smartvote.in/blog

Smartvote PDS Workshop

wpadmin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:05:55 +0000

A workshop was held on November 20, 2010 to familiarize volunteers with the Public Distribution System in Karnataka and to discuss the project details.

NOVEMBER 20TH WORKSHOP – MEETING MINUTES

Immediate Concerns

What is survey going to be done?
Is it going to be digitalized? How is the analysis to be done?

Next Meeting:

Time: Saturday, Dec. 4th, 3: 00 pm

Agenda:

Present what we’ve done
Bring team if we’ve built it
Estimate of budget proposal

Meeting Cycle:

Every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month

SWM Round Table Success Story

balaji — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 08:52:55 +0000

The following is a mail written by Dr. Meenakshi Bharath about the recent Dry Waste Segregation Centre that has been setup at the BBMP office. Dr. Meenakshi is part of the SWM (Solid Waste Management) Round Table.

dear folks,

it is with great pride that I say that we ( the solid waste management round table) have set up the Dry waste segregation centre at the BBMP head office today and also the leaf composting area.

The chairman of health and SWM committee Mr Manjunath Reddy -corporator of ward 175 bomanahalli- and Commissioner Siddiah came to inaugurate this centre.

SWM RT success story

it has been a three month effort starting with Mukund of Jayanagar who got us an appointment to present the ppt on ” segregation at source concept” to the BBMP on the 19th of Aug.

We then started working on the concept and the building with the permission of Commissioner Siddiah and the BBMP PRO Dr Khandre. it was an effort to convert the area which use to be a garbage dump to the neat and clean segregation centre that it is today. Many many days were spent with the Pourakarmikas and the gardeners -overcoming their
stiff resistance and getting the idea across to them that if they collect the garbage segregated then it will make their job easier.

Pourakarmikas, gardeners and others

all the members of the SWMRT pitched in at the various times and the Multi Purpose engineering Dept(MPED) of BBMP also understood what we wanted. as the transformation of the area took place the resistance we faced from our neighbours also vanished. The waste began getting collected separately and with the stink all gone- the local people started appreciating the methodology.

it was a great pleasure to see the pride that Mr Siddiah showed when he came for the inauguration- to see that the concept that he endorsed was actually being delivered.

He told us that he is delighted that this has come out so well and that “SOURCE SEGREGATION ” is the best way to deal with the garbage-and the BBMP will not only solve the garbage problem but also earn some revenue from it.He urged all to take up this methodology and Clean up Bengaluru. He requested Mr Manjunath Reddy to make this
happen in every ward.

For all of us at the SWM Round Table it was a great moment of achievement and a successful culmination of 1 yr of hard work and lobbying.

i thank all of you who have been supportive in all ways -positively and negatively for it is that which drives us to further our efforts to success.

regards
Dr Meenakshi Bharath

Food Security Pamphlet

wpadmin — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 15:29:34 +0000

At the Smartvote meeting today, a pamphlet on Food Security was distributed. This has been given to about 70 MPs.

A copy can also be downloaded from http://smartvote.in/download/food_security_pamphlet.pdf

This pamphlet was part of the Food Security booklet that was shared earlier. The booklet contains articles suggested by Reetika Khera. You can download that from http://smartvote.in/download/food_security_booklet.pdf

CCGG Meeting on 10/10/10 – Minutes

wpadmin — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 14:55:35 +0000

Today, October 10, 2010, we had the monthly meeting of Smartvote. The meeting reviewed the progress of our good governance project – “Studying the Public Distribution System in Karnataka”.

1. Attendees committed to performing specific tasks in the project.

2. The project needs qualified statisticians, experts in budget analysis/monitoring, activists with experience in field surveys and social scientists who can model such surveys. If you are one of them or can get a friend with such qualifications to volunteer, please do step forward.

3. We will have a day long workshop on November 7th, Sunday to finalize the project parameters. The date is tentative and will be confirmed later this month.

4. We may require some funding. Please be prepared to contribute or secure funds from well-wishers, as and when the need arises.

Food Security Booklet

balaji — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:50:00 +0000

On the request of Smartvote, Reetika Khera of the Centre for Development Economics has recommended a set of articles as an introduction to the issues around Food Security and the Public Distribution System.

You can download a copy from

http://smartvote.in/download/food_security_booklet.pdf

These articles have also been shared at http://smartvote.in/share/

Members are requested to read the booklet as part of our CCGG project.

Citizens Campaign for Good Governance

wpadmin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:51:23 +0000

Today we had a meeting to formally begin work on our new project, Citizens Campaign for Good Governance. We can refer to it as CCGG or the less tongue twisting ‘good governance project’.

1. The core idea of the project is the people’s Right to Public Services.

2. Good Governance project will initially take up the case of the Public Distribution System. We will study the system to understand the lacunae that prevent people from getting their due share of rationed food. We start by collecting information on the subject.

3. We’ll meet again on October 10, 2010 Sunday to discuss the progress. Time and location yet to be decided. Please do come.