Governance

Watching the Shiv Sena's latest threats to non-Maharashtrians in Bombay, I'm sure a lot of people in various other metropolitan cities are thinking - could it happen here? Could the xenophobia that has characterised the politics of some groups in some parts of the country take hold everywhere? And how about Bangalore itself?This question is interesting for two reasons. One is the usual politics of 'us' and 'them' around which endless commentary has been written.On the other side of this fence too, the noises are understandable. Rahul Gandhi has been ticking off the Shiv Sena quite publicly on its stance,…

The State Election Commission (SEC) has written to the BBMP asking the Assistant Revenue Officers (ARO) to verify the voter lists of their respective wards. This comes a day after a Bangalore-based citizens group on voter awareness, Smart Vote, approached the SEC about errors in 19 polling booths. Smart Vote found that the electoral lists of three polling booths have been duplicated, in what seems to be a human error and not that of the database itself. These have been fixed by the SEC. But there are more such duplications and the SEC says they are looking into it. In…

Cops were wiring me up with two tiny hidden video-cameras, two audio recorders, stuffing thousands of rupees in my pockets and briefing me like a military commander does his cadets prior to an offensive. One pocket had 1,000-rupee notes sullied with detective powder that would turn pink as evidence if dipped in treated water. A cameraman was recording this process. Had it not been for missing flood-lights and makeup artists, it could have been mistaken for a 007-style film shooting.This was on Wednesday, February 3rd. Inside the Lokayukta building, with instructions from Additional Director General of Police Rupak K Dutta…

Governance Should you care about this plan? Read our news report here.1. Create new Bengaluru legislation that supersedes /encompasses all Bengaluru/Municipal body legislations like BWSSB Act, BBMP act etc - Bengaluru Region Governance Act, (BRGA) 2009.2. Establish the Bangalore Spatial Information Centre (BASIC).3. Strengthen the Lok Ayukta Act. 4. Amend the Karnataka Transparency Act.5. The Bengaluru City Report card to be presented by the BMRDA/MPC with Chief Minister as Chairman.6. Launch official city website www.nammabengaluru.gov.in7. Establish the Institute of Urban Planning and Governance (IUPG).  Roads, Traffic Management and Transportation1. Establish ongoing transport demand growth study and research.2. Make a single…

Citizens tend to be skeptical if not cynical of hearing about plans for Bengaluru, especially when even the most elementary projects get caught up in bungles and delays. Recently it was the turn of the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's ABIDe task force to release its own grand plan for the city's development. Release of Plan Bengaluru 2020. From right, ABIDe member R K Mishra, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, ABIDe Convenor and MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, ABIDe member A Ravindra. Pic courtesy: ABIDe. On January 14th this year, Rajya Sabha MP and Convenor of the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development…

The first year of BJP administration in the state has been marked by lack of democratic process and increased corruption and violence, according to a report by DAKSH, an independant civil society group. The report assesses the overall functioning of Karnataka state government from June 2008 to November 2009.  The detailed master report was released in January 2010 while the summary report was available a month earlier. The report was compiled from data obtained through RTI applications, annual reports of government departments, newspapers and reports by various national agencies and NGOs. Daksh 2009 Review of the Karnataka Govt. The Daksh…

Kempe Gowda ward. Chowdeshwari ward. Atturu. Yelahanka Satellite town. Jakkur. Thanisandra. Byatarayanapura. Kodigehalli. Vidyaranyapura. Dodda Bommasandra. Kuvempu Nagar.If you reside in any of these wards, it is likely that you have either been visited or will soon be, by officials seeking information about your property. These are officials of a not-for-profit organisation called My Bhumi, who are carrying out a 'property survey' on behalf of the BBMP, for Wards 1 to 11 in North Bangalore.“Many people are not paying tax, that's why we are doing this. We will feed this into the computer. We will get name of owner, type…

WARD 178 - Sarakki, JP Nagar 6th Phase, LIC Quarters.North: By Sarakki Main Road 9th Cross.East: By 13th Main, 13th Cross, 8th A Main Road,Outer Ring Road, 12th Main Road.South: By 17th A Cross, 15th Main 18th Cross, 17thCross, Cross Road(Existing WardBoundary),22nd Main, Existing WardBoundary, Cross Road,Source: bbmpwards.infoWhen Citizen Matters approached the residents of Sarakki (Ward 178), they echoed concerns about garbage clearance, regulating traffic, encroachments on footpaths, and the condition of roads.Mahesh A R and M S Ramesh who run businesses on Sarakki main road, hoped that the authorities would take note of the traffic congestion in this area,…

City elections may not happen on February 21st. On January 28th the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka state government to follow the ruling of the Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka of December 8th. In that ruling, the High Court had asked the government to re-do the ward reservations list for Bengaluru in line with the 2001 census data for the Bangalore municipal area. With the ward reservation list quashed, the BBMP council elections are likely to not take place as scheduled. Pic: Vaishnavi Vittal The State Election Commission (SEC) today told Citizen Matters that they have written…

Recently, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his band of Ministers, R Ashoka, Katta Subramanya Naidu and S Suresh Kumar, laid the foundation stone for a housing complex in JP Nagar. The housing complex will come up where a low income neighbourhood (slum) now exists with over 1000 houses. For now, around 100 houses have been razed and the families shifted nearby, in tin sheds.Speaking to these residents, they complained about the water problem, lack of toilet facilities, families of five were living in a cramped space, the tin sheds scratched them, they were sleeping on mud floors. Many refused…