Urban local body polls: People's manifesto demands right to work for slumdwellers

By A Representative
As political parties are trying to woo voters ahead of urban local body elections in Bhubaneswar, the people’s collective Bhubaneswar Vikas Sangathan has released a people’s manifesto to make election contestants accountable to keep their poll promises.
The manifesto has been prepared in a consultative process after discussing with slum residents, local leaders, urban rights experts and social activists and comprises main issues they are facing such as Safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, electricity and other civic issues.
The manifesto demands the right to work for slum dwellers as there is an uncertainty of employment among unskilled labourers living in various slums. It also demands a grievance redressal centre to bring connections between elected representatives and community members, a labour facilitation centre for helping them get benefit from government schemes and a study centre for children which according to the communities, need to be done in priority.
Members of the Bhubaneswar Vikas Sangathan are also running a drive to take a pledge from the contestants to ensure implementation of these issues if they win elections.
Jyotsnarani Nayak, a corporator contestant from Ward No 17 of Patharabandha Sahi said “this is a welcoming step by these groups. Elected representatives are always blamed for deviating from backtracking from their announcements. So, this will make us conscious about what we need to deliver if we win. I have signed the pledge and announced that I will continue highlighting these issues even if I can’t win.

Right to walk, right to livelihood: Clearing footpaths 'can't mean' clearing out the urban poor

By Aseem Mishra* India’s cities are locked in a quiet but intensifying struggle over one of their most contested public spaces: the footpath. For pedestrians, a footpath is basic infrastructure—a strip of ground that should allow people to move safely, independently and with dignity. For millions of informal workers, the same stretch of pavement is a workplace, a source of daily income and often the difference between survival and destitution.

A fearless spirit lost: Rebecca Thomson dies at 17-hour Catalina Swim Mark

By Harsh Thakor On July 26, 2026, Rebecca “Becky” Thomson suffered cardiac arrest while attempting the Catalina Channel Swim — a marathon open water crossing from Catalina Island to the California mainland. After swimming for 17 hours, Thomson collapsed in the water. Despite the painstaking efforts of emergency responders and the medical staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, she succumbed to a devastating hypoxic brain injury and died Friday evening.

Women lawyers petition Supreme Court, seek reconsideration of Aug 4 order on bar council co-option

By A Representative A group of women advocates who stood sixth and seventh among female candidates in the recent Bar Council elections have filed a petition before the Supreme Court, seeking a recall and reconsideration of the Court’s August 4 order determining the mechanism for co-opting women into State Bar Councils.

Counterview

Search This Blog