Governance

Most of us would not know who the Mayor of Bengaluru is. However, the name of the chief commissioner of the municipal corporation would probably be familiar to a few. This complete failure to recognise and identify the mayors of our cities is symptomatic of a deep malaise: the relative unimportance of the political executive in the running of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). One way to be aware of issues of impropriety and poor performance in local government bodies and departments is to track the audit reports from agencies like the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). This article…

Are you a Chennaite who has been to Marina beach since your childhood? Does the sight of the sea hold many happy memories for you? But how many of us know that Marina beach also has a fraught past, which counts as part of its history a police gun firing against fisherfolk who protested against beach beautification? For many youngsters of this generation, the Jallikattu protests were the first time they saw a very different image of the beach - one as a site of protest. But that's not the only point of contention that has seen protests. Over the…

Within the narrow lanes of Thubarahalli, garbage dumps on one side and tin shacks on the other, a thumping noise is heard. Two trucks make their way into this neighbourhood. About 30 volunteers in yellow shirts, ‘India’ written on them, follow the trucks in cars and vans. After the trucks are parked, people quickly start assembling near the  vehicles. They stand in lines and spots demarcated by the volunteers for better organisation. The trucks have brought packaged food items, which is some relief for the families whose lives have been disrupted by the floods. One by one, queues of people start…

Uma Anandan made the news for her controversial statement in support of Nathuram Godse in the run-up to the local body polls. She was elected from Ward 134 and is the lone councillor from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chennai. Her foray into politics has roots in early childhood, with her father being a member of the Indian National Congress (INC)."I remember the times of Indira Gandhi and the issues such as corruption and autocracy that plagued the INC being discussed in the extended family. There was a slowly eroding value to the party that became apparent to me",…

“It was 12:05 in the night. Some people were awake, some were asleep,” says Rafiq Shaikh, recounting the landslide that struck Kurar Village in Malad on July 2nd, 2019, killing 32 of his neighbours and washing all their houses away. “It was raining heavily and water had entered our house, so we were awake. Perhaps that’s the only reason we made it out alive,” he says. The retaining wall of the Malad Hill water reservoir, towering over their houses in Pimpri Pada and Ambedkar Nagar in Kurar Village, collapsed under the pressure of 300 mm of continuous rainfall. It was like a…

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Reports are a compilation of financial audits, compliance audits, and performance audits of the central government and state governments. The Indian Audit & Accounts (IA& AD), headed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, audits almost all branches of Government at every level. The reports offer insights on the nuanced workings of governance. Citizen Matters series on Understanding Public Project Audits, curated by experts from the CAG, tells us how these reports can be leveraged by citizens to hold their local governments accountable. For instance, when the office of Accountant General (Audit II) conducted…

"I want a home,” says Dhanashree, a student of Class IX. “It should have a toilet with a door, at least one room spacious enough to stretch my legs and sleep and a kitchen of our own,” she adds. This is not just her dream but also that of hundreds of families in Kannappar Thidal who were evicted from the streets near Ripon Building two decades ago. Evictions in Chennai have become a common affair now with removal of encroachments, eminent domain claims, court orders and developmental projects being cited as reasons by various government bodies to carry out the…

An informed citizenry is the hallmark of a mature democracy. Hence, institutions or mechanisms that empower citizens, by providing feedback on the working of government, are essential pillars of democracy. Citizen Matters has published a series of explainers by experts from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), India’s statutory watchdog agency. It is responsible for the performance audit of government functions/departments. CAG reports have covered a wide range of subjects: health, education, road safety, toll, guidance value of property, mining, construction workers’ welfare, etc. The articles focus on the performance of overall state finances with respect to State…

"The houses on that street must not complain of mosquito menace again. Spray mosquito repellents there," instructs Shanthi (aka) Yazhini, Councillor of Ward 135, to an employee as I enter her cabin on the first floor of the ward office in Ashok Nagar.  A portrait of Thol. Thirumavalavan, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi's (VCK) leader, hangs in a place of prominence in her office. "When I was a college student, I heard him passionately talk about uplifting the downtrodden. Inspired by that, I joined the party to serve people," says the 48-year-old councillor and lawyer. VCK chose her as the councillor candidate of…

In September 2020, the Bombay High Court initiated a suo moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) following the partial collapse of a 36-year-old illegal building in Bhiwandi. The collapse had resulted in the loss of 38 lives, mostly labourers. On February 26 2022, the court pronounced its judgment: this tragic state of affairs in Mumbai, it said, is because “encroachments on public land happen with impunity” and because slum policy confers a “premium illegality in favour of the encroachers, by granting them a windfall of State largesse…in the form of tenements”. This is nothing but “legalising encroachments on prime public lands,”…