Prof K Srinivasan

It is with great sadness Mysore Grahakara Parishat condoles the death of Prof K.Srinivasan. In early years of MGP, he encouraged MGP to take several causes helping the poor and was ever ready to take part in MGP activities and protests despite his age. He used to attend MGPʼs monthly meeting and was a source of great strength whenever we planned any protest.

In 2004 when MGP organized a campaign “Save Mysore”, Prof Srinivasan came along with his friend Prof J R Lakshmana Rao as can be seen in the photo. MGP in recent years has lost several members (as can be seen from the photo) who helped it to serve Mysoreans by taking several causes to preserve the old charm of the city.

The above photo was taken during MGPʼs Save Mysore Campaign on 20-7- 2004. From left to right are Dr. H A B Parpia, Dr G T Narayana Rao, Prof  J R  Laxman Rao, T S Satyan, Prof K Srinivasan.

Bhamy V Shenoy, MGP

Post Card Campaign by MGP

There is no train from Bengaluru to Mysuru from 3.30 in the afternoon to 6.15 in the evening. As a consequence, passengers on the 6.15 PM Chamundi Express do not even have space to stand. To alleviate this problem, MGP wrote to concerned railway officials and elected representatives to introduce another train from Bengaluru to Mysuru at 5-5.30 PM, but received no response. To bring the issue to the attention of the MP from Mysuru, MGP is launching a post card campaign.

Interested persons can contact N.S. Pradeep Kumar (9844573173) or S. Yogendra (9964146494)

N.S. Pradeep Kumar and S. Yogendra, Mysore Grahakara Parishat

Consumer Justice Is Dying In Karnataka

The objective of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was to provide consumers with speedy and inexpensive justice. The hearings were to be informal and judgments were to be given within 90 days of filing the complaint.

But the judges appointed to the consumer courts are judges who retire from regular courts. Slowly, procedures (such as too much formalism, adjournments, etc.) which cause huge delays in regular courts are making their way into consumer courts and causing similar delays in delivery of justice. Some cases in consumer courts have taken as long as 9 years to be concluded.

Railway Budget: A First Reaction

The railway minister Suresh Prabhu has presented his first railway budget. The budget differs from previous railway budgets in that it has very few numbers. It also does not take the populist route of announcing hundreds of new trains. It focusses on the vision Prabhu has for Indian Railways. It speaks of consolidation and implementing concrete steps to upgrade the existing infrastructure. Emphasis is given to increasing train speed, track doubling and tripling, gauge conversion and electrification. Trainsets are proposed to be introduced in a few lines on an experimental basis. A trainset is a set of 8-12 coaches with powercars at either end. They are fast in accelerating and breaking and no time is lost in the turnarounds.

Wake Up, Pollution Control Board!

Instead of transporting city's garbage to landfills, MCC workers continue to burn garbage on every street. In Chamundipuram where I live, you can see such fires every hundred feet. Needless to say, this is causing terrible pollution and releasing dangerous gases such as dioxin into the atmosphere. Since the garbage is piled up next to the nearest compound, the burning also causes disfigurement and damage to the compound. If there is no nearby compound, the garbage is lit next to a roadside tree, causing irreparable damage to the tree.

Good News For High BP Patients

Till now, any blood pressure value above 140/90 (systolic/diastolic pressures) was considered "high" and the person was put on medication to lower it. But the expert committee (called the Joint National Committee JNC-8) appointed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of USA has recommended that persons older than 60 years should wait till the BP reaches 150/90 before beginning treatment. It went through all the published research and found no additional benefit to lowering the blood pressure below 150/90 in this age group in terms of coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure or death. On the other hand, it noted that aggressive BP treatment in this age group does have several potential adverse consequences (such as impotence, dizzy spells, light headedness, weakness). If the recommendation of JNC-8 is followed, lakhs and possibly crores of BP patients will be spared the expense of treatment.

Another Welcome Decision By The Consumer Forum

It was recently reported in the media that Mysore District Consumer Forum sentenced A.L. Nanjundaraje Urs, managing partner of Chanakya Finance Corporation (CFC) to three years in prison for not returning the deposits of customers. Now, in a more sweeping judgement given on 17-1-15, the Forum has sentenced all the nine partners of CFC to three years in jail and also fined them 10,000 rupees for the same offence.

Railway Commuters Deserve Better Railway Services

MGP discussed the railway commuters’ problems in its monthly public meeting, second time within a span of one year because of its importance and relevance to the people of the city. Non-participation of officers from the Mysore Division of SWR in the public deliberations was overcome by the presence of Sri.Pradeep Kumar, Sri.Yogendra and Sri.  Vijeth Bhardwaj,  who are members of Facebook Page, "Karnataka Railway Development and News", and very knowledgeable in railway matters.

Lacuna In The Helmet Law

A few days ago I was going on my two-wheeler on Kalidasa road and all of a sudden, the helmet flew off from the head of the rider in front of me and almost hit me. If it had hit me, I would have, in all probability, lost control of my vehicle and crashed.

City Bus Services to Improve Soon, Assures KSRTC

Mysore Grahakara Parishat, taking note of the importance  of city bus services to the city made an exception by conducting its Monthly Public Meeting on this issue for the second time within a span of ten months. Introducing the topic president stated that an efficient and economical public transport system of a city  is a precondition of its economic growth. A failed public transport results in unwieldy growth of traffic due to dependence on private transport vehicles. The public participated in large number and KSRTC was represented by Sri.Dundu Madaiah, DTO, and  Sri.Maqsood Ahmed, Manager of City Depot-1.

A Welcome Decision by the Consumer Forum

In a welcome decision (given on 14-11-14 in Case No. Ex.Cri.30-2011), Mysore District Consumer Forum has sentenced a person to three years in prison for providing deficient service and ignoring the orders of the Forum. He is in jail now.

It is well-known that consumer courts provide compensation for defective goods and deficient service. If the seller of the goods/services does not obey the orders of the court, consumer courts have the power to punish him with a prison sentence of upto three years and a fine of upto 10,000 Rs. Unfortunately, consumer courts are reluctant to enforce these punishments and so violation of the orders of the consumer courts is quite common.

Cutting of Roadside Trees

Many avenue trees in Mysore are too old or diseased and pose a threat to life and property. Mysore City Corporation and the Forest Department are not being prompt in identifying and removing such trees.

Is This Building Legal?

A 5-storey commercial building is coming up on a residential site at the circle opposite V.V. Puram Police Station . This building is in violation of Mysore City Corporation building bylaws and will pose serious problems to pedestrians and vehicular traffic. There are no setbacks and the cellar which should be used for parking according to bylaws will evidently be not used for parking since no access has been provided (Even if access can be provided, it will violate 1:10 slope mandated by law).

E-commerce Posing A Stiff Challenge To Retail Commerce

MGP held a public meeting on e-commerce on Sunday. Mr. R. Sateesh, Promoter, Yellow Pages was the main speaker. He explained the transformation that has taken place in the means of communication between person to person and its impact on the way people do commerce. The advent of mobile and internet has brought fundamental transformations in this sphere and the e-Commerce is an automatic off-shoot of this transformation. He explained the changes in the technological and economic parameters which have resulted in such a transformation and the emergence of very strong social media the world over.

Another black mark on Mysore Master Plan

It has been reported in the media that there is not enough room in the Attarah Kacheri building which houses the DC's Office and other offices and efforts to locate a site suitable for constructing a latger building have failed.

Till recently, extensive discussions were being held about the Mysore Master Plan which was proposed by MUDA in 2012. Since DC is the highest government official in the district, many of these discussions must have taken place in the DC's Office. Did the lack of space not occur to anyone then? Because, there is no mention of it in the Master Plan.

Is There No Escape From Road Blocking?

A group of people blocked Bengaluru-Mysuru road on Sunday night (26-10-14) because some accident had occurred on that road. The road blocking which happened late at night must have severely inconvenienced innumerable travellers, especially elderly people, children and ladies.

MGP’s Monthly Public Meeting Discusses Dasara 2014

MGP’s monthly public meeting provided an opportunity to the participants to share their personal experiences of recently concluded Dasara. There was a feeling that this Dasara was high on publicity and claims and not so high on the basics. Even though it was claimed that around 6 lakh people witnessed Dasara no toilet facilities were made available all along the route. So much so, a member who has worked as Traffic Warden during the Dasara procession shared his experience of the participants in the procession, particularly women participants searching for non existing mobile toilets . Their agony was writ large on their faces. And

MYMUL Officials Interact with Public

At a meeting on held ny Mysore Grahakara Parishat on 24-9-14 and chaired by R. Chandra Prakash, MGP President, Sri. Rajashekhara Murthy, Marketing Manager, MYMUL, interacted with the public about MYMUL products. Some of the important issues raised by the audience were: non-availability of 1-litre milk packets (and the resulting one rupee penalty on consumers who buy two half liter packets), difficulty          in

Bus travellers, register your complaints

Mysore Grahakara Parishat held a public meeting in several months ago in which officials of KSRTC promised that most of the problems raised at the meeting would soon be solved and that there would be a noticeable all-round improvement in the bus services by April 2014.

Railways terminate contract on traveller's complaint

I travelled in Gol Gumbaz Express from Mysore to Bijapur a couple of months ago. We were given bedding at Bengaluru, but it was both dirty and wet. I lodged a written complaint with the TT on the train, but was not sure that any action would be taken. When I received an SMS from the railways that my complaint had been closed, I thought that my fears were justified. But just on a hunch, I checked with the railways on the cause for the closure and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bedroll contract for the train was terminated for deficiency in service, based on my complaint.