MM: Bangalore’s ‘voice of slums’: June 12, 2008

A life spent in the slums of Bangalore inspired him to take this decision. Other than him, the editorial team consists of Balamma and Isaac Arun Selva, both slum dwellers. The team of Slum Jagathu works from the cramped building of Jansahayog, an NGO which works for the rights of the suffering slum dwellers.

However, the hardships do not dampen their spirit.

The editorial team spends more than four hours daily to compile the magazine. Editing, layout and designing are done. For the outsiders, it is interesting to see how the paper works. A day in Slum Jagathu starts with sorting of manuscripts sent by contributors which are then converted by the team into articles. Then the articles are sorted out based on news value. Only Dayanand has been trained in journalism.

HOW IT STARTED 

The magazine began publishing in 2000 and now has a readership of around 2,800. This subscriptionbased monthly costs Rs 5 and has about 20 pages. However, the production, including postal charges, costs the editorial team Rs 5.65. The magazine is distributed to 300 libraries across Karnataka and represents the issues of people living in slums.

Today, Slum Jagathu has readers all over Karnataka and is also poised to go online. “The indifference of popular media to our issues is the motivation for our magazine,” says Isaac Arul Selva, the editor. “It’s an open forum where people like Dayanand can voice their opinion,” he adds.

THE PURPOSE 

“Our aim,” says Selva, “is to create a platform to voice the concerns of the urban poor. We want to attract the attention of the government and social activists.” He also talked about the genesis of the magazine. “Fed up with the media disparity towards slums, we started a magazine of our own. We realised that the issues need to take a print form so that they can be documented and attract a larger audience.” 

“The magazine has increased awareness among the slum dwellers about different government policies and schemes.” It also helps us to exchange our ideas, says Balamma.

ACHIEVEMENTS 

Lakshmi Devi, a seven-year-old girl, was admitted to a hospital in a critical condition. After reading about her in Slum Jagathu, a few NGOs came forward to help her. It has also revealed many scams and brought justice to the deserving. There have been instances when the enlightened readers of Slum Jagathu have protested against the corruption of the authorities. 

Pushpalatha, who has been contributing articles for a long time, says “Slum-dwellers from Mysore, Davangere and Hospet also contribute articles.”

“The life and struggle of our community is my own struggle and we are able to reach a wide audience through this magazine,” she adds.

PROBLEMS FACED 

The magazine has faced many obstacles, finance being one of the major issues. This has forced people like Dayanand to work in other print houses. NGOs such as ‘Civic Bangalore’ try to support this initiative. “We encourage the people as their issues get better coverage. It also acts as a forum to educate the urban poor,” says Kathyayini Chamaraj from the NGO.