CIVIC Bangalore

29/09/2026

"Campaign for Right to Education", of which CIVIC is a part, held a successful public hearing on "Status of School Education in Karnataka" on Friday, 25th Sep 2026 at Hotel Paraag. The following recommendations were made:
1. Implement RTE along with sufficient allocation of Funds: Ensure RTE-compliant infrastructure, teachers and facilities in all Government and aided schools within two years, with at least 6% of GSDP allocated to education.
2. Protect Neighbourhood Schools: Stop arbitrary closure and merger of Government schools and retain Lower Primary Schools with good enrolments within villages and habitations.
3. Safe Transport: Permit school mergers/ KPS consolidation only when the Government guarantees free, safe and reliable transportation for every affected child.
4. Regulate Private School Expansion: Ensure equitable neighbourhood schooling and review RTE reimbursements to private schools receiving significant public subsidies.
5. CSR as Supplementary Support: Keep CSR as additional funding without allowing corporate/private takeover, adoption or interference in the autonomy of Government schools.
6. Strengthen SDMCs: Empower SDMCs for school governance, monitoring and social audits, ensure regular coordination meetings, and include CSO/NGO representatives in CCSR committees.
7. Track Every Child: Establish annual 0–14-year (0-18 years is preferable) household databases and effective enrolment, attendance and retention tracking, including migrant children without documentation barriers. Insist strict implementation of RTE rules 6A, 6B, 6C & 6D for brining back the out of school children immediately.
8. Build Institutional Capacity: Provide systematic training to teachers, SDMCs, Child Welfare Committees, local governments and DIETs on RTE implementation and child entitlements.
9. Education to Skills: Move towards compulsory education up to Class XII with career guidance, vocational education, skill development and MSME/internship linkages.
10. Transparency & Accountability: Publicly disclose data and independently assess KPS/Magnet Schools, school closures, CSR interventions, learning outcomes, infrastructure and education expenditure.
Report below in Prajavani of 26.09.2026 See less

24/09/2026

Campaign for Right to Education is holding a public hearing on the "Status of School Education in Karnataka" tomorrow, Friday, 25th September 2026, at Hotel Paraag, Rajbhavan Road, Bengaluru 560001, from 10AM to 2PM. Hon'ble Sri Justice H. N. Nagamohan Das will be presiding. All are welcome.

01/09/2026

My article on the CM's promise to empower youth of Karnataka and the deficiencies in the implementation of the RTE Act in Karnataka in 'The Newsminute' today.

It is heartening to note that Karnataka’s CM DK Shivakumar has recognised that “the power, dreams, thinking, and hard work of our youth are the divine forces th

28/08/2026

My interview on Street Vendors' Eviction by K.S. Vimala of Janashakti Media:
ಬೀದಿ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳ ಬದುಕು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಡುವವರು ಯಾರು? ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್‌ ಹೇಳಿರುವುದು ಏನು? ಕಾತ್ಯಾಯಿನಿ ಚಾಮರಾಜ್ ಜೊತೆ ಕೆ.ಎಸ್‌ ವಿಮಲಾ ಮಾತುಕತೆ

ಬೀದಿ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳ ಬದುಕು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಡುವವರು ಯಾರು? ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್‌ ಹೇಳಿರುವುದ...

23/08/2026

Please sign this petition to save our parks, especially Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, as the government has passed a law allowing 5% of our parks to be diverted for infrastructure projects such as tunnel roads. Request ALL to Read, Sign, Comment & Share this Petition reg Parks of Bengaluru:

Bengaluru is severely short of Park Space. We need MORE, not less

07/08/2026

Participated in a Podcast on 'All Tax, No Service' hosted by Dr. B.S. Ajaikumar, Chairman & Founder, HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG) Cancer Hospitals and Anthardhwani (an NGO) set up by him, along with co-speaker, Sri Ashwin Mahesh. Podcast focused on issues of public education – from school to college – and public healthcare which have disappeared from the lives of the urban middle class. Private expenditure on education and health in India is one of the highest in the world.
As a social entrepreneur, Dr. Ajaikumar has founded several NGOs and empowered over 20,000 women through microfinance programs and sponsored the education of 550 children, etc. Through his independent think tank, Antardhwani, he continues to address systemic challenges in health, education, livelihood, and governance.

ಭಾರತ ಇಂದು ವಿಶ್ವದ ವೇಗವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಆರ್ಥಿಕತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರ...

15/07/2026

My article in Deccan Herald of 12th July 26 on the violations of the Street Vendors' Act, Rules and Scheme by the Greater Bengaluru Development minister ordering eviction of all street vendors from arterial, sub-arterial and major roads of Bengaluru when the Scheme framed by the state government says it is the roads that are 15 mts. wide and have pavements that are 11ft. wide that should be declared as 'restriction-free vending areas".

Bengaluru’s Safe Footpath Campaign must balance pedestrian safety with legal protections under the Street Vendors Act, ensuring fair rehabilitation, proper surveys and regulated vending zones.

30/06/2026

Dear friends,
Please find link below to my article on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The SIR verdict has overlooked the existence of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2003 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003 thereunder, which, though controversial because of the discriminatory criteria for defining citizenship, had salutary elements of having a continuously updated local register of citizens of an area, linked to the birth and death register. This was supplemented with the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023, mandating digitisation and centralisation of births and deaths and its linking to electoral rolls which would have enabled clean electoral rolls. The CAA 2003 and the Rules thereunder also mandated issuance of citizenship ID cards to every citizen which would help them prove their citizenship at all times.
If these provisions had been implemented in 2003 itself, all those who were in the electoral rolls of 2003 when the Special Revision was done, would have received citizenship ID cards then itself as the Lal Babu Hussain judgment in 1995 would have protected them. The Lal Babu Hussain judgement said that when someone's name is already in the electoral rolls, there is a presumption of citizenship, and if that is to be questioned, the onus is on the ECI to provide the evidence for the doubt and the onus is not on the citizen.
However this Act and Rules were never implemented due to hesitancy by several governments and protests against the CAA 2019 and the NRC resulting in the current mess in the electoral rolls and the absence of a document with citizens to prove their citizenship. As presented by the Petitioners in the on-going case on the SIR, the SC had in a previous judgement (in Mohinder Jain case) said that the ECI cannot override an Act and Rules if they already exist. But the verdict of the SC giving a clean chit to the SIR has overlooked the existence of the salubrious provisions in the CAA 2003 Act and Rules, which if implemented, would have made the need for the SIR redundant. This gives rise to the question whether the SC's verdict on the SIR violates the earlier rulings of the SC in the Mohinder Jain case and is causing the current harassment of 93+ crore citizens through the SIR.

The recent judgment of the Supreme Court justifying the validity of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the case of Bihar and giving a clean chit to it appear to be deeply flawed.  The controversy has been mostly restricted to debates about the resulting disenfranchisement of lakhs or crores of...

25/06/2026

🚇🌿 How will Metro Double-Deckers and Elevated Corridors shape Bengaluru’s future?

Join renowned transportation expert Prof. Ashish Verma (IISc) for a research-based discussion on the impact of major mobility infrastructure projects on traffic, sustainability, urban livability, and the environment. The session will also feature citizen-led case studies and an open forum for public participation.

📅 28 June 2026 (Sunday)
⏰ 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM
📍 Gandhi Bhavan, Bengaluru

Be informed. Be heard. Be part of the conversation shaping Bengaluru’s future.

BangaloreMetro PublicTransport SustainableCities UrbanPlanning SmartMobility Transportation Environment Sustainability CityPlanning TrafficSolutions MobilityMatters IISc AshishVerma CitizenParticipation BengaluruEvents

07/05/2026

My article, with Asha Kilaru as co-author, on the Draft Right to Health Bill of the Karnataka government, has appeared as lead article in today's Deccan Herald, exposing the long way the State still has to go to ensure Right to Health for all.

Health policy: Karnataka’s draft Right to Health Bill raises concerns over funding, infrastructure and regulation, as experts warn gaps in universal care, accountability and standards could weaken access to affordable healthcare