State of the heart

THE IMPACT On July 19, a two-member delegation of the National Minorities Commission came down from Delhi and tried to bring about a compromise between the two communities. Today, a tenuous peace prevails. The boycott is a thing of the past.

• Cow Breeding Minister Prabhatsinh Chauhan’s son Umeshsinh was accused of stealing a truck belonging to a riot victim, whose complaints the police refused to lodge. Syed Khalique Ahmed reported the story on November 7; on November 11, the police registered an FIR against Umeshsinh.

• On September 5, D V Maheshwari reported that Surendranagar farmers were using as many as 400 motors to tap into a pipeline carrying Narmada waters to Kutch; no action had been taken, allegedly because senior minister I K Jadeja hails from the area. The Gujarat Water Supplies and Sewerage Board cracked down on farmers on September 9.

• For 10 years, Kanu Pillai’s Ph.D thesis titled ‘A sociological study of communal violence in Gujarat’, linking the rise of the BJP to the emergence of Ahmedabad as a communal hotspot, was under lock and key, unavailable even to research scholars. A day after Rupam Jain Nair’s story was published on November 4, Gujarat University allowed access to the thesis.

• Marigold farms on the outskirts of Ahmedabad were being destroyed by fumes emitted by an aluminium factory, which claimed to have had clearance from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board. But the last inspection was in 2000. And a day after Palak Nandi’s report, on August 4, the GPCB sealed the illegal furnaces.

PUNE
Water scare

THE REPORT The good monsoon this year ensured Pune would not suffer paucity of drinking water. But the quality of the water was questioned as at least two localities reported severe water-borne diseases. To check Pune Municipal Corporation claims that all was well, Pune Newsline collected water samples from 13 localities and got them lab-tested for bacteria and faecal organisms. Two prominent areas were found to be receiving water with dangerous levels of faecal matter, while several others got inadequately treated water. Pune Newsline published the story on June 29.

THE IMPACT The PMC set up a 24-hour complaint cell for consumers and proposed building a protection wall along the Khadakvasla Lake, the chief source of drinking water under threat from cattle and tourists. It also also the Central Water and Power Research Station to study Pune’s water problems, launched a survey to map underground water pipelines and cleaned up at least 39 water storage tanks.

• Following the Kumbakonam tragedy in Tamil Nadu, Pune Newsline exposed the pathetic state of affairs—no seats, no drinking water, no toilets—in many of the city’s corporation schools in a SchoolDaze series from July 19. Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer reacted by asking the PMC’s School Board to put its house in order. Ward offices were directed to take charge of cleanliness and repairs; one official was suspended. Inspired by the Newsline reports, the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner set up two well-equipped computer laboratories in a school.

• On April 1, Vinita Deshmukh focused on the surroundings of the Omkareshwar Ghat, where the bereaved perform the seventh day rites for the dead. Mourners had to pass through plastic litter, garbage and even human excreta to immerse the floral tributes into the Mutha river. That evening itself, the PMC revived a budgetary provision of Rs 2 lakh to construct a tank with the provision for inflow and outflow of clean water.

• At least 2,500 trees were marked to be axed on the Pune-Nashik phata for the Golden Quadrilateral Project. In April, Pune Newsline’s Manoj More launched a campaign, and triggered a PWD rethink that called for the felling of just 200 trees.

JAMMU & KASHMIR
Doctored lists

THE REPORT When the State Public Service Commission published its list of chosen assistant surgeons on July 1, one group was found to dominate: family members of ministers and PSC members. They had another thing in common: Most were average students. Pradeep Dutta filed his report on July 4, alongwith a list of the names of the connected chosen.

THE IMPACT On July 19, newly appointed PSC chairman Mohammad Shafi Pandit sought cancellation of the ‘tainted’ list. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court passed orders in December, quashing the list of 593 assistant surgeons and seeking fresh selections.

• From July 7, a four-part series ‘Unaided AIDS’ by Pawan Bali highlighted the plight of HIV-positive women abandoned by their families. A city-based organisation went on to adopt 60 such women.

• On August 1, Pawan Bali reported that in the name of repairs, the Estate Department was pulling down jharokhas in the historical Mubarakh Mandi complex. A local organisation registered a police complaint, and Dr Karan Singh, MP, wrote to the Archaeological Society of India, demanding they take over maintenance of the 1820s monument.

• Contradictory CID reports in Srinagar and Jammu put 65-year-old widow Mohini Kaul’s very existence into question: While the Srinagar CID declared her dead, Jammu officials claimed she was alive. A report by Anand Bodh on June 4 shook up the CID top brass, and the issue was settled the very next day, enabling her to seek the relief she was entitled to.

CHANDIGARH
Under cover of darkness

THE REPORT On October 20, Shveta Aggarwal finally blew the lid of the scam that was the Panjab University evening classes. There were only three teachers for 210 B.Com students; classes were sporadic at best. Though the session began in July, not a single class had been conducted for English, history, culture of Punjab or statistics till publication date.

THE IMPACT That very evening, PU Vice-Chancellor K N Pathak made a surprise visit to the department of evening studies and asked chairperson Atulvir Arora to submit a detailed report regarding laxity in the department. Five guest lecturerships were sanctioned a little while later.

• The Union Territory police came up with a novel idea to trap thieves: They dug up kuchcha lanes in the dividing roads between Sectors 45-46 and 46-47 in the hope thieves would fall into the deep ditches. The people protested, Aman Sharma reported on January 5, and the the pits were filled up and drums placed on the dirt tracks.

• A local resident discovered Sunita, a 11-year-old TB patient, lying under a tree. Sourav Sanyal and Jyotsna Attri took up the story on July 18, prompting then UT Administrator Justice O P Verma (retd) to direct Director, Health Services, Dr C P Bansal to admit Sunita in the Government Hospital.

• To oblige a Shimla-based general manager of Woolfed, who wanted dates for a woollen expo postponed, a UT municipal corporation SDO demanded four Pashmina shawls. Varinder Bhatia exposed the scandal on November 24, an enquiry was ordered. The SDO was stripped of his charge and repatriated to his parent cadre.

PUNJAB
Games people play

THE REPORT On March 27, Bajinder Pal Singh highlighted the undue haste with which the Capt Amarinder Singh government was pushing through the recruitment of seven DSPs under the sports quota, brushing aside objections by even the then minister and secretary, sports. Among the beneficiaries were the sons of Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, media adviser to the CM, and SSP Harinder Singh Chahal.

THE IMPACT The report led to a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Finally, on October 15 this year, the High Court quashed the recruitments, slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on five of the accused, and even issued a contempt notice to BIS Chahal.

THE REPORT On October 24, S P Singh reported how the Vigilance Bureau of the Punjab government was harassing the family of Jaskaran Singh Brar, the petitioner in the above case. His father Kheta Singh and younger brother Balkaran Singh were jailed for 10 days in a 1996 case, just days before the case was to come up for hearing.

THE IMPACT The very next day, Chief Secretary Jai Singh Gill sought an explanation from Director, Vigilance Bureau, A P Pandey, and moved out Superintendent of Police, VB, Ferozepur.

• There weeks before the Assembly bypoll in Kapurthala, on September 20, Bajinder Pal Singh reported the sudden surge in the number of new voters—around 11,000—in the constituency after the Lok Sabha elections. It put the number of bogus votes at around 11,000. Three days later, the Election Commission ordered a physical verification of the new voters and posted out the returning officer Sub Divisional Magistrate Dilraj Singh Sandhawalia. Subsequently, he was suspended, and all bogus votes were cancelled.

• In a sting operation reported on February 16, Jatinder Kaur Tur showed how easy it was to get a sex-determination test, or abort a female foetus in Amritsar despite the PNDT Act. Two days later, the district health authorities raided several diagnostic centres and hospitals, including the two visited by the reporter. They were later ordered to suspend operations.

MUMBAI
In welfare, me first

THE REPORT Congressman and chairman of the Children’s Aid Society Sitaram Waghmode had clear cut priorities about his role as the head of Dongri Observation Home, the only stop for all juvenile delinquents and children in need of care and protection in the city. While 500 odd boys residing in this 200-year-old home lived in primitive conditions, Waghmode focused resources on refurbishing a sprawling 1913 mansion and opulent office for himself. Chitrangada Choudhary reported the story on April 8.

THE IMPACT Former CM Sushil Kumar Shinde instituted an inquiry by Justice A Palkar, retired High Court judge, who indicted Waghmode and sought his removal from the post. The Mumbai Newsline reports were also converted into an PIL by the Bombay High Court. The Palkar report, however, however buried as confidential till Mumbai Newsline applied for information under the Maharashtra Right to Information Act and appealed to Loka-yukta. The report was published on November 24; Waghmode resigned on December 4.

• The state government promised Savio D’Souza, Mumbai’s first long-distance runner, a 750-sq ft home in 1986. For 18 years, D’Souza lived in a makeshift garage-home, coaching youngsters and training champs. Beginning February 3, Nitin Naik wrote a series of articles on the hero’s marathon wait, and 23 days later, former CM Sushil Kumar Shinde cleared a 490 sq ft house for the athlete from his discretionary quota.

• The 154-year-old Swadeshi Mills Complex in Central Mumbai burned down on April 1, 2004. But for the 2,800 mill workers and their families, disaster struck in 2001, when the mill was closed. The Rs 50,000 promised to each worker as compensation never came. Ten workers committed suicide while many left the city. On April 4, two days after Abhishek Sharan exposed the real tragedy of Swadeshi Mill, an NGO offered jobs and assistance to surviving mill-workers, and the city donated Rs 2 lakh for them. The mill management, too, coughed up the long-delayed compensation.

• Saima Khan scored 91.33 per cent in her SSC exams and topped her locality Mumbra. Daughter of a single mother and raised in a Muslim ghetto, her gold medal, though, wasn’t of much help in paying for her education. A day after Sweta Ramanujan reported the story on July 11, assistance poured in. Saima’s education is now being taken care of by scholarship and loan offered from Mesco Education trust, Mahim, and Hamdard University at Delhi.

LUCKNOW
Cars without numbers

THE REPORT On July 22, Lucknow Newsline reporters Alka S Pande and Aman Sharma launched a campaign against politicians going around in vehicles without numberplates

THE IMPACT Almost three weeks later, on August 13, Transport Minister Naresh Agarwal directed the Transport Commission to ensure no vehicle without numberplates left any showroom. Three months later, a PIL was filed, along with photographs published in the Newsline. On November 4, the High Court on suo moto asked Advocate General Virendra Bhatia to ensure that politicians did not use vehicles without numberplates. Six days later, the Vidhan Sabha Speaker ordered all members of the assembly to follow rules. The next day, the SP Traffic wrote to all party chiefs to ensure their members did not use vehicles without numberplates. On November 12, Agarwal wrote a letter to the Chief Minister, asking him to intervene in the matter. On November 25, the court ordered the transport authorities to book all vehicles without numberplates. Two days later, the vehicles of 17 MLAs were challaned, and on Christmas Day, the court asked authorities to continue the drive.

• On May 24, Alka S Pande reported that the Wave multiplex in Gomti Nagar was letting its visitors park on roadsides and in the green belt. A month later, a PIL was filed on illegal parking, the High Court sent notices to Lucknow Municipal Commissioner, Wave and eateries on that stretch. In July, WAVE created place for parking.

• Lucknow Newsline published the names of Mulayam Singh and his cabinet ministers who had heavy dues on their official residence phones on November 20. Two days later, the government cleared part of the payments even as a few lines were disconnected.

DELHI
Children at a loss

THE REPORT On July 8 and 9, Toufiq Rashid reported that 34 children had died in a week at the paediatric department of Safdarjung Hospital—12 of them in a day—due to lack of medicines, IV fluids, ventilators and portable X-ray machines.

THE IMPACT A PIL was filed in Supreme Court. The Union health ministry and hospital officials were sent notices. Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss visited the hospital and ordered an inquiry. Cases are going on in High Court.

• From January 8 to 12, Amba Batra wrote daily reports exposing the need for night shelters for the 10,000-odd homeless women in the capital. Delhi had 41 shelters for men, but not a single one for women. Soon after the reports, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had NDMC set up the first women’s night shelter, followed by two in the current season. The shelters are operational.

• Son of a BHEL peon, Delhi Government School topper Manish Gupta got through to IIT but had no money to pay his tuition fee, boarding and lodging costs. After Amba Batra wrote of his plight on July 14, help poured in, not only from readers but also from Ford Foundation. Manish is currently studying in IIT, Kharagpur.