Articles by Sharath SR

Rapid urbanisation without supportive mass transit and motorisation has led to drastic increase in travel times, loss of productivity and reduced mobility access across travel modes. B.MOBILE is B.PAC’s mobility initiative that works on research, policy advocacy, stakeholder awareness in the areas of sustainable mobility, shared and pooled mobility, nonmotorised transit, para transit including related planning and infrastructure needs for providing seamless and integrated first, middle and last mile connectivity to citizens of Bengaluru. The goal is to push for sustainable mobility for all by encouraging the use of public transport and disincentivising the private vehicles usage. To understand this…

B.PAC submitted its strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff for FY-19, during the  Public Hearing held at Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) office. T.V. Mohandas Pai, Vice President, B.PAC and Archana M V from B.PAC team made the submissions before the commission today during the public hearing conducted by KERC. Following are the highlights of B.PAC’s submissions: BESCOM prayer for Leave of the Commission The tariff proposal by BESCOM for FY 20 by INR 1.01 / unit has been proposed stating a deficit of INR 2933.82 crs for FY 20. B.PAC’s analysis has shown that this…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) submitted a detailed observation to Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) on the Consultation Paper No. 05/ 2018-19 in respect of Determination of tariffs for Aeronautical Services at Kempegowda International Airport. Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee, B.PAC had earlier made these submissions in the Stakeholder Consultation meet held on June 18th, 2018. B.PAC in its submission has requested AERA to disallow the collection of User Development Fee (UDF) through the second control period for the following reasons: Because of delay in hearing by AERA, excess UDF has been charged in the first two years of the second…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) today released a list of 28 endorsed candidates from 18 Assembly constituencies for upcoming assembly elections, 2018. "A country like ours has a diverse polity and you need multiple skillsets to tackle the issues that confront us today. It was a tough call and after diligent deliberations the committee concluded that each of these candidates had something to offer the voters, and hence, should be supported in their endeavors to represent Bengaluru" - Kiran Mazumdar Shaw  Since 2013 B.PAC has been endorsing candidates for all three general elections namely Assembly Elections in 2013, Lok Sabha Elections…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) undertook this study focusing on the 27 Assembly constituencies and today released the rating of the MLAs. Bangalore city in spite of being progressive city in several segments, voter turnout in the city is the lowest in the past elections. Bengaluru has voted 47.22% and 58.27% respectively during 2008 and 2013 Assembly elections. B.PAC under it’s Election Habba initiative carried out a range of initiatives/programs. Initiatives Impact One Million New Votes (OMNV) campaign to facilitate new voter registrations 14,830 Registered Forms, 56 Campaigns across residential communities, Tech campuses and educational institutions Myconstituency,MyManifesto toengage with communities…

74th Amendment of the Constitution provides for the Local Government, that is to say, the constitution and powers of municipal corporations, improvement trusts, district boards, mining settlement authorities and other local authorities for the purpose of local self-Government or village administration. To aid local governance, Corporation Fund - Section 149 details the fiscal responsibility of the BBMP. “All money received by or on behalf of the corporation by or under this Act or any other law, ​all taxes, tolls and other imposts, fines, fees, penalties paid to or levied by it under this Act, ​all proceeds of land or other…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) recently released the fund utilisation report of MLAs under their Local Area Development Scheme (2013-14 to 2016–17) through a web page. B.PAC undertook this study focusing on the 27 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru Urban to observe the pattern of spending on activities. The data was collated for the MLA’s across 27 constituencies in Bengaluru Urban for the fiscal years 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 from Govt sources. The activities undertaken by the MLA’s under local area development scheme were classified as per KLLAD guidelines issued by Government. The activitywise spending across all the constituencies has been…

Bengaluru Political Action Committee (B.PAC) submitted strong objections to BESCOM’s proposal for increase of electricity tariff by 0.85 Pa for FY-19 based on extensive data analysis. Submissions were made during Public Hearing held at Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) office. Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee, B.PAC and T.V. Mohandas Pai, Vice President, B.PAC made the submissions before the commission on February 19, during the public hearing conducted by KERC. Highlights of B.PAC’s submissions: Distribution Loss: KERC has approved distribution loss of 12.75% for FY 18 (up to Nov 2017). BESCOM distribution loss is presented at 11.86%. Further analysis of data of…

“To safeguard democracy, the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness” - Mahatma Gandhi.How often do you complain about the state of affairs in urban governance? How many times have you thought that the people who are in charge of the governments could do a much better job? How many times have you thought we need to elect better representatives who understand the nuances of the policy frameworks? We as citizens often forget our power, provided through the Constitution, by the founders of our Republic, to be able to get good, efficient and learned people…

Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in association with Rotary Bangalore, Palmville and Gleneagles Global Hospitals today launched the second edition of the My, Place of Pride. My Place of Pride (MYPOP) is a contest to rate, rank and award the communities that have exhibited best practices in Solid Waste Management, Water conservation, Power management, Fire Safety and Hygiene & Cleanliness. This is a platform for communities to showcase their initiatives, create awareness and further encourage others to emulate the best practices. My Place of Pride is an initiative to recognize eco-friendly communities in Bengaluru city and encourage sharing of best…