SustainabilityNext Editor Benedict Paramanand chatted with HSR Citizen Forum Co-founders Dr. Shanti Tummula and Jayanthi Srikanth. This is part of the SN – Urban Venture Labs Series on Urban Communities for Change.
Highlights
- Started in 2015 by Dr. Shanti Tummula
- 95% Waste Segregation
- Work closely with the local government
- Feeder Bus Service is a big hit
- Bottom-up operating model
- Focus on the systems approach
- People genuinely want to contribute
Dr. Shanti, what motivated you to start the HSR Citizen Forum?
I have been a dentist for a long time. Seeing so much garbage and mismanagement of civic facilities got me to ask: Why do so many people suffer because of a few people’s mistakes? Why do educated people behave so indifferent towards the environment?
While all these questions were bothering me, an unplanned visit to a landfill was the trigger. I gave up my profession to focus on civic activism. It brought tears to my eyes.
The bigger question I asked myself was, what is the use of education if the people in the villages are suffering so much because of our mistakes? That was a motivating factor for me to start the work. And then when like-minded people joined, that inspired me to start an organization in 2012. It became active in 2015. We celebrated our 10th anniversary recently.
Jayanti, what was your motivation?
I was a software engineer working in the US. After coming back I was bothered by the litter all around. I realised that the software world doesn’t need any more software engineers. There are enough of them.
There aren’t many people working to make the environment better for other people. That really motivated me and Shanti. Initially, we used to work for an organization called the Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness. While we were teaching children to be responsible citizens, it was important that we practice what we preached to children.
Shanti, what are the three unique features of the HSR Citizen Forum?
We were and are completely committed to citizens’ causes with no political inclination. The HSR Citizen Forum is run by self motivated citizens. Consistency is a key feature of our journey.
One of the unique features is that we work closely with the local government. We don’t believe in blaming the government. We believe in complete collaboration. Motivating the next generation to take up the baton from us is our focus.
What is the percentage of Gen Z or the youth in your organization?
Not too many currently. But that number is growing. They are not only learning, they are also getting exposed to leadership skills. We have an active WhatsApp group of more than 250 volunteers.
What, according to you, Shanti, is the ideal organizational structure for a community initiative to succeed?
We have a few core members and 50 volunteers are in the execution layer. The third level in the forum acts as the eyes of HSR Citizen Forum. They report violations in waste segregation and other issues in the vicinity.
Jayanthi, HSR is seen as an elite area. Isn’t it easier for the forum to be effective?
HSR is a very mixed model. There are pockets of slums. With our 10 years of experience, what we understood is that even if it is a mix of slum or exclusively slum, bringing change is not a tough thing at all. Provided the system works smoothly.
For example, if you’re motivating the slum dwellers to segregate waste, they’re happy to segregate, provided the collection happens every day. Ultimately, everyone demands the system to be in place. People are ready to change. So, bringing change, whether it is in the elite location or the slum area, doesn’t make any difference. Making it successful depends on the backend system here.
Shanti, what is the success formula of working with the local government?
The three-tier system is the only mantra for success. One is citizens. Second is bureaucrats. Third is politicians. They should work in coordination.
So we figured out eventually, with experience, that blaming them or shaming them doesn’t work. Just sit with them across the table, tell them a set of issues and offer solutions and ask if they can help us fix them. It doesn’t work if we keep complaining to them.
That really helps. For many of our initiatives we have had full support of elected representatives and all the officials. Whether it’s BBMP or any organization. So at the implementation level even the contractor of waste collection is also on our side.
Out of all the wards in Bangalore, HSR is the only ward which has got 95% segregation. So, it clearly shows that this model works.
The trick is to give the officials the credit?
I want to add that the HSR Citizen Forum is not craving or trying to take the credit. We are more than happy to give credit to the officials or the elected representatives. Giving credit to a leader benefits them in winning the election. We are happy to give away the credit to whoever supports us.
Jayanthi, how would you define the Co-founders’ leadership qualities that have made this initiative work?
It started with Dr. Shanti’s vision. I feel none of us are leaders in the typical definition. All of us, like-minded, about 10 of us, are core members; we take initiatives that are needed for a project to succeed.
All of us are together with the same passion. You know, it’s all in the universe. That universe unites people with the same passion and, same goals. Coming together for a selfless cause is something that always amazes me. Equally passionate, equally crazy, equally motivated. There are a good number of such people. Uniting them towards a common goal, I think, is the ability of a leader. So how are we able to do that?
What I realized is most people want to do something good but they don’t know how to do it. They may not have the courage to lead or plan but they are more than happy to support.
Tell me about the feeder bus service initiative, Shanti
We work with the belief that once we take up something, we ensure it is given a good try. Whatever challenges come, we find solutions. Throughout the 10-year journey, I have enjoyed taking up new ideas.
The feeder bus is Jayanti’s pet project. Started in 2023, is unique. The government-run bus service connects residents from inner roads to the main road. Free for women, this network’s importance will become greater as a last-mile connectivity when the Metro starts (in June 2025).
Jayanti, you need funding to run all these initiatives. How have you managed it?
Funding for the HSR Citizen Forum comes in different forms. We get donations. We get CSR funding because we are an NGO. Our MLA takes full responsibility for funding some projects.
Recently, somebody gave us gifts they received at a wedding. When people believe that we are doing genuine work and they see the impact on the ground, they are happy to donate.
What does your volunteering model look like?
When we started 10 years back there was garbage everywhere in the HSR layout as the nearby village refused to take our waste. We started an awareness campaign in every lane of the layout. A lane volunteer was doing it. HSR has 45,000 households.
We found that a task distributed approach actually works. We have block volunteers and then sector wise volunteers. We have seven sectors in HSR and six of them are part of our ward.
We have a WhatsApp group for every sector. And you know that really helps to connect with local problems. We also have officials and garbage contractors and officials of all the departments in these groups.
We have recommended this model to the government. I mean, the bottom-down approach where every lane, if you have a citizen who is conscious about that lane, nothing can go wrong.
The divide and rule system works well. It is the secret of our success. It has helped us sustain the energy and efficiency this long.
Shanti, what is your take on Janaagraha’s model which wanted a citizen representative in every ward committee? Is anyone part of the HSR ward committee?
Yes, I’m a part of the HSR ward committee. But to be very frank, nothing much is happening there. The reason is about ownership. A nodal officer is appointed to the ward committee. It is unfortunate that very little information is shared and discussed in the committee, especially about allocations to various projects. We only hear complaints. Wards are poorly organised. Selecting ward committee members is a big challenge.
How can your model be replicated elsewhere, Shanti…
In 2018, we established a solid waste management learning centre called Swachha Graha (clean planet) in Telangana, one of its kind in the country. There’s no school kind of thing to learn about sustainability anywhere. The center is successful, and thousands of visitors come from across the world.
Politicians from Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have come to the centre. They have gone back and set up similar centres in their states. In fact, Telangana has introduced details about this centre in the text books for schools.
What’s your next 10-year vision, Shanti?
To be very frank, I have never thought about the next 10 years’ vision. I believe that when you have ideas just execute them.
HSR layout is a very good place to live right now. And it will continue to be so for the next 10 years, definitely.
I define success in a way that, unless it is sustained and replicated, success has no meaning. We are satisfied that our models can be replicated. Committed political will is all that is required.
See full video – https://youtu.be/xy3rTVBwtXA
