ward committee

“Hum Corona se nahi, bhook se marenge!”  (“I’ll not die of Corona, but will definitely die of hunger!”). This is the poignant cry of many migrant workers left without work, wages and food in labour camps across Bengaluru during the COVID-19 lockdown. After the endless wait for trains to their hometowns as well as the State’s failed promise to deliver them food/ration kits, migrant labourers preferred to walk more than 1000 km home, carrying their elderly, children and meagre belongings. It shows their desperation, as no one, if they had enough to eat, would have embarked on such journeys. One…

The citizens' movement CfB (Citizens for Bengaluru) has launched the first 'Namma Samithi Puraskara' or 'Corporator No 1 Awards'. The award will honour ward councillors who have done the best work in their wards, and have engaged citizens through ward committee meetings. At a press conference yesterday, CfB announced that the awards will be presented at the Town Hall on July 14th, 10.30 am. Justice Santosh Hegde will participate in the ceremony. Corporators will be selected for the awards based on inputs from citizens themselves. You can rate your corporator at citizensforbengaluru.in. This page has a form to gather information…

As a CfB Volunteer/Coordinator, the ward committees and ward committee meeting sounded as a buzz word time and again, but I was neither part of the discussions or events around that, nor knew exactly what it means. It all started for me when a CfB meeting was announced with the Mayor Gangamibike Mallikarjun at the BBMP office on the 2nd Anniversary of #SteelFlyoverBeda. The inquisitor in me made me go to the BBMP office in Hudson Circle for the first time on a working Wednesday to meet the Mayor. As we were ushered in to her office, we did a…

Despite court orders and civilian protests, the Ward Committees (WCs) were not allowed to function in Karnataka for a long time. Finally, in a weak beginning, a few wards held WC meetings on 1st December, 2018. There are many systemic issues that would not let the WCs function effectively, or bring good governance in the city administration. The following issues need to be addressed as soon as possible: 1)  The WC members do not truly represent the public in the ward: According to 74th amendment, the ward committee members are supposed to be chosen by the Area Sabhas.Thus each WC…

There is a huge difference between perception and reality. There is a certain image built about politicians and IAS officers that gets amplified by social media posts - usually a reaction to some headline, a quote, an incident that triggers outrage. But when you actually try and engage and work with politicians and officers, you will find many of them to be sincere, knowledgeable and passionate about their job and committed to positive change in their own ways. We don't talk about it much but many of us know, this is true. The wheels of the city move forward despite…

We are all frustrated about lack of urban governance - garbage, pot holes, flooding, dengue, traffic, we bear the brunt of it all, day in and day out. Almost every week there is a protest some place or other, a human chain, a petition, signature campaigns. WhatsApp groups are born every day for some cause or other. Citizens go to MLAs, MPs, Deputy Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, anyone willing to listen to their complaints. Media events like 'Jana Spandana' are housefull with lots of people waiting to air their grievances. But all these - local issues - are supposed to…

The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd ( KRDCL), which is implementing authority for the controversial elevated corridor project in Bengaluru, has recently submitted its application to the State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (Karnataka) for Environment Impact Assessment Study. Since its inception, the project has met with opposition from several civil society organisations and activists. It has been opposed on several grounds, some of them being – the process being a top down approach with no public consultations, the environmental impact including felling of several thousands of trees, the argument that flyovers and corridors rarely solve congestion in the city,…

Citizens for Bengaluru is extremely disappointed and shocked at the final list of ward committees that have been announced. After the outrage of the initial list, we expected more citizen-centric and inclusive committees but that has been rendered false. There is now incontrovertible proof that ward committees have been largely composed through nepotism and the family-chela network. Even a casual perusal of the lists shows clearly that husbands of various female corporators, and party workers have been selected instead of active citizens. Please see attached images with just a few of our observations. While CfB led a mass RTI filing…

Did you notice that someone fixed that black spot on your way to work and it now looks nice with a little bench and simple art that makes the place walkable and pleasant on the eyes? Did you come across pictures on social media of people sweating it out and cleaning lakes on a Sunday morning? Do you know someone that teaches and helps out in the local government school? Did you notice there was a massive protest to save trees on Jayamahal road and a thousand people got on the streets? Did you know local residents were filing RTIs,…

The Karnataka High Court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to constitute Ward Committees in Bengaluru within a month! Several earlier orders that asked the civic body to constitute the ward committees had not been conformed with. Ward committees are mandated as per Constitutional 74th Amendment (Nagarpalika) Act, 1992. The direction came as part of a petition filed by Leo Saldanha and others, that said the BBMP is in violation of repeated directions from Karnataka High Court. Leo Saldanha, sharing this news over email, points out, "What would really help now is for public-spirited persons to step up and…