Governance

Bengaluru's ward committees have been chaired by nodal officers appointed on a temporary basis by the BBMP ever since the last Council's term ended in September 2020. They were mostly senior municipal officials who happened to reside in that particular ward. Before this temporary arrangement, formal ward committee included 10 citizens nominated from the ward, and were mandated to meet twice a month. Chaired by the elected ward councillor and attended by ward officials, these meetings were supposed to decide on ward-level budget, plan, prioritise and monitor works. Now, there are no formal ward committees, but nodal officers chair the…

This is the second and final of the two-part analysis of the new Act passed by Parliament, merging Delhi’s three municipal corporations into one all-powerful Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) under the control of the union government. The first part can be read here. The trifurcation of the Delhi local body in 2012 could no doubt have been better thought out. The three MCDs together had 94.23% of the NCT area — 1399.26 sq km of the total area of 1484.97 sq km. As per the 2011 Census, the three MCDs had 97.81% of Delhi's population under all the local bodies…

Chennai saw the inauguration of the first of its kind Gender and Policy Lab on April 1. The Lab will work with the civic body, transport agencies and other organs of the government to create a ‘safer and gender-inclusive city’.  The inauguration was attended by the Mayor of Chennai Corporation, R Priya, Commissioner of Chennai Corporation, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Commissioner of Police, Shankar Jiwal, representatives from the World Bank, officials from various departments of the civic body and transport agencies and members of various non-profit and civil society organizations. The Gender and Policy Lab has been formed as part of…

This first of a two-part series looks at the new Parliament Act merging Delhi’s three corporations into one all-powerful Delhi Municipal Corporation. For Delhi’s citizens, the hope is that creation of one omnibus municipal corporation for Delhi will improve the quality of services provided. For all those employed by the municipal corporations in different segments and capacities, from  teachers and sanitation workers to doctors, nurses and health workers, to name a few, the hope is that they may at last get their salaries, arrears and pensions which the present trifurcated MCDs have been unable to pay. Not surprisingly, all sections…

Translated by Sandhya Raju மார்ச் 18 அன்று தமிழக நிதித் துறை அமைச்சர், பழனிவேல் தியாகராஜன் 2022-23 ஆண்டுக்கான மாநில பட்ஜட்டை சட்டமன்றத்தில் தாக்கல் செய்தார். நிலையான சுற்றுச்சூழல், போக்குவரத்து இணைப்பு அதிகரித்தல், தமிழ் கற்றலை மேம்படுத்தல், சேவை அணுகலில் கவனம் செலுத்துதல் ஆகியவை முக்கிய இடம் பெற்றன. போக்குவரத்து நெரிசலை கட்டுப்படுத்துவது, நெடுஞ்சாலை விரிவாக்கம், வெள்ளத் தடுப்பு, பேரிடர் தயார்நிலை, பருவ நிலை மாற்றம், நகரத்தின் பசுமை போர்வையை அதிகரித்தல் ஆகியவை சென்னைக்கான ஒதுக்கீட்டில் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளன. தமிழக நிதித்துறை அமைச்சர் பிடிஆர் தியாகராஜன். படம்: Wikimedia Commons by Avenuesmadurai Read more: Sustainability needs a people-centric approach; is smart city Chennai geared to that? போக்குவரத்து நகருக்கு உள்ளேயும் வெளியேயும் பயணிக்கும் சாலைகளில் அதிகரித்து வரும் போக்குவரத்து நெரிசலைக் குறைக்க பட்ஜெட்டில் பல முன்முயற்சிகள் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளன. சாலை விரிவாக்கம், உயர்த்தப்பட்ட காரிடார் மற்றும் கிரேடு…

At 8 AM Sunday, on February 6*, 2022, about 150 people congregated at the Khajaguda Cave Trail in Hyderabad. Among them were young scientists, engineers, IT professionals and artists. There were young couples, grandparents and children. There were adventure sport enthusiasts and bird watchers. Most of them had never met each other except through social media. Very few considered themselves activists. Yet, this was no casual social occasion. They were agitated. They had a hunch that they were witnessing something horrifying: a mound of dirt the size of two football grounds and some twenty feet high, that had been created…

MyCityMyBudget, the annual participatory budgeting campaign run by the BBMP in collaboration with Janaagraha and community organisations, was held between February 23 and March 20, 2022 . The campaign reached all 198 The campaign reached all 198 wards under the leadership of community groups, apartment associations, federations and resident welfare associations. A total of 7238 budget inputs were provided by Citizens to make Namma Bengaluru a walkable, public urination-free and green city— 3290 for Public Toilets (46%)2188 for footpath improvements (30%) and1760 for parks (24%). MyCityMyBudget inputs from citizens. Pic credit: Janaagraha Among these categories: In footpaths ‘new footpaths’ has…

Faced with mounting criticism of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for inflating revenue receipts, the Karnataka Government earlier this month brought the BBMP under the Karnataka Local Fund Authorities Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2003. The government also issued a draft notification of the BBMP Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Rules, 2021, inviting suggestions from citizens within 30 days before issuing the final gazette notification. The objective is to ensure basic that BBMP’s expenditure doesn’t exceed income. As per the notification, BBMP must prepare its budget on the basis of actual revenues collected in the last fiscal year. The draft notification…

Ashwin, 27, an IT employee. Sharmila, 38, teacher. Khurshid Ahmed, 65, madrassa teacher and vendor. Tasdik Bushra, 19, MBBS student. These four Bengaluru citizens have only one thing in common--they all lost their lives recently due to potholes and poorly-maintained roads. In many cases, the victims were thrown off their two-wheelers, or hit/run over by other vehicles when they swerved to avoid potholes. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Bengaluru was the city to register the maximum such cases (18) in 2020, as per data from the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau). With a series of such incidents…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), also called the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), is India’s richest civic body. With an annual budget of Rs 45,949.21 crore for the year 2022-23, the BMC governs a population of over two crore people. Established in 1888, it is one of India's oldest municipal corporations with a vast administrative structure. Like any city corporation, BMC too consists of a deliberative wing comprising elected representatives i.e. the Corporators who represent the local wards, and the administrative wing composed of appointed officials. Officials including the Municipal Commissioner and Additional Commissioners, along with the staff of…