Civic

Here is a new government which has an opportunity to think long term as well as an opportunity to bring in far-ranging changes.In terms of infrastructure, there should be importance given to commuter rail issue. In the next one year, with the Centre and State having the same party running the governments, it is a good opportunity to try and push the issue in a concrete manner and get it into the railway budget and the system. The commuter rail system will have Bangalore develop in different ways along the railway tracks and allow for much more access for people…

After the Karnataka elections, many political analysts said that people of Karnataka are not for corruption; the BJP lost the state because of corruption. But did they? At least in Bengaluru, this argument does not seem to hold any ground. It is true that the rest of Karnataka voted out the corruption-ridden BJP. Outside Bangalore, the party got just 28 seats out of 196, and lost its deposit in 110 constituencies - a defeat unimaginable and unexpected by its leaders. But in Bangalore, BJP lost just five seats, down from 17 to 12. The Congress party suffered two upsets (Narendra…

Finally the Central government has taken the major step of implementing the direct benefit transfer scheme for LPG subsidies. This will be implemented 1 June 2013 onwards in selected 20 districts all over India, including Mysore and Tumkur. Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily issued a statement to this effect on 15 May 2013. Public sector banks also have started alerting the customers and educating them on linking their accounts to their Aadhar cards. According to Moily, oil companies will credit the subsidy amount to the bank accounts of the customers; the government will transfer the subsidies to the companies every quarter.…

Satish Reddy has a lot of unfinished jobs in his constituency, particular in HSR Layout. Lot of hopes are pinned on him that he will fulfill all his promises made during the campaign and work with total commitment and focus. He must-• Be extremely honest, transparent and fair in all his dealings with his electorate. • Work with full responsibility, be accountable to his constituency and ensure that development is uniform throughout his constituency. • Ensure that our corporator and the civic agencies work towards providing basic infrastructure in the Layout. • Ensure that corporators are open and transparent in…

Leo Saldanha is a full-time Coordinator of Bangalore-based Environment Support Group. He is an expert in the areas of Environmental Law and Policy, Decentralisation, Urban Planning and a variety of Human Rights and Development-related issues, working across many sectors for over a decade. He is a keen campaigner on critical environmental and social justice issues and has guided several campaigns demanding evolution of progressive laws and effective action. He has supported various distressed communities to secure justice through public interest litigations and advocacy efforts. He has argued as party in person several public interest litigations, many of which have resulted…

■ The government should put an end to all forms of mining. We should protect these resources and not make profit by selling them.■ All government primary schools must be developed into efficient centres of learning where every kid can go. If possible all the children in the neighbourhood must be encouraged to go to these government schools.■ The government institutions must work with undeterred commitment towards education and health. These two things matter the most to the poor and underprivileged.■ There should be no room for any form of corruption. The State government should not mirror the situation of…

Recently unearthed details about the concessional agreement between the BBMP and Maverick Holdings show that the BBMP intends to hand over additional land to the firm but the BBMP is yet to inform its residents about it. Maverick Holdings is constructing a commercial complex as well as 1,512 low income homes at the site previously occupied by tin sheds housing low-income housing allottees, their tenants and squatters. But now the land previously allocated to pourakarmikas is also being handed over to Maverick Holdings. In response to an RTI query, B T Ramesh, Chief Engineer of the BBMP, replied that apart…

My friend Sravana Dasary posted this: That's a great way to document the fact that her family's voted! Each of us needs to vote, to take an active part in our own governance...to ensure that the nasties and the goons don't reign over us. So...what does YOUR finger say? Have you voted? I hope you have! ⊕

The Greek word Oligarchy means 'Government of a few rich people for their own advantage'. It was coined by the philosopher Aristotle 2300 years ago (he also coined the word Democracy). An Oligarch is a very rich businessman or businesswoman with a great deal of political influence. For convenience, we'll shorten the word to Olly.Karnataka politics has traditionally been funded by various lobbies of Ollys like the liquor lobby, the mining lobby, real estate lobby, and the contractors' lobby (in urban bodies elections). When a politician needs money to fight an election, an Olly funds him, and the Olly in…

A recent High Court verdict has brought relief and hope to residents of several Sobha Developers-constructed gated apartment communities in Bengaluru. One of them is the Sobha Amethyst community in the Kadugodi-Kannamangala area north of Whitefield. Their layout has two civic amenity (CA) sites, and one of them is near the entrance. Because of present BDA rules, residents were worried that the authority could lease out this CA site to commercial interests that may disturb their community. So the owners' association decided to apply to lease the CA site back from the BDA, to keep it in their control. And…