Governance

Gain in-depth understanding of civic administration, policy implementation and public policy. Find articles on the intricacies of urban governance, learn more about challenges and successes in local government operations, effectiveness of municipal bodies, and how it all affects the lives of citizens. Understand election processes and get critical information on choices and options. Be informed about active citizen engagement with governing authorities, and how residents can influence policy and hold them accountable.

Recently, Smart Vote, a Bangalore-based citizens' group, discovered a number of errors in the electoral lists of several polling booths. While some were complete replicas of a neighbouring polling booth, others showed some names repeated several times in the same list. The issue was brought to the notice of the State Election Commission (SEC) which is overseeing the BBMP council elections. Even as these errors were being rectified, there seemed to be many more such anomalies going unreported. Chief Electoral Officer Dr C S Suranjana, at his office near Cubbon Park. Pic: Vaishnavi VittalIt's against this backdrop that Citizen Matters…

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The State Election Commission has announced the BBMP council elections schedule, with March 28th 2010 as the day of elections. The election code of conduct has been in force since March 7th and will go on till April 6th.The last date for filing nominations is March 15th while the nominations will be scrutinised on March 17th. The last date for withdrawing nomination papers is March 19th. After polling takes place on March 28th between 7 am and 5 pm, counting will be done a week later on April 5th. If necessary, repolling will take place on April 4th.March 7th 2010…

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GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKAPOLICE DEPARTMENTPROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE BANGALORE CITY.SUB : Issue of directions u/s 70 of The Karnataka Police Act, 1963 in fulfillment of the duties cast on the Police u/s 68 Sub Section F of The Karnataka Police Act, 1963. Deadlines set by Police Commissioner Bidari Filing of compliance status via Annexure A - 15th April 2010 Ensuring compliance with fire safety rules - 30th April 2010 Ensuring compliance of bldgs to approved plan - 30th June 2010PREAMBLE: 1. On 23rd February, 2010, fire broke out in a high rise building called Carlton Towers, in the limits…

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The Karnataka Lokayukta has ordered a departmental enquiry against the BBMP Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena, BWSSB Chairman P B Ramamurthy and few other officials for a case of zoning violation in Jayanagar. Though the Lokayukta's orders are recommendatory and not binding, the order comes as another slap on the face of a city that recently witnessed the Carlton Towers fire accident. The Lokayukta issued this order on December 23rd 2009.Also, Meena and Ramamurthy, both IAS officers, have been slapped with a showcause notice by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms on February 17th 2010.BBMP had sanctioned a plan for…

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The state government's proposal to construct a war memorial at the Indira Gandhi musical fountain park in Vasanthnagar, has met the ire of environment groups in the city, who allege that this project is being carried out by violating several legislations. At least 29 trees (or less) are facing the axe for the project. The groups, however, say that they are not against the construction of a war memorial itself, but are opposing the felling of trees. Proposed to be built over 6 acres and 22 guntas of this 17-odd acre park, the project has been initiated by the state's…

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For months now, reservations for Bengaluru's city council seats have been in the eye of a storm. Citizens across the city have questioned the state government on the method used to reserve wards. In the process, cases have been filed both in the High Court (HC) and Supreme Court, both of who have quashed the original list released by the state.The list released by the government on 23 February is here. Ward reservation list.  To reserve the 23 wards for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in the BBMP council elections, two methods have been under discussion lately. One method involves…

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February 23, 2010: Fire broke out at Carlton Towers, Bangalore. 9 dead, 60 injured. January 2008: Burrabazar in Kolkata witnessed the worst of its kind fire accident which raged on for nearly one week destroying several shops and establishments. July 16, 2004 : A school in Kumbakonam is engulfed in fire killing more than 90 innocent children. June 13, 1997 : Uphaar theatre in Delhi catches fire while a show is in progress. Many lives lost in this tragic fire accident. This is what the news a few years from now will read, mere statistics of what happened and how…

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BBMP is on a beautification drive, painting the walls in the city in a hue of colours. Since August 15th 2009, about seven lakh square feet of wall along main roads and bridges, mostly in the west zone of the city have been turned into canvases for the BBMP’s Karnataka Vaibhava wall painting project. Scenes from mythology, paintings of the temples at Hampi, Belur and Halebid, the Mysore Palace, historical figures of Karnataka, jungle creatures, and even a few socially conscious paintings of polio vaccinations and the dangers of alcohol related abuse now adorn the public walls of the city,…

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Bengaluru has 198 wards spread over an area of almost 800 sq kilometres. Here are the population figures of the city, ward-wise. Also included are the male and female population, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population, and area of each ward. This data has been obtained from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore district and is based on the 2001 census. Click each image to see the expanded table showing all of the data for each ward. Wards 1-38 Wards 39-79 Wards 80-120 Wards 121-161 Wards 162-198 ⊕Related ArticlesTax collection by BBMPPay Property Tax for the year 2013-14

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It takes a child…

...to question whyshe needs permissionto answer nature ...to wonder aloudwhy 'adults' oftendiscuss kids' issueswithout consulting them...to inform 'leaders'that their needsare critical too...to remind eldersthat they maybecitizens of tomorrowbut are around now!   Inspired by what I saw and heard from and about the young during the Civil Society Summit 2010, a commemoration and re-examination of 60 years of the Indian Republic and its constitution, held in Bangalore from 24th-26th January. 

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