| Good morning! The crime, the Covid, the politics and the potholes: Capital Letters — Keeping track of Delhi's week, one beat at a time, through the eyes and words of HT's My Delhi section, with all the perspective, context and analysis you need. It’s 2022, and Delhi still has just two toilets for transgender people. Soak that in for a second. The national capital is home to around 20 million people, spread over roughly 1,500 square kilometres, but authorities have still ambled at carving out restrooms for trans people, a reality that people of the community have called an “indignity” that severely hinders their quality of life. Change is likely in the offing, though, with the Delhi municipal corporation trying to earmark over 500 toilets for trans people across the city. They’re doing this in two ways: First, by modifying toilets reserved for people with disabilities that will allow trans persons to use 480 existing toilet complexes. Second, the civic body will add separate sections for trans persons to 37 toilets that are already being built. The former move, civic officials said, will ensure administrative hurdles are bypassed and that the facilities are usable immediately. The latter, coupled with a plan to make sections for trans persons mandatory for all upcoming civic body-run restrooms in the city, is likely to future-proof the directive and weed out the need for ad-hoc interventions entirely.  (Click to expand) In November 2019, HT in an editorial on the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 after it was passed in Parliament, said, “[T]he precariousness of trans lives comes from their vulnerability at the hands of the State machinery—the near absence of free and dignified access to public amenities like education or health, employment or housing.” Nearly three years later, little seems to have changed and Delhi would do well to lead by example. Still more infection tension? Shrouded by a hyper-active news cycle in India and across the world (quick shout-out to Nancy Pelosi for that one), Covid-19 infections have been climbing quietly in the national capital. Given that the Capital is also one of just two states that have detected cases of monkeypox, it would be fair to ask: Why? Just, why? The despondency in the last line aside, the immediate cause for the uptick in infections - which has been fairly slow and not driven up hospitalisations - is likely the complete foregoing of all Covid-related precautions in the city. Few wear masks, even in tightly packed and transmission-happy public spaces, distancing is a thing of the distant past (that’s so 2020) and tests have declined to record lows. The booster dose drive has been tepid in Delhi as well so far, despite over 100mn such jabs (also known as precaution doses) being administered across the country so far, since the programme kicked off on January 10 this year. But, and this is important, there is no cause for panic as yet for two major reasons: One, the Omicron variant, which caused the December 2021-January 2022 infection spike, is still the dominant coronavirus variant in Delhi. It’s known to cause milder illness, which leads to lower chances of hospitalisation and, as a result, fewer deaths. Two, the uptick right now is much slower than it was during the December-January spike, when infections rocketed up to record levels. Meanwhile, as the long fight against the pandemic rolls on, Delhi now also has four cases of monkeypox, which the World Health Organization last month declared a global health emergency. India, at the time of writing, has nine cases of monkeypox (the other five are in Kerala). Doctors in Delhi, are now working overtime to placate patients confusing chickenpox and the shingles for monkeypox. “The initial symptoms of many viral diseases are similar, so there could be some confusion. People should seek medical care rather than self-diagnosing,” warned Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Delhi’s Lok Nayak hospital - the nodal centre for monkeypox in the Capital. Dry state of mind Apart from people wearing masks, a liquor bottle may just be the toughest thing to find in Delhi. The controversy over the Delhi excise policy has had its share of consequences, including eating into a large number of liquor stores in Delhi. In essence, the state will, from September 1, revert to its old excise policy, after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the ongoing policy, alleging “corruption and irregularities”. The old policy, once it kicks in, is unlikely to allow private players in the liquor business, which means the state government will run all shops for at least six months (the period for which the policy will be in place). The side-effect of this has been that private players have already started shutting their shops en masse, trying to book their losses and head for the exit doors. A large number of liquor stores had already shut earlier this year, citing losses.  (Click to expand) Consumers, therefore, have made beelines for liquor shops in Gurugram, a city that already attracted buyers thanks to much more attractive offers and discounts (and generally better stocks across the board). To battle this, the state government has planned to open 500 shops of its own by August 31 and add 200 more by the end of the year. Officials aware of moves behind the scenes have assured that the new stores won’t be like the government shops of the past. They’re likely to be more spacious, air-conditioned, safer and won’t have those cage-like grilles. Overall, the state has aimed for a more secure, dignified buying experience. The politics over this has been ceaseless though. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said the state exchequer had lost “thousands of crores of rupees”, blaming it on a last-minute policy U-turn by the previous Delhi LG, Anil Baijal. Sisodia said the file on the 2021-22 excise policy went to then LG Anil Baijal twice before its implementation. In the first instance, Baijal sent back the file with certain suggestions and changes, which were then incorporated by the Delhi government, the deputy CM said in a presser.  (Click to expand) The file, after making the necessary changes as suggested by the LG, was sent for a second time in November first week. The new policy was to be implemented from November 17 and the LG returned the file on November 15, just 48 hours before the launch, asking us to make major changes to it. The LG said that we need to get permission from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the municipal corporation for permitting liquor shops in unauthorised colonies,” Sisodia said. The office of incumbent LG, Saxena, minutes after Sisodia’s announcement, said the suspensions of 11 excise officials in Delhi had been approved for lapses in the under-fire 2021-22 policy. You thought the last week was a chaotic one for Delhi’s drinkers? Hold my... warm water. | 
