Governance

What do you think of when you interact with one of the conductors on a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus? Do you view them merely as people who issue tickets on the bus? Many commuters who travel often by bus probably think of them as people they need to haggle with to get their change back; because of course, our conductors are change making machines! How many of us bother to look at these people as humans like us? Not many of us do - so believes Jayalakshmi, a BMTC bus conductor. A bus ride from Hessarghatta to Kalyanagar,…

Three major incidents of sexual assault/molestation and abuse grabbed headlines in a span of two months in Bengaluru last year. These incidents also triggered public outrage, protests and campaigns demanding justice. However, the limelight slowly faded away with the passing of time. The demands for justice have faded down, with most of the public forgetting the cases. At this juncture, Citizen Matters brings you a brief note on those cases with latest updates. The three cases that were of significance not just for the incident itself, but also due to various angles attached to it, are: 1. Case against IPS…

Sampath Ramanujam (fifth from left) and Lingaraj Urs (second from right) alongwith other members of BWRCA. Pic courtesy: BWRCA FB Page Two residents of posh homes in two Gram Panchayats in Whitefield area are gearing up to actively participate in the GP polls scheduled for June 2nd, 2015. This would not have been news, but for the notion that elite people living in gated communities pay least attention to local affairs. With only ten days left for the polling day, two members of gated communities in Whitefield area have filed their nominations to contest the election from Seegehalli and Kannamangala…

Vijaya Bhaskar, IAS, Administrator, Kumar Naik, IAS, BBMP Commissioner and Darpan Jain, IAS, Joint Commissioner (SWM), BBMP held an interaction with various civil society organisations in which at least one trade union representative participated. The purpose of this interaction was BBMP’s keenness to engage NGOs in its city cleaning drive. Commissoner Kumar Naik explained that the last minute invitation that did not reach many was well-intended at inclusivity of all, though the organising was all last minute, which he agreed the next time around would be done right. Here are the highlights of the meeting: 1) Almost everyone present agreed…

In 2008, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) rapped the then-Bengaluru Municipal Corporation, BMP, and pointed out they had not put in efforts to ensure segregation of municipal solid wastes at source, which made processing of the waste difficult. The situation did not change even after six years—CAG repeated the observation in their 2014 report. In 2008 and again in 2014, the CAG report points out that the BBMP has no system in place for waste segregation or scientific processing at landfills, which has led to ecological and environmental burden. Biomedical waste is another area of mismanagement. The CAG points…

Uncertainty surrounding the BBMP election seems to have ended, with the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordering the Karnataka government to conduct the polls within three months. In a turn of events, senior advocate Kapil Sibal who represented the Karnataka government submitted before the Apex Court that the government will hold the BBMP polls within three months. Senior advocate V Laxminarayana, who represented the petitioners, the BBMP corporators, gave Citizen Matters a brief of what went on inside the court hall. The government advocate, Kapil Sibal clarified to the Supreme Court that the State government will not restructure the BBMP before…

There were less of suggestions and more of ire against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) at the public meeting convened by the BDA to seek suggestion and opinion from public before drafting the Revised Master Plan-2031. Bengalureans who are upset over the routine exercise of convening meetings before introducing the RMP, used the opportunity to attack BDA for the kind of mess it has created in the city. The BDA convened a public meeting on RMP-2031 at Ambedkar Bhavan in Miller’s Road on Wednesday. Members of Citizen Action Forum (CAF), the city-based civic group, questioned the BDA’s power to call…

Dear Chief Minister, I am writing to you about the public consultation held yesterday to discuss the Master Plan being prepared by the BDA. Frankly, the whole event was a disaster. The BDA was entirely unprepared, and apart from stone-walling the public on their legitimate questions, the authority had very little to offer. Even the conduct of the meeting was poor, with allegations from some in the audience that the event and its proceedings were a sham. But this was predictable, since the BDA is now functioning in a grey area of governance. Its planning authority has been vacated by…

The Karnataka High Court has set aside the order of a single bench that directed the State government to conduct BBMP polls before May 30th, and has directed the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the election within six months from the date of dissolution. With the HC judgment, the State government has got a breathing space to carry out proposed restructuring of the BBMP and conduct the election. The division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy delivered the judgement on the appeal filed by the State government against the…

Karnataka High Court will decide on the schedule of council elections for Bengaluru. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi The Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka which has completed the hearing of the State government’s appeal against the Single Bench order to conduct BBMP polls before May 30th, has posted the judgment to April 24th, 2015. The court also extended the interim stay refraining the State Election Commission (SEC) from continuing the election procedures till the verdict. During the day-long hearing that took place on April 22nd, the division bench sought to know from the petitioners and the respondents if the…