Series: If I were Bengaluru Mayor - contest

We hadn't expected to receive 68 entries for this topic, in a city where half the people don't know what a mayor can do. Our contest, 'If I were the Bengaluru Mayor' became an all-time hit, with submissions overflowing with ideas! There were 54 English entries, and 14 Kannada entries. We read them again and again, and shortlisted 10 English entries and 5 Kannada entries for the judges to decide. The judges included Manjula Sridhar, an entrepreneur, Harish Narsappa from Daksh, Yatish Kumar from Prajavani, Rasheed Kappan from Deccan Herald and Prakash Belawadi of Suchitra Film Society. The winners were:…

ಮೂಲಭೂತ ಸೌಲಭ್ಯದ ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯೇ ಸುಂದರ ನಗರದ ಆಧಾರ. ಸಿಲಿಕಾನ್ ‌ಸಿಟಿ, ಉದ್ಯಾನನಗರಿ, ಐಟಿ-ಸಿಟಿ ಎಂದೆಲ್ಲ‌ ಕರೆಯಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಪ್ರತಿ ನಿತ್ಯ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಲೇ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ನಗರ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತಿ ಸೂರ್ಯೋದಯ ಹಾಗೂ ಸೂರ್ಯಾಸ್ತ ಗಳು ಕೂಡಾ ಹೊಸ-ಹೊಸ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ, ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಗೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿಯಾಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಪ್ರತಿನಿತ್ಯ ವ್ಯವಹಾರ, ಉದ್ಯೋಗ, ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ, ಆರೋಗ್ಯ - ಹೀಗೆ ನಾನಾ ಉದ್ದೇಶಗಳಿಗಾಗಿ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಕನಸುಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಿಂದ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿ ದೂರದ ದೇಶದ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಜನರು ಆಗಮಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಹೀಗೆ ಪ್ರತಿನಿತ್ಯ ಹೊಸ ಬದುಕು ಕಟ್ಟುವ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಜನರಿಂದ ನಗರದ ಆಡಳಿತ, ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಸೌಲಭ್ಯ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಕೂಡಾ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸವಾಲಾಗಿ ಪರಿಣಮಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ. ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿನ ಲಕ್ಷಾಂತರ ಮನೆಗಳು, ದಶಲಕ್ಷ ಲೀಟರನಷ್ಟು ನೀರಿನ‌ ಅಗತ್ಯ, ಸ್ವಚ್ಚತೆ, ಕಸದ ನಿರ್ವಹಣೆ, ರಾಜಕಾಲುವೆಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಚರಂಡಿಗಳ‌ ನಿರ್ವಹಣೆ ನಗರದ ಆಡಳಿತ ಪಾಲಿಗಿರುವ ಬಹುದೊಡ್ಡ ಸವಾಲು. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಈ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಬಗೆಹರಿಸಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬದುಕುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯೂ ನಗರದ ಪ್ರಥಮ‌ಪ್ರಜೆ ಮೇಯರ್…

ನಿಮ್ಮೂರಿಗೆ ಈ ಹೆಸರು ಯಾಕೆ ಬಂತಂತೆ ಅಂತ ಪ್ರಪಂಚದ ಯಾರನ್ನೇ ಕೇಳಿ... ಒಂದು ಸೊಗಸಾದ ಕತೆ ಹೇಳ್ತಾರೆ. ರೋಚಕ ಘಟನೆ ಹೇಳ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದ್ರೆ ನಮ್ಮೂರಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಆ ಭಾಗ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದೆಂತದೋ ಕಾಳು ಬೇಯ್ಸಿರೋ ಅಜ್ಜಿಯ ಕತೆನ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರನ್ನೋ ಬಿನ್ನಾಣಗಿತ್ತಿಗೆ ತಗಲ್ಹಾಕಿದಾರೆ. ನಿಜ ಹೇಳ್ತೀನಿ... ಬೆಡಗು ಅನ್ನೋ ಶಬ್ದದಿಂದಲೇ ನಮ್ಮೂರಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಅನ್ನೋ ಹೆಸರು ಬಂದಿದೆ. ಬೆಡಗಿನೂರು - ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು…  ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಟ್ಟೋಕೆ ಜನ್ಮಾಂತರದ ಪುಣ್ಯಫಲವಿರಬೇಕು.ಅಲ್ಪ-ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಪುಣ್ಯ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ ಕೊನೇಪಕ್ಷ ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ನಾಗರಿಕನಾಗಬಹುದು. ಇನ್ನು ಈ ಭಾಗ್ಯದೂರಿನ ನಗರಪಾಲಕ ಅಥವಾ ಮೇಯರ್ ಆಗಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಪುಣ್ಯ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸಾಲದು.. ಯೋಗ್ಯತೆ, ಅರ್ಹತೆ, ದೂರದೃಷ್ಟಿ, ನಿಸ್ವಾರ್ಥತೆ, ನಾಗರಿಕಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಇರಲೇಬೇಕು. ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಗುಣಗಳೂ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲೇ ಇವೆಯಲ್ಲ.. ನಾನ್ಯಾಕೆ ಒಂದು ಕೈ ನೋಡ್ಬಾರ್ದು ಅನ್ನೋದು ನನ್ನ ಲೆಕ್ಕಾಚಾರ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಅವಕಾಶಗಳ ನಗರ. ಜೀವನ ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಾಳಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನುವ ಸ್ವಾಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೇಳಿ ಮಾಡಿಸಿದ ಜಾಗವಿದು. ಆದ್ರೆ ಈ ಸ್ವಾಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸುವ ಕಸ ನಮ್ಮ ನಗರದ…

Everyday when I wake up, I start my day by estimating the amount of time it would take for me to reach work. Normal routine involves catching a bus from the nearest bus stop. But it is nearly impossible to reach there without wading through mud scooped out from the drains mixed with cow dung, growing weeds and a family of pigs heading for their breakfast into the nearby stormwater drain. Only after a few really overcrowded buses bursting at the seams pass by, I decide to walk it to Bellandur bus stop which takes merely 20 minutes away. I…

It’s clear we grew up reading about the kings of yore, who planted trees, dug wells and laid roads. That is indeed what we expect from our current crop of leaders. Thank you all for an overwhelming response to the contest. We know the Mayor has limited powers, yet we adopted the theme, to impress the importance of a city leader, one who has the authority and complete responsibility for the entire city. That is indeed what the submissions highlighted — the imagination of a mayor who could get things done. A few writers lamented the better days gone by,…

Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself. - Gloria Steinem. Until T.N. Seshan became the Chief Election Commissioner of India, the public did not know much about the Election Commission and the powers it had. We’ve seen individuals infusing life into public institutions that were seen as ‘weak’ or ‘ceremonial’. I will draw inspiration from such stories to leverage my one year term as Mayor of this great city Bengaluru. My strategy would be to elevate the stature of the Mayor’s office, take up a small but significant set of things…

Clause 60 of The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act of 1976 (KMCA) lists down the power and functions of the Mayor. The powers include: presiding over BBMP council meetings; conducting inspections and directing BBMP Commissioner to implement any resolution passed by the Corporation or the Standing Committees and produce records. Other sections of the Act also delegate more powers to the Mayor like barring a councillor from voting and casting a vote in case of tie while passing a resolution. However, the interesting aspect to note here is that the Mayor does not enjoy any executive powers and is mostly a…

If I were the Mayor, I would let data and metrics shape the future of the city. The city has grown exponentially and beyond the expectations of everyone to a point where it is becoming unmanageable. Well, as Peter Drucker famously said: You can't manage what you can't measure. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. The above would be my mantra to improve this city. Everybody has been saying there is no planning, but the intent to improve it has been very few. Unfortunately,for long amounts of time, there is hardly any data that is made available…

I’m not sure why there is such a brouhaha about the Mayoral election. Being Bengaluru’s mayor is a prestige, no doubt. Beyond that I have only my sympathies to the person holding that role. (S)he is like a person commanding a cemetery. There are lots of people below, with hardly anyone to listen to the command. The problem is the structure of the municipality under Karnataka Municipal Council (KMC) Act, not the individual. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has a huge budget. The Commissioner is the administrative head and the most powerful person in the BBMP. He can stall or…

What would I do if I become the Mayor of Bengaluru? That’s a very tricky question because it is always easy to sit on the opposite side and keep giving free advices and suggestions. Sitting on the hot seat means significant change. Anyway, for an old Bengaluruan, who has enjoyed the English climate of Bengaluru, the slow pace of life, the clean and beautiful avenues like Margosa Road, Sampige Road, Coconut Avenue, the lovely huge circles with beautiful gardens and the neat roads with minimum traffic, today’s Bengaluru is a shocker! Crime rate was low. People were friendlier. Every home…