Governance

A Bill drafted by the Karnataka government on functioning of elite clubs in the State has received severe criticism from the Club office-bearers and members. The government notified the Karnataka Entry into Public Places (Removal of Restriction on Dress and Regulation of Membership and Fee) Bill, 2015, on September 3rd, calling for objections and suggestions. Of all the aspects in the Bill, two points have drawn the attention of many. 1)  The Bill mandates the recreation clubs and trusts to sanction membership to MLAs and MLCs. It also makes it mandatory to give membership to ex-servicemen, people with meritorious contribution…

Bangalore Development Authority Headquarters (courtesy: BDA) A large scam emerged in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) with finance members investing money in equity mutual funds and trying to cover this up across different organisations. There were mysterious arrests of ex-BDA officials and a BDA cashier, alleging their involvement in the multi-crore scam. What is it all about? Whose money went where? The money was allegedly invested in mutual funds, which is recoverable. Why is this still called a scam? Here's some insight. Apparently, Sandeep Dash, former finance head of the BDA and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) was a…

Garbage dumped on a streetside, due to the lack of secondary storage. Pic: Kathyayini Chamraj I think Bengaluru was better off when it had garbage bins at the corner of roads. At least people would throw garbage in the bins. But now, all of Bengaluru is littered with garbage. In every area, there are two or three spots where garbage is thrown by people, on the road or in front of someone else's home. So why has the Swachh Bengaluru campaign failed?  Because BBMP collection guys demand money to collect garbage from house to house. No proper timings intimated to…

Amidst speculation over the alliance in Mayoral election, the Congress and JD(S) have successfully entered into coalition to come to power in the BBMP. Third time Congress Corporator B N Manjunath Reddy from Madivala ward was elected as the Bengaluru Mayor and JDS’s first time corporator S P Hemalatha from Vrishabhavathi ward was elected as  the Deputy Mayor, on Friday. In the election that was conducted at BBMP Council hall amidst tight police security, Regional Commissioner M V Jayanthi declared Manjunath Reddy as the elected Mayor. Of the 260 councillors including elected corporators, MLAs, MLCs and MPs, 131 members voted…

There are two separate issues in the Bangalore Club case, which the government is now trying to tackle through a law. And of the two, only one is legitimate. The first issue is whether Indian dress code should be disallowed from any premises, even a private one. I don't think so. It's not nice, and some would say it seems undignified. Possibly. But if a private group wants to set up rules for its own members, and they're all ok with it, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. By the same token, if the government wants to wage war…

Bangalore has a lot of problems. Here is a  guide to solve Bangalore's problem in 20 short steps. Cut some trees. Form a committee with a catchy name - B-SOMETHING. Involve famous citizens - KMS, NM, NN etc. Don't analyse the problem. Analysis is for losers. Cut some more trees. Come up with an absurd suggestion which will cost several thousand crores. Cut some more trees. Lament the loss of green cover in Bangalore. Assure everyone that for every tree you cut, you will plant 10 more. Hand out lucrative contracts to your friends for planting `saplings'. Start your absurd…

A room filled with bunk beds in the dilapidated Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) building in J C Road is the home for daily wage labourers Yesu and Raj Kumar since four years. Be it sun or rain, this dingy structure provides shelter to them and many such homeless people when they return tired from work. The story of Yesu and Raj Kumar is interesting for it reflects the sad state of night shelters for urban homeless in Bengaluru. In 2012, when BBMP handed over the responsibility of operating J C Road night shelter to an NGO, the organisation hired…

A couple of months ago I wrote a couple of articles on my struggle to get a lamppost repaired on the street where I live. The issue was not that the light was faulty—but 15th Cross Malleshwaram is supposed to be a 'model road' where the utilities are buried under the footpath. However, a BBMP repairman who had come to repair a streetlight next to it had just connected a wire from the lamppost to the streetlight about 10 feet above the ground. I requested him to do a proper job but he did not heed to my request. Apart…

Balraj J applied for the birth certificate of his daughter in April 2013, but he had to wait for more than 90 days before he could get it. He needed the birth certificate urgently, in order to apply for the Bhagyalakshmi Scheme (launched by the government to promote birth of girl child in Below Poverty Line families.) He says, "My daughter was born in Avhieta Hospital, Hennur Bagalur Main Road. But, we were not guided regarding the process of applying for a Birth Certificate in the hospital. When I approached the concerned department at the BBMP office in Kothanur, I…

Changing name on the electricity bill is easy. Pic: Shree D N I am a resident of Belathur in Kadugodi(Whitefield) area. Being a new apartment buyer, I started looking for getting things done, such as Electricity name change, Khata registration and others. I was surprised when the builder offered to get the name change in electricity metres done by paying bribe, without me having to visit any government office—he demanded Rs 2,000! I thought of understanding what the actual process is, and what are the fees involved, and tried to do it on my own. To my surprise, after a…