Governance

Bangalore Apartments’ Federation (BAF) is a federation representing the interests of residents of apartments and villa communities across Bengaluru. More than 1,180 apartment and villa resident welfare associations (RWAs) are members of BAF, representing nearly 250,000 households with close to one and a half million citizens either residing or working within these communities. Bengaluru city is growing at a rapid pace – nearly 1.35 crore of people from various parts of the country and the world have made this city their home. The rapid increase in population has been supported by a massive growth of vertical-living as the housing format.…

‘Civil Society Forum’ is a coalition of several civil society organisations and movements as well as individuals. It wishes to strengthen the electoral and democratic process in our city and state to make it more participatory and reflective of the real wishes of the people. The member organisations and individuals work in different sectors of urban and rural constituencies, engaging with diverse and marginalised communities in Karnataka and other states too. The Forum was actively involved in interacting with political parties, submitting manifestos during the Karnataka Assembly Elections in 2013 and 2018, the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014 and 2019…

Krishna Byre Gowda, from the Indian National Congress (INC), has been the MLA of Byatarayanapura since the constituency was formed in 2008. As part of his campaign to win the fourth term, he interacted with representatives of apartment associations in his constituency on April 9th. The MLA spoke about his achievements and answered key questions from the constituents. He also shared with Citizen Matters his plans for the next term if elected and his stance on certain important issues. The INC team and KBG, as he is popularly called, stressed multiple times on the MLA’s image as a clean and…

Mumbai was once known for local tournaments of games such as Wrestling, Kabaddi and Kho kho, which required minimal infrastructure and were popular among city's youth. They provided opportunities for the players to succeed at state, national level as well. Lack of open spaces has many repercussions. Particularly worrying is shrinkage of spaces that are dedicated for playing - playing any sports such as Football, Cricket, Hockey, Kho kho. Playgrounds help the younger generations stay fit, active, build team spirit and channelise their boundless energy positively. Organisations and people have dedicated themselves to save the green cover, preserve mangroves and…

On February 19th, the police had registered an FIR against 70 citizens, who took part in a silent march protesting the proposed Sankey road flyover. The protestors were accused of committing various crimes, including unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, obstruction to any person in any public place. All of which are offenses punishable under the Indian Penal Code. This came to light only when notices were issued in the first weeek of April to those who had participated in the protest. Some weeks later, in Yelahanka, another Bengaluru neighbourhood, several farmers who had been protesting the inadequate compensation provided by the…

Be it Fashion Street, Linking Road, Colaba Causeway or the buzzing Khau Gallis offering a variety of delicacies in various localities, Mumbai is known by its lively street markets run by hawkers. They have a distinct character that attracts shoppers from Mumbai and outside, and have even become a tourist attraction.  The book shops on pavements around Flora Fountain, which were an enduring source of knowledge, now invoke nostalgic memories for generations of book lovers. Similarly, Chor Bazaar is a source of art installations and furniture for art connoisseurs and collectors. Several useful services from typists to affidavit papers to…

On the night following the March 13th fire that gutted more than 1,000 houses in the Appapada informal settlement in Malad East, a mini tempo arrived with a few items of clothing for the families. Fights broke out whenever a person tried to take as many clothes as possible, only to have them snatched away by another person in need. Weeks later, the situation has not changed much. The residents are trying to rebuild their homes with the little aid that is coming to their rescue. Sheela Ruke, a contractual sanitation worker with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has been…

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has proposed new changes to the tariff and norms with respect to solar rooftop projects for the year 2024, following the expiration of the existing policy on March 31st. The discussion paper outlines several changes, including reducing the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) term to 15 years and introducing grid-interactive support charges. KERC has scheduled a public hearing on April 13th to gather input from all stakeholders before finalising the policy with the proposed changes. This article will explore some of the crucial points outlined in the discussion paper and analyse their potential impact. Reduction…

Indian cities have long suffered the absence of coherent and consistent policy-making on urbanisation. As a result, they are plagued by governance deficits, inadequate infrastructure, poor land management, unequal access to clean drinking water, repeated bouts of flooding, severe densification of some areas and poor quality of air and public spaces.  For Devashish Dhar, a former public policy specialist at NITI Aayog, these are evidence of Indian cities being a blind spot in planning and policy. In India's Blind Spot: Understanding and Managing Our Cities (Harper Collins India, 2023), Dhar examines historical processes that led to haphazard development of Indian…

 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Singh released the list of Aam Aadmi Party guarantees for the Karnataka assembly elections in Bengaluru on March 29th. Read more: How we registered our Apartment Owners Association under KAOA, 1972 Addressing a press conference at the party's state office, Sanjay Singh said, “Aam Aadmi Party is not a party that gives false promises. We offer a guarantee card with 100% fulfillment. We have fulfilled all the guarantees in the manifesto in Delhi. One by one is being implemented in Punjab as well." "Major guarantees related to total ten…