ELECTIONS

The State Election Commission has announced the BBMP council elections schedule, with March 28th 2010 as the day of elections. The election code of conduct has been in force since March 7th and will go on till April 6th.The last date for filing nominations is March 15th while the nominations will be scrutinised on March 17th. The last date for withdrawing nomination papers is March 19th. After polling takes place on March 28th between 7 am and 5 pm, counting will be done a week later on April 5th. If necessary, repolling will take place on April 4th.March 7th 2010…

For months now, reservations for Bengaluru's city council seats have been in the eye of a storm. Citizens across the city have questioned the state government on the method used to reserve wards. In the process, cases have been filed both in the High Court (HC) and Supreme Court, both of who have quashed the original list released by the state.The list released by the government on 23 February is here. Ward reservation list.  To reserve the 23 wards for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in the BBMP council elections, two methods have been under discussion lately. One method involves…

Governance Should you care about this plan? Read our news report here.1. Create new Bengaluru legislation that supersedes /encompasses all Bengaluru/Municipal body legislations like BWSSB Act, BBMP act etc - Bengaluru Region Governance Act, (BRGA) 2009.2. Establish the Bangalore Spatial Information Centre (BASIC).3. Strengthen the Lok Ayukta Act. 4. Amend the Karnataka Transparency Act.5. The Bengaluru City Report card to be presented by the BMRDA/MPC with Chief Minister as Chairman.6. Launch official city website www.nammabengaluru.gov.in7. Establish the Institute of Urban Planning and Governance (IUPG).  Roads, Traffic Management and Transportation1. Establish ongoing transport demand growth study and research.2. Make a single…

Citizens tend to be skeptical if not cynical of hearing about plans for Bengaluru, especially when even the most elementary projects get caught up in bungles and delays. Recently it was the turn of the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's ABIDe task force to release its own grand plan for the city's development. Release of Plan Bengaluru 2020. From right, ABIDe member R K Mishra, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, ABIDe Convenor and MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, ABIDe member A Ravindra. Pic courtesy: ABIDe. On January 14th this year, Rajya Sabha MP and Convenor of the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development…

WARD 178 - Sarakki, JP Nagar 6th Phase, LIC Quarters.North: By Sarakki Main Road 9th Cross.East: By 13th Main, 13th Cross, 8th A Main Road,Outer Ring Road, 12th Main Road.South: By 17th A Cross, 15th Main 18th Cross, 17thCross, Cross Road(Existing WardBoundary),22nd Main, Existing WardBoundary, Cross Road,Source: bbmpwards.infoWhen Citizen Matters approached the residents of Sarakki (Ward 178), they echoed concerns about garbage clearance, regulating traffic, encroachments on footpaths, and the condition of roads.Mahesh A R and M S Ramesh who run businesses on Sarakki main road, hoped that the authorities would take note of the traffic congestion in this area,…

City elections may not happen on February 21st. On January 28th the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka state government to follow the ruling of the Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka of December 8th. In that ruling, the High Court had asked the government to re-do the ward reservations list for Bengaluru in line with the 2001 census data for the Bangalore municipal area. With the ward reservation list quashed, the BBMP council elections are likely to not take place as scheduled. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal The State Election Commission (SEC) today told Citizen Matters that they have written…

With BBMP elections slated to be held next month, there's still time for you to enrol yourself to vote, if you haven't done it yet. The last date for registering is January 29th 2010, ten days before the last date for filing nominations. Click here for more details. Also click here for a list of VFCs in Bangalore.You can also search for your name on the electoral list here.If you do not have an Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), you can produce a ration card, driving license or passport at the time of voting. The State Election Commission website now…

BBMP, state government and political aspirants may be gearing up for the elections on February 21st 2010. But with campaigning yet to start, the elections are not a hard reality yet for many residents. Resident Welfare Associations too are waiting and watching for the candidates to be announced. We spoke to a few people from JP Nagar, Ward 177 in south Bangalore to find out what are the improvements they wished to see around their neighbourhood. JP Nagar ward map. Credit: Google Maps.K M Handyal, a retired engineer has lived in JP Nagar II phase, for 27 years now. He…

“You always need an occasion. We need something to ignite”, says Major P Kapur, a resident of Bangalore South's Koramangala area. Major Kapur is referring to the coming together of citizens of Koramangala to form what is called the Koramangala United Citizens Council or the KUCC. This federation has been set up to take up common causes of all the eight Koramangala blocks, Jakkasandra extension, ST Bed layout and Nirgun Mandir area. “There are common areas of concern for the whole area like water, roads, drainage. We can tackle them together”, says Major Kapur, who is the convenor of KUCC.…

In every election, it has become standard to observe that the quality of our political leadership and governance is suffering because the educated, urban middle class does not turn up to vote. Now that we have another election before us - the BBMP Council- it may be worth asking, why is this, and how can this be changed?First, some clarification. While the overall voting percentage numbers certainly bear out the apathy of the middle class, there is still a section of this group that does turn out vote, in election after election.The more pertinent question, therefore, may be: "why do…