CFAR-led community action succeeds in Hakki-Pikki community gaining access to bus service

Bengaluru city, the Silicon Valley of India, has many badges to wear in —garden city, city of lakes, unicorn capital and its metro service popularly known as Namma Metro. Notwithstanding, such ebullience has not been extended to the lives of marginalised communities like the Hakki Pikkis community, living near the outskirts of the city. The Hakki Pikki community in Bhadrapura has long faced marginalization and a lack of basic facilities, including public transport services.

The Hakki Pikkis, a semi-nomadic tribe in Karnataka known for their traditional bird-catching and hunting practices, are one of the state’s major tribal communities. The lives of the community, comprising 403 households and a total population of 1,532, has been severely affected due to the absence of transportation, particularly for the children going to secondary and higher-level education. Many community members rely on small-scale businesses selling spices, flowers, Ayurvedic formulations, and herbal oils.

Without public transport, they often stay away for extended periods, making daily commutes unfeasible. Additionally, the lack of bus services has hampered access to health services, with the nearest Primary Health Centre (PHC) and schools being 6 km away. Consequently, many women undergo home deliveries.

“We all depend on public transport for our small-scale businesses, as we need to carry our goods with us. Public transport has been a long-pending demand because we were marginalized from these services. We need to travel 5 km to the state highway to access public transport, and it’s not possible to walk daily carrying our items. Therefore, we stay away for three to four days to finish all our business before returning,” says Divya, a Daksha Samuha (CBO facilitated by Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) member from the Hakki Pikki community in Bhadrapura.

Despite the Karnataka government’s initiative to provide free bus access to women across the state, Hakki Pikki community women remained excluded from the services. Their repeated appeals to the local BMTC bus depot manager went unheeded until Daksha Samuha and CFAR intervened.

“We have gone to meet the manager many times to demand bus services, but they don’t even let us into the office and treat us very poorly. This has affected us in many ways and has severely impacted our children’s education,” Divya further added.

Recognizing the critical nature of the issue, Divya and Gauthami from Bhadrapura, members of Daksha Samuha, mobilized few community members and engaged with higher BMTC officials, including the Chief Traffic Manager, with support from the CFAR team. They presented a detailed letter with community signatures, which led to an immediate resumption of bus services during school hours. However, this was short-lived, as the election code of conduct caused a temporary halt in services, resulting in some students missing their exams.

In May, CFAR’s Kengeri cluster team facilitated another meeting with community representatives and the Kengeri BMTC depot manager. Highlighting the severe impact on business, youth and women, the community’s plea was heard, resulting in the reintroduction of one bus with two trips daily, aligned with the community’s schedule. BMTC officials have assured that services will be expanded based on response.

Reacting to the community demand, Chendrakala, Kengeri BMTC bus depot manager, said, “We operated a few buses a few months back, but the response was very poor, so the service was cancelled. Now, after listening to the community, we learned that most people go out of town for business and stay away for three days because they cannot return to Bhadrapura due to the lack of bus services. We are now aware of this and will operate the service regularly and increase the frequency in the future.”

Thanks to our collective resolve and never-say-die spirit and efforts and CFAR team’s support, the Hakki Pikki community now enjoys improved access to education and healthcare, marking a significant step towards their empowerment. This enhanced access is not only a victory for the Hakki Pikki community but also a testament to the power of advocacy and community action in driving meaningful change.