will soon ar-

rive”, he adds. The revised

‘Pet Shop Rules’, 2010, adopted by the Animal Welfare Board of India, defines the boundar-ies of the legal framework as far as making physical altera-tions are con-cerned.

According to the rules, “ M u t i l a t i n g means subject-ing an animal to a surgery or procedure such as ear cropping, tail docking or branding, or performing a surgery or pro-cedure to cam-ouflage or hide

any defect or infirmity.”The rules also clearly state that fish will be rec-

ognized as animals. Apart from the sale of fish, the area also consists of many breeds and varieties of dogs, cats and birds.

Breeds of dogs include Golden Retrievers, Beagles, Pomeranians and Labradors.

Each of these puppies, which are stuffed half-a-dozen into cages, earn their owners a mini-mum of Rs 4000.

The Revised ‘Pet Shop Rules’ provide certain specifications as far accommodation for animals is concerned.

These state that,” The cages, enclosures, rooms, aquariums in which the animals for sale are displayed or housed shall be of adequate size and space, suitable for each animal.”

One of the dog-dealers, who refused to be named, said, “We have good breeds here. Each one of these dogs is worth the money.”

Commenting on the indif-ference of the police as far as this issue is concerned, Rudra says, “This is where the role of an NGO comes in. The people running these shops are unscru-pulous and powerful and have powerful contacts. We have been trying to shut down this racket for a long time and intend to do so soon.”

In 1990-91, a blanket ban was imposed on all bird trade in the country according to the Hindu.

Pedigree puppies at the pet shop

Caged birds being displayed for sale at Russell Market

Parrots kept on open display for sale

The Toyota Kirloskar Motor shut down two plants in Bidadi, follow-ing a conflict between the management and the workers over wages.

The management and the worker’s union had been discussing a charter of demands for the past year but they could not reach an agreement. “The management takes the decisions on their own, without listening to what we have to say. They have given an increment of Rs 3000 to the 2005-2006 batch. The shift allowance for us is Rs 50. The work-load is massive and we are not compensated properly for that,” said Sharanappa, Secretary of the Worker’s Union.

“The lockout is illegal. We want them to open the plant and full industrial settlement over financial matters,” he added.

The workers have claimed that they had not been informed of the lock-down. “They locked down

the plant yesterday. They are torturing the work-ers. The management

is lying. They claim that they shut down the plant because production has been slow but it is them who slowed it down. We are contacting the gov-ernment, the labour com-missioner and the labour minister to intervene,” Sharanappa added.

The management of the company has said that they have already given a Rs 3000 increment to the workers. “The work-ers whose educational qualification is only till the 10th standard receive Rs 16000 and with the incre-ment, they are receiving Rs 19,000. The average salary of the workers is Rs 26,000. We only have 50% manufacturing right now. We have 300 more people than we need but we are not laying them off. The workers are arm-fisting with us but we are being very reasonable,” said Pad-manapa, General Manager Human Resources, TKM.

Rare fish and pedigree dogs sold atRussell Market

Toyota places

plants on lockdown

Continued from page 1

Brahmavar, who is allegedly close to Mu-nirathna, the Congress MLA who repre-sents Rajarajeshwari Nagar, runs a dance academy located next to the Karnataka Film Workers Artists Technicians Federation in Gandhinagar.

The situation turned violent after mem-bers of the KFWU, who began their protests inside their office, began to move towards Brahmavar’s academy and started demand-ing that he come down.

At the time of the event, Brahmavar was not present in his house.

In an attempt to manage the situation, approximately fifty policemen armed with sticks began to lathicharge the protesting workers who were squatting on the road adjacent to Brahmavar’s house.

In the ensuing melee, several workers and policemen were injured and a few mo-torcycles vandalized.

Reports state that in June 2013, the Dancers Association headed by Bhrama-var was dismissed by the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Kannada Film Producers Association.

Following this, it was declared that the Karnataka Cinema Workers Federation, headed by veteran artist Ashok, would sup-ply dancers for the regional film industry instead of Brahmavar.

Speaking exclusively to the ‘Daily Ob-server’, Vinod, a member of KFWU, said that Brahmavar’s workers were formerly a part of the KFWU. However, a year ago, these workers left the union and joined Bh-ramavar’s dance academy after he promised them better wages.

Vinod added that Brahmavar was offer-ing these workers Rs. 500 per day while the union workers were paid Rs 370 per day.

Another member of the KFWU who preferred to be unnamed said that the con-flict occurred when the members of Brah-mavar’s dance group who were formerly a part of the KFWU returned to the union.

“After these workers left his troupe, Bh-ramavar began to make preparations for the formation of a new workers union which would employ laborers from outside the state for wages as low as Rs. 200 per day”, he said.

Commenting on this, Vinod said, “If the new union begins to operate, we will all be jobless.”

Other agitating workers at the scene al-leged that Brahmavar was able to come up with the idea of an alternative low-paying workers union because he had the backing of Munirathna.

Speaking about the problems faced by the laborers of KFWU, Manjunath, a mem-ber, said, “How are we to survive? We are given low wages as it is. If Brahmavar starts paying his workers Rs 200 per day then we will be left with no means of livelihood. I have four mouths to feed. What will happen to them?”

After the police caned the protesting workers, Ashok, made an attempt to pacify the agitated crowd by addressing them at the Federation Office.

“I will make sure that you get justice. I will talk to all the people involved here”, he said.

Despite repeated attempts, Munirathna could not be contacted.

Members of the KFWU demonstrating inside the federation office

Tanisha Das

conTinueD from page 1

The Daily Observer4 Monday, March 17, 2014

“I have qualifications. Others are not qualified and

can’t read and write. I am a better alternative for the

people.”

A Software Engineer by profession and a writer by hobby, Ravikrish-

na Reddy is the chosen candidate for Aam Aadmi Party to contest

the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Bangalore rural constituency.

He is originally from Anekal and has studied in a government school

from the same area.

On lack of internet connectivity in Bangalore rural constituency and

web being AAP’s main platform for political campaigning, he said; “If

you frankly ask me, our social media campaign in Karnataka is not

very good. But I believe rural people are more aware of the political

scenario. They are more interested and are well informed about the

strategies. I am sure they know who Arvind Kejriwal is and what the

motto of AAP is.”

“Bangalore rural being one of the biggest constituency, it is very dif-

ficult to go on a door-to-door campaign. Mr. S.R. Hiremat will be

joining me for the next four weeks. We will be holding Jansabhas

and trying our best to reach the people in this constituency,” added

Reddy.

Calling the politicians who switch parties during elections as “thugs”,

he said, “There have been politicians in Karnataka who have switched

from one party to another. This makes the rural population know

about their agendas and hence they trust them less. AAP is a great

alternative for them.”

On his changing allegiance from Lok Jansatta Party, after losing in

2013 assembly election by a huge margin and coming a distant fourth,

to AAP, Reddy said, “Both the parties were engaged in talks with in-

tentions of merging but due to some technical problems this could

not be pulled together. AAP was a movement and ‘rapidly’ turned

into a party. I want to be active so I went with AAP.”

Commenting on ‘media sold to Modi’, he pointed out the Adani-

Ambani-Modi nexus where Adani and Ambani group owns many

media outlet and obliges Modi in return for favors to their com-

mercial interests and said, “Media Companies can be sold but media

person should not be sold.”

Maintaining his stand of AAP being a better alternative he said that

other parties have paid volunteers whereas the AAP volunteers work

by their own interest. “We have committed people who are fed up of

other corrupt parties and strongly believe in AAP.”

On his USP for winning the seat, he said, “I am a native of Anekal

and I have qualifications. Others are not qualified and can’t read and

write. They have criminal cases registered against them. In such situ-

ation I am a better alternative for the people.”

Ravikrishna Reddy

“Congress is a basket of rocks and eggs,” said Nina Nayak,

the Aam Aadmi Party candidate for South Bangalore

constituency.

Nayak is a child rights activist and is the former chairperson

of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child

Rights. She has been working in the field of child protection

and child development for 30 years.

On her plans to take off her election campaign in a constitu-

ency which is a stronghold of BJP with Ananth Kumar

winning the seat five times in a row, Nayak said, “We have

foot soldiers and drivers who are campaigning for the party.

We have started door to door campaigning as well.”

She added, “Anti-corruption campaign will drive them away. The Bharatiya Janata Party was involved in land

and mining scams and Congress is a basket of rocks and eggs. No one will vote for them.”

She expressed disappointed with her rival Nandan Nikelani for fighting election on a Congress ticket. “He’s a

technocrat and I respect him. I don’t know why he has joined Congress.”

Explaining her experience as a child rights activist coming handy in politics, she said: “I have worked from the

centre for child rights. I was the chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

With my experience, I can guide new policies. With AAP in the system, we can not only work for child rights,

but also for women’s rights and women empowerment. We can also remove obstacles at the cutting edge level.”

Earlier in the day, Ravi Krishna Reddy, the AAP candidate from Bangalore Rural constituency has said that he

has a better chance of winning the election because of his higher educational qualifications in comparison to

his counterparts. Commenting on this, she said, “We have to work along with the people. Education does not

matter. Empathy, compassion and experience are what matters. People have not been empowered enough. The

politicians need to work with the people.”

Commenting on ideological incoherence among the AAP members, who are from diverse backgrounds with no

experience in politics, Nayak said, “Anti-corruption is not our only objective. We want to induce accountability

in people. We are working for economic and judicial progress of the country. Our objective is to make things

better.”

On Kejriwal’s recent showdown with media, seen as a matter of concern by analysts, Nayak said that Kejriwal

has been misquoted and that the media is putting Narendra Modi on a pedestal.

Nina Nayak

“I haven’t heard of this Aam Aadmi Party at all.

I don’t know who Arvind Kejriwal is and what

his party is all about. I am aware about the other

parties like BJP and Congress and they have been

doing a decent job.”

-S. Yadav, 30, Thagachaguppe

“I know about Arvind Kejriwal and his

party and what they did in Delhi. But I still

support the Congress because they have

been doing a good job here.”

– Suresh, 42, Devagere

“I have never heard about this party.”

-Sachin, 35, Nallakhamba

Aam Aadmi doesn’t know his party

The Daily Observer 5 Monday, March 17, 2014

“There is a difference between being with people

and doing something for the people, I am here to do

something for the people.”

V. Balakrishnan, former Chief Financial Officer of Infosys, is the

latest among the many technocrats the AAP has pulled in its sphere

for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election. He will be trying his luck from

the Bangalore Central constituency.

He has no qualm about being new to politics and said, “Politics is not

a rocket science and anyone can do it, but what the country need is,

honest and educated men to bring the changes.”

He added, “My greatest strength to win this election is that I have

no legacy to depend on. And as I have come from a very successful

business background I can provide with new ideas to solve the

problems.”

Highlighting AAP as a party with difference, he said, “We are

very much confident to win the election as earlier people had no

alternatives. But now we are providing them with an alternative. The

other political parties have nothing new to offer to the public which

we have to offer.”

Apart from Jan Lokpal, party has other agendas as well, like decen-

tralization of power, Right to reject, and Right to recall.

He said, “Decentralization of power is very important for democracy

where people will have space to participate in governance. We need

people to participate in policy making and that’s why our party is

fighting for the Delhi Swaraj Bill. ”

He added that if the Delhi Swaraj Bill gets passed then similar bill

would be passed in all other states after AAP comes to the power.

To reach lower classes, Balakrishnan said, AAP will be carrying out

traditional method like door to door campaign, organizing rallies

and public meeting.

On challenge to overcome politicians of not so clean background but

easily blending with the people of the lower strata, he said, “There is

a difference between being with people and doing something for the

people, I am here to do something for the people.”

He said that when he left Infosys he had enough opportunities to

work in various social sectors. He worked for a private equity fund

and also had worked for a company called Micrograms which works

in micro-finance. But his main motive to come into the main stream

politics is the AAP’s agenda to remove corruption from India which

has been a serious problem in the scenario of Indian politics.

V. Balakrishnan

“Congress is a basket of rocks and eggs,” said Nina Nayak,

the Aam Aadmi Party candidate for South Bangalore

constituency.

Nayak is a child rights activist and is the former chairperson

of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child

Rights. She has been working in the field of child protection

and child development for 30 years.

On her plans to take off her election campaign in a constitu-

ency which is a stronghold of BJP with Ananth Kumar

winning the seat five times in a row, Nayak said, “We have

foot soldiers and drivers who are campaigning for the party.

We have started door to door campaigning as well.”

She added, “Anti-corruption campaign will drive them away. The Bharatiya Janata Party was involved in land

and mining scams and Congress is a basket of rocks and eggs. No one will vote for them.”

She expressed disappointed with her rival Nandan Nikelani for fighting election on a Congress ticket. “He’s a

technocrat and I respect him. I don’t know why he has joined Congress.”

Explaining her experience as a child rights activist coming handy in politics, she said: “I have worked from the

centre for child rights. I was the chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

With my experience, I can guide new policies. With AAP in the system, we can not only work for child rights,

but also for women’s rights and women empowerment. We can also remove obstacles at the cutting edge level.”

Earlier in the day, Ravi Krishna Reddy, the AAP candidate from Bangalore Rural constituency has said that he

has a better chance of winning the election because of his higher educational qualifications in comparison to

his counterparts. Commenting on this, she said, “We have to work along with the people. Education does not

matter. Empathy, compassion and experience are what matters. People have not been empowered enough. The

politicians need to work with the people.”

Commenting on ideological incoherence among the AAP members, who are from diverse backgrounds with no

experience in politics, Nayak said, “Anti-corruption is not our only objective. We want to induce accountability

in people. We are working for economic and judicial progress of the country. Our objective is to make things

better.”

On Kejriwal’s recent showdown with media, seen as a matter of concern by analysts, Nayak said that Kejriwal

has been misquoted and that the media is putting Narendra Modi on a pedestal.

Nina Nayak

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Who is this Aam Aadmi Party? I haven’t

heard of them at all. Congress is the party in

power here and they are doing a good job.”

-Somashekhar, 48, Nityananda

“Of course i know about the aam aadmi party.

arvind kejriwal is a good and honest leader and his

party certainly seems better than the existing crop

of parties. we should give them a chance.”

-Rohit, 22, Kumbalgodu

“I have never heard about this party.”

-Sachin, 35, Nallakhamba

Aam Aadmi doesn’t know his party

The Daily

Observer 6 Monday, March 17 , 2014

Mother claims that doctors failed to at-tend to her daughter, who was under-going kidney dialysis treatment in a city hospital that cost her life.

Shwetha (16) was diagnosed with failure of both kidneys when she was 8-years-old. Ever since, she has been surviving on kidney dialysis with the medical ex-penses managed by her mother, Sujata.

Sujata said: “My daughter needed di-alysis thrice every week. Each dialysis costs around Rs. 1400 exclusive of injec-tion bills. I struggled a lot to make her fit as soon as possible. I never compromised on her medical treatments.”

“As I could not afford her treatment expenses, I started working as a house maid to several homes in the locality. Yet we were running short of money, so I de-cided to donate my kidney to her after getting clearance from authorities,” She added.

Dr. Sonal Asthana, a senior consul-tant in the Department of Multi-Organ Transplantation at BGS Global Hospi-

tals, said: “In our country, donation laws are pathetic. There is a chain of proofs required for a donor to provide to the Authorization Committee for Organ Transplantation in order to donate his organs to the respective patient. A police clearance is also mandatory. It is a very long procedure.”

“Currently, 2.5 lakh patients in India are waiting for a kidney transplant. The number of liver patients awaiting donors is the same,” he added.

Dr Chackko Korula Jacob, a transplant specialist surgeon at Bangalore Baptist Hospital, said only a tiny fraction of organ failure patients have successful surgery in India. He said: “Only five per cent of kidney failure patients get a new organ. That has been the case for the past 20 years in the country.”

In 2011, Sujata was diagnosed with abnormalities in her uterus. Post opera-tion, she received a clearance from the authorities to donate her organ to her daughter.

On January 13 this year, an operation was scheduled to transplant the organ. Sujata said: “Eve r y t h i ng was fine until the doctors in Institute of Nephro Urol-ogy conducted tests on me to ensure I was fit for the o p e r a t i o n . The results that appeared showed the same abnor-malities that I was diagnosed with three

years ago. I showed the hospital authori-ties my documents that proved me free of any abnormalities but the director of the department refused to perform the operation and called off the process. We were then immediately asked to leave on a discharge.”

Sujata later asked for help from a local MLA, Ramalinga Reddy, but he too was unable to help her with the procedure.

For seven years, Shwetha received di-alysis treatment from Madhu Hospital at Toll Gate, Dasarahalli, at a compara-tively affordable price. Sujata said that she never faced any problems regarding treatments before but when they shifted the course to the Institute of Nephro Urology, trouble begin to escalate with each day.

On January 17, Shwetha’s condition worsen after the hospital authorities denied to conduct the transplant proce-dure. She was immediately admitted to the same institute where doctors con-firmed her to be on the final stage and refused to operate on her.

Sujata said: “My daughter weighed 28kg when she was admitted. She was in a very critical condition. The doctors simply refused to take any responsibility for her death and asked us to take her back home next morning as she was not responding to any medical treatment.”

On January 18, Shwetha was taken home and was surviving on dialysis injections. She began to get fits so her mother called up ‘108 Ambulance Services’.

Shweta’s aunt, Shanti, said: “When we called the ambulance service, they de-nied coming and helping us get Shwetha admitted in the hospital saying we have been calling them for petty reasons for past few years. We pleaded them to come but they did not pay heed to our request. Finally, after minutes of pleading, they decided to come and get her admitted.”

She added, “Institute of Nephro Urology claimed they did not have the machines to get Shwetha operated so we reached Baptist Hospital for her treatment. There too the doctors said they lacked the ventilator machine and also announced Shwetha brain dead by then.”

When Shwetha’s mother informed her relatives of her present state, they de-manded her to cremate Shwetha while she continued to breathe and to not keep any hopes on her. Yet, Sujata continued to struggle to save her daughter’s life.

As Shwetha did not get admitted to the second hospital as well, the ambulance servicemen refused to take her to an-other clinic saying they can only provide services to a maximum of two hospitals.

Sujata took her daughter back home the same night. On January 19, at around 2am, Shwetha breathed her last looking into her mother’s eyes for the final time.

Sujata said: “My husband is an alco-holic. He always tried to kill Shwetha when she was very young. This is why I got separated from him and started liv-ing with my sister and mother. When he learned of Shwetha’s demise, he blamed everything on me saying I couldn’t take good care of her.”

According to a leading state surgeon, nine out of ten kidney failure patients are not given transplants in India because rules governing donation are so strict.

Prutha Bhosle

‘When we called the

ambulance service,

they denied coming

and helping us get Shwetha

admitted in the hospital

saying we have been call-

ing them for petty reasons

for past few years. We

pleaded them to come but they did not pay heed

to our request.

-Sujata, Shwetha’s mother

Shwetha with her aunt, Shanti, on her thirteenth birthday while she was undergoing dialysis treatment at a city Hospital

Shwetha, who died at the age of 16.

‘Medics failed my daughter’

EVENTS THEATRE

TreadmillTreadmill is a journey of explor-ing personal memories of the people in Indian towns. Time: 7:30 PM OnwardsDate: March 19Venue: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar

Songs of SpringA solo show by leading contem-porary artist Dhrubajyoti Baral a lyrical fusion of indigenous traditions and contemporary sensibilities.Time: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PMDate: Upto March 27Venue: Kynkyny Art Gallery, Infantry Road

ART

WorkShop

19th European Union Film Festival- On the Sly

In a world and in a time not so faraway lived a little girl who had the feeling to be invisible in her parent’s eyesTime: 6:00 PM OnwardsDate: March 19Venue: Bangalore International Centre, Domlur

Jus`Trufs introduces an exclu-sive & unique Chocolate Tour. Be a part of this exclusive tour and experience chocolate mak-ing first hand.Time: 3:00pm onwardsVenue: Jakkur, No. 9 RoadDate: March 22

Observer Team: Editor–Prutha Bhosle Chief Sub Editor-Pranay Lakshminarasimhan Sub Editors– Soumya Basu, Sushmita Sen News Edi-tors -Gaurav Kumar, Saikat Ghosh Picture Editor & Design Desk – Tanisha Das Assistant Chief Sub/ Emergency calls tracker– Sneha Mejari Email- editor@iijnm.org An IIJNM Publication (For Private Circulation)