Hostel students to obtain flexibility at multi-gym center

Here comes the good news for gym enthusiasts of Maharaja's College Boys hostel and Yuvaraja College Ladies hostel pupils. Soon the hostels will be equipped with the multi-gym center, where students can build muscles, stamina, loose wieght, toon their body, and obtain flexibility.

To create fitness awareness among youngsters and motivate them to remain healthier the multi gym will be set-up by Mysore University Physical Education Department at the cost of Rs 3 lakh. The multi gym facility center will start functioning from April.

Majority of the students study here are villagers and have come from middle class or below poverty line. Joining for gym spending thousands of rupees to remain fit or build muscle is a challenging task for them. Hence, the multi-gym facility has become a boon for such students.

The multi-gym facility is already set up at Village Hostel, Boys PG Hostel, Women's Hostel at Gangotri, which comes under Mysore University and there is very good response for the center. Not only the boys, whereas even good number of girls are sweating it out at the fitness center and gaining stamina.

The boys are interested to build the muscles, whereas majority girls throng to lose weight, toon muscles. While, some even to gain weight, build muscles. The students can exercis on 12 types of muscle builders, and various other affects like cardiac, abdomen, knee, neck, back, muscle strengthening and much more at the center. The students can hit the gym center twice in a day (6.30 am to 8.15 pm and 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm).

Instructor Jamuna Rani said there is very good response for multi-gym center and girls in large number are coming to lose weight and remain fit.

Divya, first year Mcom student says: “The gym has become very much helpful to burn our calories. If we go for fitness center we have to bear thousands of rupees and dedicate extra time for travelling. But, now in the same time in hostel premises I am sweating to lose weight and it has helped me lot from last five months.”

Yuvaraja College student Vivek says: “The upcoming gym set-up will be very much helpful for many, specially for sportsperson to take up fitness activities.”

Physical Education Department Director Dr C Krishna said under University With Potential for Excellency Scheme Rs 50 crore was granted for Mysore University, in that Rs 2 crore has been sanctioned for the Physical Education Department, UoM. Colleges which have permanent affiliation and fulfill the norms of UGC can apply for grants for multi-gym facility. 

This Historical temples neglected by officials

One of the century-old temple Sri Prasanna Nanjundeshwaraswamy Temple situated in heart of the city on Santhepete Street is in a dilapidated condition. The sad part is Muzrai Department officials have turned blind eye for the maintenance of this historical temple.

The temple with a beautiful architect, huge space was constructed by Mumadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar in 1732 and the proceeding deity Sri Prasanna Nanjundeshwara Swamy was installed in 1783, says Temple Pontiff MS Radha Krishna.

The traders and distributors of Santhepete and APMC Yard are trying to protect the temple. But due to insufficient fund they have failed to maintain the temple in good condition.

Since 1980, the traders raise fund themselves and hold Dodda Prasanna Nanjundeshwara Swamy rathotsava yearly once and distribute prasadam for nearly 30,000 people. Unfortunately the fund they are getting from the Muzrai Department is only Rs 9,000 per annum.

Being one of the historical temple, nearby residents throng temple to offer puja. But, there is no water facility in the temple, the walls of the temple are in dilapidated condition, lack of security, temple floors are not equal, not cleaned regularly, rain water has logged in several places, seepage and damp wells, fungus growing in some places, cracks on walls and many other lot of problems can be witnessed in many places.

Traders Association Spokesperson D Dhruvakumar says that the fund provided by Muzrai department is insufficient and the department should look into protecting one of the historical temple in city.

Devotee Madamma said that “from my grandfather period we are coming into people. The officials should develop this temple and attract large number of people.

Rathotsava

Sri Prasanna Nanjundeshwara Swamy Temple Dodda Rathotsava will be held on March 27 between 10 am to 10.30 am at Old Santhepete. Prasadam will be distributed for devotees at 1 pm at Jaganmohan Palace.  

They strive for the upliftment of downtrodden

Women who enter the election fray face several problems. Especially in the absence of support from family members, woman standing for election is itself an achievement and big challenge. If she won the elections the challenges become even tougher.

There are several instances where elected women representatives have been snubbed by heads of villages, local leaders for not doing favours to them. In spite of these odds, there are few elected women representatives who stick to their stand and are creating wonders at Panchayat Raj level.

Prema Shivaraj, GP member of Hirege village, HD Kote has taken up several developmental works for the welfare of the women and children. She is educating villagers about child marriage, importance of girls education and has stopped four marriages. She ensures no drop out children from schools.

By visiting Self Help groups she educates women about domestic violence, evils of child marriage and how to solve family problems. She helps widows and disabled persons get access to Government pension benefits. She has ensured majority of the schools get access to water by digging borewells.

Accompanied with another GP Member Pushpa, she is admitting even children belonging to nomads to school, and planning to provide them permanent shelter, help them get access to Government schemes including a permanent house.

Manjula, a GP member of Hebbur, Chamarajanagar, hailing from a Schedule Caste family refused to curry favours for local village heads. Amidst strong oppositions she won the elections not once, but twice. She is working for the upliftment of the poor and backward community people. She has solved drinking water problem, implementing various government schemes, and recovering the pending revenue dues in the village.

Somwarpet Hangal GP member Chandirka and Komala of Channamgere GP, KR Nagar have discovered that many of the families have obtained BPL cards by furnishing false information. Taking a bold step, the duo have raised voice against the decision of Panchayat heads and have ensured the BPL cards is hold by genuine beneficiaries.

The people in village were not interested to enroll under the employment guarantee scheme, but through persistent door-to-door campaign Chandirka has made them aware of benefits of the scheme.

GP Member Shruthi of Lalandevanahalli, KR Nagar is collecting tax by villagers and ensuring the reserved amount be used for the development of SC/ST. GP Members Manjula (Hebbasur), Vasantha, Rani (Panchavalli) are concentration of domestic violence, atrocity towards women and involving NGOs are trying to solve the problems. 

He is a role model for many

There are many instances where handicapped, unemployed, disillusioned people waste their time, cursing fate for their misfortune and become burden for their family. But here is a fine lesson in self reliance and how can a person be a role model for others.

Everything was fine with Ghous Madeen till he turned ten. But then suddenly an unexpected thing happened in his life changed his life forever. When he was nine years old he was afflicted with Gangrene.

As days passed the situation got worsened and finally reached the stage where his right leg was amputated upto knee at first time.

As again the Gangrene started spreading like wildfire killing healthy tissues his entire leg was amputated for second time. Meantime for some unknown reason his right hand also got twisted.

In spite of all this Ghous did not lose heart. In a tender age of ten he decided not to be a burden to his family and accompanied his father who had a puncture shop.

As there is no energy in right hand, slowly he learnt how to put puncture to the deflated tyres by working with only the left hand. Watching him remove the tyre from the vehicle and fitting it back after putting puncture mesmerises the onlookers who silently stand staring at his feat.

He has been doing this relentlessly for the past three decades gaining the appreciation and praise of even his competitors in the neighbourhood.

Though working in a garage and being handicapped he is perfect in his work. He even gives alms to beggars who come to his shop though being physically fit than him. Without being a burden on anyone, he earns his own livelihood and recently tied a knot.

He says: “I feel happy and proud that I earn and live on my own efforts.” His neighbour Saleem says that they all feel happy for not depending on any one for livelihood and working hard amidst all odds.  

Women keep the legacy of 'Harikathe' for next generation

'Harikathe' the art of orally rendering tales and incidents from  ancient scriptures Ramayana, Mahabharatha and also from mythological texts like Purana, interspersing with interesting anecdotes seems to be gradually  losing its popularity in urban areas.

But a group of elderly women who are in the mid's of 50-60's are striving hard to keep the legacy for the next generation. The women who are professional Harikathe artistes are keeping the artform alive by performing across State and are encouraging youngsters to learn this.

Of the few women who are actively rendering Harikathe performances in public in the city is the 64-year-old Vasantha Lakshmi, considered to be the senior most Harikathe artiste along with 57-year-old Bellur Nagalakshmi, Malini, Vani, Veena, Subadra Parthasarathy, Suvarna, Banumathi Narasimha. Malini and Vasantha Lakshmi are Akashavani high grade artistes.

Age is not at all a barrier for these artistes. They can perform  Harikathe standing for hours together at a stretch. To update their knowledge they keep reading books in their spare time. The artistes say by reading various kinds of books they acquire knowledge so they can either narrate the story quickly or stretch it for a long time.

There common concern of all Harikathe artistes is that the interest of listening to Harikathe is gradually dwindling among the city dwellers, whereas just the opposite is true in villages and rural areas, where people still come and enjoy listening to the discourses.    

"The present generation is not interested in either listening or practicing Harikathe. To encourage this dying art the Government should come forward and provide a handsome honorarium for all the practicing artistes,"  says Vasantha Lakshmi.

Bellur Nagalakshmi adds: "Reality shows on classical music aired at   television channels is becoming popular these days. As a result most parents encourage their children to enroll for music classes. They should also treat Harikathe likewise and revive the art for next generation."

“Harikathe is a powerful medium to educate people and children alike about our past history, culture and tradition. But the the number of public performances have come down drastically except during special occasions like the Ganesha festival, Navaratri, Shivaratri, Ayudha puja and others. Some villagers still continue the practice of holding a Harikathe when a person dies in the village,"  says another artiste Suvarna.

Lack of facilities put patients in hardship

All seems to be not good with Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research situated at KR Hospital premises. Space congestion, shortage of doctors and equipment has become major set back.

On an average 100-150 patients with cardaic related problems visit the hospital daily for treatment and check up. The patients have to first wait in long queue to register their names, next to get done ECG, followed by collection of report, to meet doctors. Again, for further tests like treadmill, Echocardiogram they have to stand in long queue. By this time the patients get frustrated only by waiting. The situation of senior citizens, mother holding the little kids for long time to get treatment is unimaginable.

Being equipped with two Echocardiogram and 12 ECG machines, it takes around 20-30 minutes to diagnose a patient, some times depending on the condition of the patient the time consumed is even more. In the meanwhile if an emergency case arrives, they have to be attended first and all other patients continue to wait. According to sources 8 to12 emergency cases comes daily. This further increases the waiting time of other patients.

The patients are called on first come first serve basis issuing token. As the number of patients waiting to get treatment are more, many times the token will be exhausted before 12 pm. As a result many of patients who have come from far off places, can be seen helplessly waiting in the OPD Waiting Lounge. Most of them have to come back next day to get a fresh appointment. Not willing to take a chance some of them stay back, sleeping overnight in the corridor, so as not to miss the next day's treatment.

Shortage of cardiologists, and staff is another problem. It has become hard not only for doctors to handle the patients, whereas even patients are suffered at large extent.

A patient named Nagaraj from Bannur said he is prepared to wait the whole day to get an appointment for the next day and requested the concerned officials to take appropriate measures to ease the problems.

Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Director Dr CN Manjunath agreed that the problem exists but said that people can take prior appointment over phone before visiting the hospital. “The problem will be eased after the construction of 350 bedded hospital on KRS Road, for which construction begins from August,” he added.

Fact File

A record of 37,000 outpatients were treated while 4,400 were admitted as in-patients in 2012. 16,000 Eco-Cardiograms and 2,200 cardiac cath lab procedure(Cardiac catheterisation) have been performed, in which 500 were Angioplasty and other procedures 50. 

It was women's day out in city on Friday

International Women's Day was celebrated by various organisations in city on Friday. While some of them celebrated the day by holding talks, seminar on women issues, other section celebrated the day by conducting day long fun activities, games, cultural programmes, dramas for women.

What was different this year was, some of the shop owners marked the day by offering special discounts for fair sex on their purchase and wished them. Discount on gifts items, sarees, jewellery, slippers, vanity bags were given for women.

Some of the private hospitals had organised free health check-up camp, cancer screening camp, discount of fitness, and so on. There was even offers on pizzas, ice creams at some of the centers.

Amidst many of these celebration there were the section of women unaware that there is a day for them to celebrate. It was just an another day in their life. Hundreds of construction women, pourakarmikas, nomades were seen on their routine work.

Student Jyothi says: “The day is celebrated by the women in urban areas. There are many women residing in rural areas not aware of women's day. More over, the celebration should not be meant only for a day. The women should celebrate the day with the same zeal across the year, and such atmosphere should be created for women.”

Reshma says: “The respect, honour for women should be given always. Its high time women should raise their voice against social-ills and play major role in society.”  

Men on a mission to break the 'male chauvinism' stigma

To break the jinx called 'male chauvinism', a stigma attached to every male, a man has dedicated himself for the empowerment of women especially those residing in rural areas.

Social worker 56-year-old H Roop Singh is the man working for the cause of empowering women. For the past 20 years he is regularly visiting villages giving a patient hearing to the pleas of the suffering women. He empowers them to overcome the problems with proper guidance, how to be a part of society, how to face problems courageously and to become financially self-reliant.

“The practice is to blame women for everything that happens in the family and this prejudiced mindset of society needs to be changed. A woman suffers continuously right from after her birth till every stage of her life. As a counselor, I help them to overcome their problems courageously,” he says.

“Families break up for trivial reasons. All they need is right guidance at the right time to cement the relationship. Women have lot of patience and bear silently the ill-treatment meted out to her,” he added.

He says, he learnt this quality from his mother who helped the underprivileged and he is now continuing the same. Around 2000 families have been benefited so far because of timely advise.

Being a native of Rajasthan, he resides in Hebbal. After the closure of city's Ideal Jawa Factory, where he was employed, he has completely become reserved for his time for a social casue.

With his interests in Social Service, he is serving in an NGO named Shaktidhama as a social worker. His wife Shakhila Kumar, who is a Head Master is supporting him in all his endeavours.  

Female don the role of male characters !

Majority of women shy away from entering theater. But these women artistes have dedicated their life for the cause of theater and are well-known across the State for their talented performances on stage.

Though some of the women are married, majority of the women in the troupe are either divorced or widows or left behind by their children. Unmindful of their past, they rock on the stage which is their biggest satisfaction. 

They don the role of male characters and perform any role with equal ease as men, mesmerising the audience. Whether it is a mythological or a historical role, the delivery of dialogues and body gestures makes one wonder whether it is really men staging the play.

Even the women compose songs on their own and are managing to maintain the entire troupe. This is the power of female theater troupe, who have been relentlessly serving for the past 22 years in the field of theater in Mysore, staging their plays under the banner, 'Vruthi Kannada Ranga Bhoomi Mahila Kalavidara Sangha” (professional female theater association).

Though most women are well past their middle age and some are into their 60s, they still retain that charm in their voice, and virtues undiluted. They are able to attract thousands of audience to watch their plays wherever they camp. They have already staged thousands of plays across the State. 

The women numbering around 150 have seen several ups and downs in their stage lives. There are even instances where women inspired after watching a play, have joined the company voluntarily. Most of the women in the troupe were once associated with the famed 'Gubbi Veeranna Company'. 

They say earlier society was looking down upon artistes, whereas slowly down the years the scenario has changed in society.  

62-year-old Artiste SS Gayatri says after the closure of Gubbiveeranna company, women took a collective decision of starting a company on their own instead falling back on the streets. She further expressed unhappiness for not providing an opportunity for female troupe to stage play during Dasara.

“While men always enacted the roles of women, we are very happy that today we are staging the role of men on stage. Still more changes has to be witnessed in theater field,” says another 59-year-old artiste Suvarnamma.

“If we have orders for three months, another nine months we have to manage ourselves with earned money. The government should look into this and promote theater field, helping the artistes,” say artistes seeking government encouragement.

Women, SC/ST reservation seen narrowly

The reservation for women and SC/ST is always seen narrowly and this Urban Local Body (ULB) election is no exception. Apart from reserved wards, none of the political parties have provided promising number of tickets for women and SC/ST in general wards.

Congress has provided two tickets for schedule castes and one for women in general constituency. Dr Savitha is contesting from ward number 6, whereas Siddaraju and Badal Nanjundaswamy who belong to SC are contesting from ward number 17 and 20 respectively. While, BJP has provided ticket for one women candidate Latha Mohan (ward number 58), and JD(S) has given one ticket for SC candidate (Suresh) from Ward No 17.

When contacted some of the political leaders to ask about women reservation, the answer was strange. Many of them think giving 33 per cent reservation to women is more than the required. The major political parties think that the chances of women winning against male candidates are less. While some men do want to give up the equal opportunity for the women and are not ready to share their power.

Some think women wont be equal contender to men in political line and have the mindset that women will be losing candidate. There are even instances where some males were scared of sharing power with women.

Sociologist Prof Indira says: “political power is in the hands of men from several decades and majority of them want to enjoy as long as possible. Moreover corruption has become part of politics. Hence, they are not ready to accept the principle of providing the reservation for women in general wards as they do want to redistribute their power. Even we can see in America so far a women has not been provided an opportunity to become President. This is nothing but 'Tokenism'. A lot of things have to change for the woman to really exercise her power."

Dalit Leader Purushotham said as elections were suddenly announced he could not look into the issue. “I will definitely fight for schedule caste rights and ensure from next election schedule caste people get ticket in general constituency.”

Statistics 

Congress : 65 wards – 22 women

JD(S) : 64 wards – 22 women

BJP : 64 wards - 21 women

KJP : 60 wards – 20 women

BSR Congress : 40 wards – 12 women

Independent Candidates: 210 – 40 women

In all, 433 candidates are contesting in election in which 137 are women.

  

First time voters hope to bring changes in society

The franchise in city are eagerly waiting to cast their first vote at the Urban Local Body elections on March 7. Sharing their happiness for being a part of deciding about the future of country, the students said they are very much excited and are waiting for the D-day to cast their first vote.

Majority of the youngsters have decided to cast their vote for an qualified candidate and ensure they have voted for a right candidate.

While, some said they are confused for whom to elect, following reports in media about candidates facing corruption, criminal and many other charges.

If some students wish to elect a new face and an Independent candidate, some expressed to cast their vote for an elected representative who has served the society well during his tenure. Some of the youngsters said they are even creating awareness among people not to accept any gifts from any candidates and cast their vote.

“As majority of the people, including the educated persons fail to exercise their right to vote, we are educating our parents, family members about importance of voting, and ensuring the fair and free election,” says student Bhavani of Manasagangotri.

“I am happy for being a part of decision making of nation. Youngsters in large number remain far from electoral process and its need of the hour everyone should exercise their right to brings changes in society. I and my friends have decided to cast vote for an qualified, dynamic and young person. If he has minimum qualification it will be easy for us to get done our works,” says student Krithika.

“As many of the educated step back from voting, we have decided to educate our surrounding people, family members about importance of voting and ensure they cast their vote,” says Sushma of JSS Women's College.

“I will cast my vote for an young candidate and who is educated. So that he understand the problems of youngster, and knows our needs. We have a bad experience with previous Corporator and do want to again fall into the prey,” says Ramya who is planning to cast her vote for an Independent candidate. 

Qualified and Educated women jumps in the election frey

When majority of educated families shy away from politics, commonly referred to as dirty-politics, the new generation is not so sentimental but are rather enthusiastic to try their luck at the electoral polls in the soon to be held elections for the urban local bodies. What is even more interesting is that a lot of women candidates have entered the frey for Urban Local Body elections, many among them being graduates, some even Doctors and Advocates.

Ashwini Sharath, who holds MA and MEd and is pursuing her Doctoral Degree is contesting from Ward Number 50, under a BJP ticket. It is a reserved constituency and belongs to SC. Gandhi Nagar and Karunapura comes under this ward, where majority of the people residing here are Muslims and other backward community people.

Ashwini, hailing from a educated family, has suddenly switched over to politics with the help of her husband Sharath. Though she don't has any idea about politics, she is contesting in elections with the help of her husband. She has released a booklet of her vision and has promised to make the ward a role model in the city if voted to power.

Among other things she has assured to solve the long pending drinking water problem, providing protection for women, setting up health care facilities and keeping the city clean in addition to setting up a fresh fruit market while ensuing that the eligible people get access to various government schemes.

She has already opened a 24x7 Help Line number 90609 12727 to hear grievances of the residents in her locality and has even promised to continue the service, even if she fails to win the elections

“My intention is to serve people. With the support of my husband I have entered politics. I have lot of innovative ideas and has plans to take up several developmental works in Gandhi Nagar, if I get elected,” says Ashwini beaming with confidence.

Dr Sujatha, a Gynaecologist by profession is contesting from a General Constituency, from Ward Number 6. Being a Congress aspirant, she is the daughter of later TV Srinivas Rao, an politician.

Chamundipura, Vidyaranyapuram are some of the areas tha comes under her constituency. Dr Sujatha says she will first strive to provide the basic infrastructure facilities in her ward. “Even if I win the forthcoming elections, I continue with my profession to serve the society. I have

hopes of doing a lot of good things. Being qualified, I received a lot of positive responses in my ward.”

Advocate Manjula Manasa who is contesting from Ward No 15 said that she is a resident of the ward for the past 20 as a result she has good public contact with the localities. With Vivekananda Nagar, Ramakrishna Nagar, and Hudco Housing come under her ward, she says, “I am very much interested in politics and want to bring a change in the society.”  

Women on a mission to educate masses

As assembly elections round the corner, thousands of women are on a mission to educate masses about the importance of holding free and fair elections, by taking oath among villagers that they will not be lured by offers of expensive gifts or money by the contestants.

Especially in villages, unaware of their voting rights get easily misled by elected representatives. Hence, under the theme 'My vote is not for sale', a motivated group of women volunteers hailing from Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts are holding door to door campaign and educating their community people about the importance of casting vote in the forthcoming elections.

Through street plays the women are creating awareness about several burning issues and are explaining the consequences of electing a bad leader, how it hinders the development of State and the welfare of the people among various other issues. Thanks to the NGO Mahila Samakhya Karnataka, which is actively involving women and making them aware of their responsibility towards creating a better society.

The volunteers also highlight the importance of women contesting in elections, how they can contribute towards the development of their village or community as an elected women Representative and how can they become role model for other women in the villages.

Speaking with anonymity, one of the Elected Women Representative said that there are several instances where women in SHG's are misled by elected representatives. “Elected representatives first lure the heads of the SHG's making by promising of offers, if elected. Following this hundreds of members in the SHG will vote the candidate, where they later realise the mistake.”

Mysore District Co-ordinator Lochana said that women volunteers are conducting meetings, holding group discussions to educate people about election process.

Chamarajanagar District Samakhya Co-ordinator Meena Kumari said that we are visiting the SHG's and educating people about electoral process and importance of selecting right leader considering the development of country.

Literacy Camp

The organisation is further playing a vital role of encouraging women to contest in Gram Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections. Elected women representatives are provided training in leadership and communication skills, taught how to compete equally to men and made aware of the facilities provided under the Panchayat Raj Act. Even illiterate elected representatives are educated under basic literacy camp and several of these women can today sign on their own.

Fact File

* The Samakhya is working in 15 district of State.

* In Mysore has spreads its wing in 254 villages of HD Kote, Hunsur, Periyapatna, Nanjangud, KR Nagar with the members of 12,000. About 88 members under Samakhya have been selected as GP, TP members in

the ZP elections held in 2010.

* In Chamarajanagar from 235 villages of Kollegal, Yelandur, Chamarajanagar, Gundlupet there are 11,368 members. About 81 women have been elected.   

A POSITIVE 'WEAPON' TO COMBAT SOCIETY'S ILLS

"Please don't throw the leftovers after a party or a function. Just send an SMS, I will make arrangements to collect it," says Sujay, a BBM student.

Anybody seeing Sujay for the first time would definitely mistake him to be just another teenager, hanging out at his favourite adda chit-chatting about latest movies, current fashion trend, etc. But appearances can be deceptive. For V. Sujay, a BBM student of Marimallappa's College in city, is mature for his age and seems to have a deeper grasp of life than just pursuing sensory pleasures.

Accompanied by B. Kendaraj, Sujay has formed a Trust 'Asthra' at his home and on every Sunday, they visit one Ashram in city, provide food and clothes to inmates and spend some time with them. The main intention of the Trust is to look after destitute aged people out of the savings accrued from their pocket money.

Sujay who has experience working for "People's for People" organisation since 10 years, says, "Since I was a child, my pa-rents celebrated my birthdays in Old Age Homes and Orphanages. Deeply inspired by this, I thought of doing some service on my own and started this Trust. My desire is to start an Ashram meant exclusively for the aged and small children who are blind by birth."

"Don't throw away excess food or the leftovers after a party or a function. Just send me an SMS and I will make arrangements to collect this food from your place and distribute it to near by orphanages," appeals Sujay.

Sujay is also taking care of four aged persons who have been provided shelter in a house near Ramaswamy Circle. Not only are they provided with daily food, but their other needs too are taken care of.

About Asthra


The word 'Asthra' derived from Sanskrit means 'weapon.' Asthra in its positive connotation is a tool to combat evil. Inspired by this and keeping in view the society's current obligation towards the underprivile-ged, physically & mentally challenged youth, Sujay, under the guidance of his mentor, decided to put into practice the creation of a collection of "Weapons of Mass Reformation" and called it Asthra. It is an acronym for:

A - Association for

S - Social

T - Transformation through

H - Help

R - Rehabilitation and

A- Awareness

Since its inception in Aug. 22, 2009 with just two members, ASTHRA, now about a year old, has grown into a 25-member strong team.

"As the name suggests, our main thrust, apart from offering our services to the needy, is to create awareness amongst students and youth and instill in them the spirit of social service. The team members comprise of people of all ages, coming from diverse backgrounds, ranging from students to young entrepreneurs to IT professionals. This way, our organisation has gone beyond the segregation of people based on status, profession, gender or caste. It is open to everyone who aspire to make this land a better place for the underprivileged, who find themselves alienated from society.

"The social service activities at ASTHRA are held regularly on every weekends between 9 am and 11.30 am. Each member is encouraged to bring his friends and other members of his family to do service, so that the spirit of social service is instilled among all. Since its inception, there has never been a Sunday without ASTHRA offering its service for the underprivileged," says a proud Sujay.

The service activities involve a group of members visiting various organisations in city that take care of the mentally or physically challenged children and aged people. The organisers have maintained a comprehensive list of all these places along with their location and purpose for ready reference in a database. The list is also available on request to anyone who is interes-ted to offer services on their own.

"The main purpose of ASTHRA during these visits is to make the inmates at these places "feel loved" and to let them know that today's society has not forgotten them. This is achieved by spending time with them, making them laugh by sharing jokes and listening to their stories. The volunteers encourage the inmates to sing, dance or share whatever they feel, including their personal grievances and sorrows.

We have come to realise that what is mainly lacking is their longing for company, an understanding partner or a friend. This discourages them more than their physical disabilities. During our meetings, we try to overcome this barrier of indifference between the society and these unfortunate brethren, by interacting with them open-heartedly and showering them with love and affection that they long for," observes Sujay philosophically.

He however adds immediately, "ASTHRA's visits to organisa-tions are aimed at entertaining the residents in more ways than one. Since we believe more in action than just kind words, we try to find ways in which their grievances can be best addressed."

"The decision on which organisation to visit for the week is made unanimously and depending on the place we visit, we carry with us what we feel would be in the best interest of the inmates. For example, if we decide to visit a blind school or an orphanage, we carry biscuits, chocolates, toys and other such similar things for children. Whereas, visiting an Old Age Home or an Ashram for the underprivileged we carry plenty of fruits, medicines and any other material our members or their guests would like to donate.

"Guests are qualified to become members of ASTHRA only after a sincere display of dedication and sincerity towards service by regularly participating in at least five activities. The responsibility of providing financial support to our organisation is borne by the members on their own. All heartfelt donations are accepted in any form without attaching much importance to the amounts donated. Apart from this, there has never been an attempt to 'collect funds' from any non-member," Sujay clarified.

"ASTHRA has been constantly striving to improvise its activi- ties based on the feedback we have received from our visit to the various places we have visited so far," he added.

"Although registered, ASTHRA has not been publicised by any media and is not under any particular patronage. The only rules guiding our organisation is the love, affection and sincerity of our members towards the well-being of the society and their conviction towards service. In case one needs to know more about ASTHRA and their activities, they can be visit the group online at Orkut or Facebook or contact Sujay on Mob: 99645-86226.

Majority of the EWRs have solved drinking water problem

Shylaja, Faculty, Abdul Naseer Sab State Institute for Rural Development said that amidst many odds, lack of cooperation from family members, majority of the Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) at Gram Panchayat level are doing good.

She said, majority of the EWRs have solved drinking water problem in the village and have a good relation ship between Anganwadi Workers and educating populace about various government schemes, ensuring them to entitle for beneficiaries of the schemes.

Stating about 26 per cent of women are actively participating in leading political parties and only 8 per cent of them are engaged in various sub committees of political family, she pointed out that about 72 per cent of women does not make any effort to continue in politics, whereas 20 per cent of them wait eagerly for the opportunity.

She said burden on household work, lack of financial independence and confidence, social constraint are the major reasons for non-participation in politics.

According to the survey conducted in ten taluks it was observed that about 70 per cent of EWRs get cooperation from the family, in which 29 per cent of husband are shouldering household responsibilities, 44 per cent of EWRs get support from mother, and other family members. Whereas, remaining 30 per cent of them are managing both the responsibilities, she added.

Quorum

“Its unfortunate that two-third of the EWRs dont know the information regarding the compulsion of women's participating in ward / gram Sabha,” she said. She further pointed out that majority of the GP members will not question the tax paryers, whereas support them in believe that they can win next elections too.

Capability of EWRs

* 50 per cent of EWRs take own decision, while 36 per cent of them depend on colleagues, GP staff and local leaders, following lack of knowledge, and non experience in political field.

* About 60 per cent of the EWR's opine that its possible to empower women through political reservation, and 20 per cent say they get recognition in social arena and become role models for other women.

* Only 68 per cent of women are actively taking participating in the Gram Panchayat meeting and even conduct meeting regularly. About 38 per cent of the EWRs are not conducting meeting.

With less water around, sugarcane growers switch over to fruits, vegetables

 Farmer Srinivas of Kelanakuppe Panchayat
seen harvesting watermelons at his farm.  

Scarcity of water combined with shortage of power has dealt a double whammy on farmers, forcing several of them in the region to switch to fruits, vegetables and flowers, as they can get quick returns and also water requirements are minimal.

According to Horticulture Department officials, the number of sugarcane growers has come down in Mysore district and hundreds of farmers in the region have switched over to growing fruits, specially watermelon, muskmelon, tomato and vegetables like brinjal, cucumber, and flowers, depending on the climatic condition of the regions.

“Its has become a herculean task to provide water for sugarcane and have to wait for a year to realise profit. But now the same can be got within two months by growing watermelon, muskmelon, tomato, brinjal,” says farmer Lokesh of Varuna Hobli, who has switched over to horticulture from growing cane just a year ago.

Another farmer Srinivas of Kelanakuppe Panchayat, Varuna Hobli said,that "in our region around 80 per cent of farmers have stopped harvesting sugarcane. I had cultivated sugarcane in 15 acres of land, but since last year I switched over to cultivate fruits, vegetables which yielded a turnover of Rs 20 lakh this year." Srinivas is presently growing watermelons and tomatoes in the 12 acres plot and the same are harvested alternately every month, giving him good returns.

Puttegowdana Village Varuna Hobli Cluster President and Farmer Rajbuddhi said that several farmers in the region are growing melons and getting handsome money, depending upon the market price. Rajbuddhi who also maintains a nursery has sold around 6 lakh saplings of melons and tomatoes over the past 9 months.

Another farmer Nagaraj who owns 4 acres of land is also growing fruits and vegetables at his plot for the first time and has witnessed good returns. He is already preparing for a second harvest.

Adoption of latest methods

Thanks for the Comprehensive Horticulture Development Programme, introduced by Horticulure Department following drought, which has brought cheers on hundreds of farmers, even when state is witnessing severe drought.

Several farmers in the region have adopted latest techniques like high density plantation, Trench plantation, mulching technology where farmers can now plant around 200 saplings, which was earlier restricted to a mere 60 per acre. Accordingly the corresponding yield has also increased to more than 30 tonnes in place of just 10 tonnes earlier.

Meanwhile to promote farmers, Horticultre Department is providing subsidy to these farmers under Programme. Department Deputy Director HM Nagaraj said that measures have been taken to educate farmers about what crops could be grown so they can reap profit. “We have asked farmers to compulsorily adopt drip irrigation to avoid wastage of water, and adopt mulching technology to get good yield."

About 14 Cluster's and Producer's society have been formed in the District (2 clusters in every taluk). Under the cluster, farmers are growing papaya, mango, Chikoo, roses, banana, vegetables and fruits.

    

Horticulture department to check artificial ripening of mangoes

The herald of summer brings with it not only sweltering heat but also King of fruits 'Mango'. This is the time traders ripen mangoes and bring in crates to sell in the open market. While, majority of the scrupulous traders resort to shortcut methods of ripening mangoes quickly, instead of allowing them to ripe naturally on their own.

This had made health conscious people think twice before buying the golden hued mangoes from street hawkers and wholesale traders. Hence, Horticulture Department has chalked out several measures to avoid fruits entering into market ripened artificially using harmful chemical that is calcium carbide. The chemical is not only a grave hazard to health but is also carcinogenic.

In this regard, the officials are educating farmers about ripening of mango fruits naturally by adopting low cost ripening technologies. In a first phase 1250 yielding garden farmers who have grown mangoes in an 1200 hectares of land are been provided training about ripening fruits naturally and quickly.

The farmers are being educated about low cost ripening methods like Pre-harvester system, how to prevent diseases, how to trap fruits fly, and much more as per the suggestions of Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Bangalore.

Department officers say adoption of low cost techniques to ripe the fruits will be helpful for farmers to good harvest. Farmers who ripe the mangoes naturally will be provided opportunity to take part in mango mela, which will be conducted by department.

General public will be made aware of the ill effects of consumption of chemical fruits and special training is being provided for hobli, taluk level department officers and progressive farmers.

Department deputy director HM Nagaraj said that to gain early market large quantity of mangoes are ripened artificially by traders.

'Ripening of fruits artificially is not only hazrdous to health, whereas even violation of the Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA). The department is exercising seriously to educate farmers, traders in market,' he added.

At Mysore Taluk, Hunsur, Nanjangud, HD Kote regions more number of farmers grow mangoes, followed by Periyapatna. From last ten years majority of the farmers are growing Ratnagiri Alphanso in the regions as there is good export value, followed by Mallika, Raspuri, Malgova, Dasheri.   

Energy Audit on government buildings to reduce bills

Continuous monitoring of power consumption and checking losses has become a key issue in modern times, especially when power tariffs are rising as the cost of production of electricity is spiraling upwards due to various reasons.

Hence, to put a check on unwanted energy consumption and thereby cut down electricity bill, REI Electronics, a private limited, recgonised by the Government has began Energy Audit of twelve Government buildings in city.

The audit will identify areas where power is being wasted and help to plan and implement energy saving techniques. The auditing is done as part of the Solar City project under Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL).

In the first phase energy auditing is being done at the Deputy Commissioner's office, Chamundi Guest House, District Court, Regional Commissioner's Officer, CADA Building, KR Hospital, Cheluvamba Hospital, Mysore Medical College, Government Printing Press and the PKTB Hospital.

In second phase, energy auditing will be done at buildings housing Government aided organsiations like Mysore University, Karnataka State Open University and others.

After the completion of the auditing based on the Detailed Project Report (DPR), officers of KREDL will think of steps to curb wasteful energy, which could result in savings of lakh of rupees on electricity bill. The DPR will provide information of areas where energy efficiency can be improved further by adopting latest technologies.

KREDL Project Engineer DK Dinesh Kumar said that as per a pilot study it is observed that around 20 to 30 per cent of power is wasted in each building. Stating only by conducting an Energy Audit, energy efficiency can be improved, he said that the auditing officers will calculate the energy consumption of each building, electricity bill that is being currently paid and suggest to what extent power savings can be done.

By the end of this month techniques to save power in government buildings will be developed. Plans have been made to rope in private companies, who are ready to invest money running to lakhs of rupees, but will eventually get back their returns every month in the form of savings.

  

25 lakh people have obtained UID number in Mysore

As Aadhaar has been made mandatory for many services there is good response in Mysore. Statistics obtained from the Mysore Division Aadhaar shows that out of 29.90 lakh population about 28.73 lakh have enrolled for Aadhar as on January 2013 (as per 2011 census).

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) began the enrollment process in Mysore district in April 2010. So far, UID have been generated for about 26 lakh people, in which about 25 lakh people have obtained their UID number out of 28.73 lakh people. Yet another two lakh people to get enroll and one lakh to obtain their UID, whose number have been generated.

Disclosing the statistics, District Aadhaar project co-ordinator and Statistics Assistant Director MB Padmashekar Pande said that there is very good response for Aadhar in Mysore, and about 98.5 per cent of population is covered under the project.

“Following lot of confusions, about 40 per cent of people are re-enrolling their names for UID. This has led to huge rush at Aadhar centers and also results in delay generating UID number, during de-duplication process done by UIDAI,” he added.

Stating there are even instance where people are rushing the center for even change of address, which is not needed, he said following launch of Direct Cash Transfer programme and other services down the center, there is delay in generating UID numbers. “Hardly 32-35 enrollments can be done per day in one center and every day an average of 900-1000 are enrolled under Aadhar,” he added.

Requesting people not to go for re-enrollment and wait for some time to get their UID numbers, he asked people to check their enrollment process and change their address by visiting the website www.uidai.gov.in

Enrollment

Aadhar Enrollment is continuous process and one can enroll their names at nine Zonal Offices of Mysore City Corporation. In all, 25 centers are functioning in Mysore district to reach the target.

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SSPK boon for unorganised workers

Unorganised workers are not benefited from the rapid growth of globalisation and majority of them are completely in the dark of the various Government schemes launched for their welfare. In fact, the Government does not have any figure as to how many unorganised workers are there in the State.

In such, to combat all such problems and to provide improved accessibility to reliable and efficient Social Security, the Department of Labour in association with GIZ (German Development Co-operation), set up a Worker Facilitation Centers (WFCs) at Grama Panchayat and urban ward levels.

As a pilot project 10 Taluks from 5 Districts were identified under the 'Social Security Benefits for Unorganised Workers, Karnataka (SSPK)' in 2009. The districts are Mysore, Bellary, Bangalore - Urban and Rural, Gulbarga and Dakshin Kannada.

So far under the programme, 250 WFCs have been setup at 10 taluks of this district, comprising 89% (222 WFC's) at Grama Panchayaths and 11% (28 WFC) at Urban Wards. 2,34,005 (till Janurary) eligible beneficiaries have been identified under different social security schemes, and 91,277 applications have been submitted under various social security schemes, of which 59,498 applications have been approved.

The facilitators conduct house to house survey and identify the eligible unorganised beneficiaries under various social security schemes. They will be provided special training on various aspects by GIZ to deal with villagers. They ensure the beneficiaries receive benefits on time. The facilitators hold group discussions and educate unorganised workers about various issues.

“Initially we faced a lot of challenges. After gaining their confidence, holding discussions with them the work became easy. We invited some of the beneficiaries to the group discussion and made them to share their experience. Thereby we have gained knowledge of the effectiveness of the various Government schemes,” said facilitator Nagesh of Erappana Koppalu, Mysore Taluk.

“Thousands of unroganised workers have been benefited from this scheme. Financial assistance are provided for them in health, education, employment and even at death. Many of them are getting Rs 500 as pension while others loans for their wards education. Rs 1 lakh will be provided when a labourer dies while on duty and 19,000 for death due to natural causes,” said Harish Taluk Co-ordinator.

S Dinesh, State Co-odinator, Department of Labour, Project Management Unit said more than fifteen government schemes comes under the programme and there is a very good response.

“The project has become a boon for thousands of unroganised workers by providing direct link between the beneficiaries and the Department by eliminating the middlemen, says beneficiary Venkatesh of Yelwala.