Urban Dislocations and the Politics of Educational Access : Metro Colonies, Bengaluru

Examining the re-structuring of Bengaluru in the last decade, this paper focuses on the connections between urban mega projects, the creation of new margins, and education. Steered by global imperatives such as the need for world-class and smart cities, the urban reforms undertaken relatively recently have been in the domains of infrastructure and transportation. The Metro Rail project has been one of the signature initiatives leading to the structural and social re-organization of Bengaluru. The dislocation of the two neighbourhoods from the centre of the city and relocation to the periphery resulted in numerous changes in the lives of the residents who moved into the resettlement colonies. Distance from the city, restricted mobility, and a lack of availability of public institutions have been the primary issues for residents during the decade or so that they have lived in the Metro colonies. This paper looks at the politics of educational access in a rapidly changing city like Bengaluru. Even as reliable access to good education becomes hard for many working-class families, the essay unpacks the conditions under which they turn to education.