Governance

The BBMP Restructuring Committee, in its final report, has recommended the splitting of BBMP into five corporations and integrating them under an umbrella institution called the Greater Bengaluru Authority. The Committee has also advocated for introducing a three-tier system in Bengaluru for efficient governance. The committee which was constituted by the State government to study and prepare a report on restructuring Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had submitted an interim report earlier. The Committee submitted its final report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday, July 13th 2015. The State government had formed the BBMP Restructuring Committee with retired IAS officer…

Gone are the days of indefinite wait—the BBMP elections are here again. We would like you, our readers, to fill this survey, to help us understand how you perceive the local governance in your area. This will also help us in preparing citizens’ report cards for the existing corporators. Here's an extra pointer to see who won in last election, in which ward. The map is prepared by Bengaluru-based techie Thejesh G N. You need to log on to your gmail id if you want to enter the survey. You can fill the survey only once. If you are unable…

The homepage of old BBMP website that was filled with lot of information, has changed now with a new design. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) websitehas got a new appearance. The homepage which was earlier overloaded with information and links, has been made simpler and cleaner. All the links and information are categorised under the main menu making it easier for the users to search. The redesigned website was launched on the night of July 7th 2015. The work is still under progress. BBMP IT Advisor T Sheshadri who has worked on the website said the purpose of redesigning…

A typical scene from BBMP Council meets during afternoons. Pic: Shree D N It's a meeting that is supposed to discuss the development works that must happen in your ward, every month. Your own representative, who is a councillor, better-known as corporator, is supposed to attend it and participate in it on your behalf. What if you come to know that the one whom you chose to do this job did not even attend the meetings? Or if you come to know that the person faked his attendance and went elsewhere to do his other works? List of councillors having…

With the Supreme Court extending the deadline for conducting Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) election by four weeks, the State Election Commission (SEC) is now preparing to arrange a fresh poll schedule for civic body in Bengaluru. S Honnamba, Secretary of State Election Commission, told Citizen Matters that in accordance with the Supreme Court order, the SEC will conduct the polls before August 28th. “Though initially there was confusion about eight weeks time granted by the Court, now the ambiguity is cleared. We have cancelled the schedule of events for BBMP polls that we had announced earlier. We are yet…

Long-pending demand of the electoral roll experts to introduce a software to trace electoral roll anomaly has been finally paid heed to. With the BBMP polls is less than a month away, the State Election Commission has come up with a special software to detect errors in electoral rolls including duplication, repetition of voters names with same photograph etc. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner G Kumar Naik who is in-charge of BBMP polls, said that the software has detected discrepancy in over 35,000 cases in BBMP election voters list. During cleaning up exercise using the software, duplication, incomplete details,…

Even as the State Election Commission has announced the calendar of events for BBMP polls, the Karnataka State government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on Monday, against the High Court single bench judgment on BBMP election.The State government in its petition has challenged the HC single bench judgment that directed the State to hold election before August 5th as per the Supreme Court’s previous order. Initiating a fresh round of litigation, the government has appealed the Supreme Court to put the election process on hold. It has sought time to conduct polls as per delimitation and reservation…

BBMP Administrator T M Vijay Bhaskar Pic: Akshatha M It has been only two months since senior IAS officer T M Vijay Bhaskar assumed charge as the Administrator of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). With the announcement of calendar of events for BBMP election and the council likely to be formed in a month, there is very less time left for the Administrator to prove his mettle. In an interview with Citizen Matters, Administrator T M Vijay Bhaskar shares his experience and the initiatives taken up during his tenure, challenges faced by BBMP and solutions to the impending problems. What…

BBMP Elections are here again. Candidates must make their stand clear about creation of Ward Committees / Area Sabhas as per Karnataka Municipal Corporation (Ward Committee) Rules 2013 and other Acts. Otherwise, people must reject them. Despite High Court of Karnataka orders in 2013, BBMP has failed to form Ward Committees / Area Sabhas in most of 198 wards under its limits; if existing, selection process of members is either skewed or manipulated to suit the whims and fancies of the ward corporation and local MLA. If existing, they are either defunct or the meetings held and recorded are far…

On May 17th, BBMP Administrator T M Vijay Bhaskar blew the lid off “development works” taken up in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), with a tweet. In his tweet, he said  that details of works completed and pending bills as on April 30th 2015 are displayed on BBMP website for transparency. He asked public to check the list of works and inform the officials in case of discrepancies. With it, the Social Audit system was introduced in BBMP for the very first time. Enthused public, activists and new political parties got into action. With the data in hand, they went…