How do the citizens of a city protest against any problem related to civic aminities
Answers
Answer:When people get together to collect signatures and submit memorandums, or even protest on streets, not much changes. But with the success of #SteelFlyoverBeda, citizens gained confidence as a new formula had been discovered.
Explanation: Social media allows people to hear things from others they trust, and have meaningful conversations that lead to action. The WhatsApp group emerged as the modern version of an RWA with no strings attached, no membership, no registration, no political affiliation. The barriers to entry have been eliminated with a click of a button as people from different parts of the city got together in a matter of minutes after reading a post on Facebook and agreeing to work together.
The biggest lesson from #SteelFlyoverBeda is that politicians understand numbers. You can reason with them, send them letters, file objections, meet in their office, but nothing compares to feet on the ground. Politicians are good at mobilising crowds and know how difficult it is to gather people voluntarily. When they see a thousand people, it conveys to them public opinion of lakhs of people. They feel compelled to act before public opinion costs them votes in the next election.
Print media plays a big role in amplifying public opinion expressed by numbers on the street and that feeds into even more people joining the street protests making it extremely difficult for politicians to not react.
#ChukuBukuBeku is a great example of a new style of civic activism post #SteelFlyoverBeda. The suburban train project was first proposed 36 years ago. If it was built even 20 years ago, Bengaluru would have had a mass public transport system in addition to buses. Petitions were signed and submitted, ministers and officials met, but there wasn’t any real progress until thousands of people got on a train from Cantonment to Whitefield and attracted the attention of the national media.
Thousands showed up because weeks of awareness campaigns run in colleges and streets, and awareness from RWAs. Citizens also showed up uninvited in railway meetings when the Union Ministers were present and raised slogans. Today, the suburban train project is closer to reality and many more local trains have been added, serving thousands of commuters who never knew trains existed until this campaign.
A defining feature of new age civic activism is the articulation of demand in simple and precise terms with creative expression using posters and videos. Another aspect is the clear intent to engage and collaborate with politicians and officials constructively to get things done. We are not interested in making noise and going home, but want to see change happen. However small and incremental it may be, we need to see things change as that has the power to bring even more people to the forefront. Not everything will be a resounding success, but the sense of ownership it builds among citizens and the accountability it makes politicians feel is priceless.
This decade is ending on a happy note for active citizens. After years of sustained activism, the government is finally coming around to prioritise public transport.
The bus lanes are here, suburban train well on its way, a sense of urgency in metro construction, a promise from CM to reduce bus fares and increase fleet, visible and increased coordination between civic agencies are all signs of success.
In the last year of this decade, nearly 1000 ward committee meetings took place and this has to take the cake as the biggest achievement of civil society movement. After decades of languishing on paper, the ward committees are finally taking shape – long way to go in terms of quality and outcomes – but the fact that every month, on the first Saturday, citizens can sit in a room with their councillor and officials from different departments, is no mean feat. This can only get better if more citizens show up and help make ward development plans in the coming year.
The next decade will realise the dream of participatory urban local governance. Transparency and accountability will come from increased presence of citizens in various forums. More and more hyper local activism is taking shape, and people from different social backgrounds and age groups are joining hands as they realise the strength in unity.
The BBMP elections will tell us how political parties perceive the citizen movements across the city and on what basis they seek our votes. It is important for citizen movements to stay apolitical, and represent diverse opinions of the city, especially the voices of the voiceless, in a peaceful, democratic way. I have every reason to believe that’s exactly what will happen in the next decade.
By 2030, Hosa Bengaluru will be as charming as the Hale Bengaluru.
Answer:
People can protest and sign a petition and give it to the counselor who in turn can
take the matter to the municipal corporation. If the demand is not met they can even go
to the city court for justice.
Explanation: