Governance

After a long court battle, the State Election Commission has declared BBMP polls for the second time. According to the fresh calendar of events, BBMP polls will be held on August 22nd, and model code of conduct will be in effect from July 17th. State Election Commissioner P N Sreenivasachari in a press meet on Thursday, declared the freshly prepared election schedule. During the hearing of the election related petition in the High Court on July 13th, the SEC had assured the HC that it would submit the fresh election schedule by Friday. Announcing the calendar of events, Sreenivasachari said…

The much awaited final report on Restructuring BBMP has been submitted to the government. The recommendations of the Committee which range from a three-tier system of governance to restructuring Bengaluru into five corporations to establishment of Greater Bengaluru Financial Commission and extension of Mayor’s term to five years, have been appreciated as well as criticised. Citizen Matters tried to pool the opinions of representatives from various political parties, urban experts and citizens on what they had to say about the Restructuring Committee report. One aspect that was talked about by majority of them was the formation of Greater Bengaluru Authority…

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…