Pic courtesy: Janaagraha

Smt G Padmavathi, Mayor, BBMP and Mr N Manjunath Prasad, IAS, Commissioner, BBMP launched the MyCityMyBudget (MCMB) programme of Janaagraha, to gather budget requests from citizens for the City Budget 2017-18.

MCMB will gather budget requests from citizens’ on three tracks; 1) through workshops facilitated by the MCMB team at Resident Welfare Associations, schools, colleges, urban poor communities, workers groups and corporates, 2) online at www.ichangemycity.com, and 3) through the Budget bus that will collect inputs from citizens on the streets.

Citizens can provide budget requests across any civic issue through a simple form at the workshops or on ichangemycity.com. Citizens may also add their support to budget requests submitted by their fellow citizens by voting online. All budget requests will be compiled and submitted to the BBMP, BESCOM, BMTC, BWSSB, BCP and the state government at a large city event in the month of December for incorporation into the City Budget for 2017-18.

Smt G Padmavathi, the Mayor of the city said, “Last year I ensured that the budgetary inputs that were submitted through the MyCityMyBudget programme were implemented in my ward.  It is extremely good that this initiative is taking place five months in advance. This will enable citizens to aid political leaders, and the BBMP administrator into creating a budget that is robust and well-rounded.”

Pic courtesy: Janaagraha

Mr N. Manjunath Prasad announced that a budget of Rs 5 crore will be set aside in the 2017-18 BBMP budget for the MyCityMyBudget Community Project contest subject to council and Mayor approval. There will be 20 winners of the Community Projects of Rs 25 lakhs each. The contest is open to all citizens and citizen groups of the city from October 15, 2016 and will run for a period of 30 days. Citizens can submit project proposals to improve their neighbourhood on themes that come under the purview of the BBMP. Detailed guidelines on the Community Project contest will be made available by October 15 2016.  

“BBMP and Janaagraha have come together for the MyCityMyBudget initiative that will encourage citizens to participate in their local budget. Citizens shouldn’t stop just after giving their inputs; they should also actively participate in the implementation of the same. Also, to ensure transparency, information pertaining to budgets and the works it has been allotted to, and the wards where the works will be initiated should be displayed on the website. The Palike isrunning because of citizens’ money. Thus, the citizen needs to know where the money is being spent” said the Commissioner.

“As the city begins to prepare the budget for the year 2017-18, we think it is a great opportunity for all the citizens of Bengaluru to come together to submit what they think are priority requirements in their neighbourhoods, for consideration in the city budget. Over the next two months, we will be reaching out to different stakeholders across the city; community groups, colleges, schools, the urban poor, corporate and even the citizens on the streets through the Budget Bus to facilitate gathering of budgetary inputs. In December, we will submit this to the Government at a large city event with all citizens coming together” said Sapna Karim, Coordinator. MyCityMyBudget.   

Post BBMP budget being released for 2017-18, MCMB will analyse the BBMP budget and map it against the budget requests submitted from citizens.

MCMB will then proceed to convene Ward Sabhas from April 2017 to undertake quarterly reviews of budgets and civic projects at the ward level with the Corporator, BBMP, BESCOM, BWSSB, BCP, BMTC officials and citizens of the ward. MCMB will provide the citizens, corporator and the government officials’ data that will clearly indicate the status of each civic project, whether it has been tendered, work orders issued, contractors assigned and the current payment status to facilitate data driven discussions at the Ward Sabhas.

Citizen groups can reach out to MCMB at mycitymybudget@ichangemycity.com to schedule workshops in their neighbourhoods.