Governance

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the Karnataka state assembly two audit reports by the CAG of India were tabled.  Report No 1 of 2020 - tabled on 22nd September - pertains to State Finances of Karnataka Government for the year 2018-19. Report No 2 of 2020 - tabled on 23rd September - presents the Performance Audit on Implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. Read the Performance Audit Report in English hereRead the Performance Audit Report in Kannada here On September 23rd, CAG of India’s Audit Report on Union Government (Finance Accounts) for the year 2018-19 got tabled…

Note: The edited version of the article, published on 14 Oct 2020, has been replaced by the version submitted and subsequently modified by the author himself. The author had contested the copy edits made by Citizen Matters prior to publishing. A revamp of the city government was long overdue; our freedom fighters had led a long struggle for Swaraj, ie., Self Rule, which has eluded entire generations, due to the centralized nature of government adopted by our constitution. Cities and towns in India, have in administrative terms, remained colonies of their respective State Govts, giving the residents of the cities…

The last few weeks have seen a renewed debate on whether the State needs a new capital. This is of course one of those topics that are periodically dusted, discussed and then put back on the shelf. But nevertheless, it is a matter that merits attention, especially in the present circumstances. It must however be pointed out here that after having been aired, all talk on this has died out for now, but we never know as to what can take focus, especially with state assembly elections due next year. Concentration of development The ongoing COVID crisis has shown that…

A couple voting in the BBMP elections of 2015. What does it mean for Bengalureans to not have an elected Council now? File Pic: Akshatha M On September 10, the tenure of the BBMP Council ended, and the state government stepped in to appoint senior bureaucrat Gaurav Gupta as the corporation's administrator. Gaurav Gupta will remain in charge of the corporation until a new bunch of corporators are elected in the next Council election. It was a move that didn't surprise many who had been watching the space. But the Council elections aren't on the horizon anytime soon - partly…

BBMP is not equipped to handle the problems within its limited area of 712 sq km, let alone those in the larger Bengaluru Metropolitan Region. Pic: BBMP Part 1 of this series explored why the recently-introduced BBMP Bill is problematic. In this part, the author proposes an alternative governance structure for the city. The recently-introduced BBMP Bill proposes splitting the 198 wards in Bengaluru to 225, but not bringing about major changes in the functioning of the bankrupt, dysfunctional BBMP. Besides, given the entire Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (BMR) of 8,005 sq km is urbanising rapidly, the governance of Bengaluru needs to…

It is said that doing the same experiment again and again under the same conditions and expecting a different result each time is schizophrenic. Bringing another legislation, the BBMP Bill, to improve the same dysfunctional BBMP is such an example. Over the past week, the Joint Legislative Committee (JLC) appointed by the state government has been deliberating on the BBMP Bill, a separate Bill for the administration of Bengaluru. This Bill is to replace the KMC (Karnataka Municipal Corporations) Act which is currently the basis for the administration of Bengaluru (and other municipalities in the state). BBMP Bill proposes increasing…

Even as the COVID-19 contagion hits new peaks, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is pushing his slogan of “Harega corona, jeetega Gujarat” (Corona will lose, Gujarat will win) to convey an 'all is well' picture and underline the fact that COVID-19 will not halt the state’s development. But what did come as a surprise was the recent announcement of the expansion of the civic limits of the municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar. The reason for this soon became obvious--- elections are due in these six municipal corporations, all controlled by the ruling BJP in November-December. Poll…

In a first of its kind for Bengaluru, the BBMP on August 15 launched a holistic Rabies Prevention and Control Programme, targeted at 'Independence from Rabies'. After Goa, Bengaluru is now the second to have a Rabies Helpline in the country. The helpline +91 6364893322 was inaugurated by Mayor Goutham Kumar and BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad. The pick-up vans were flagged off by BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Animal Husbandry and Solid Waste Management) Randeep Dev. The helpline is expected to reduce the burden on Animal Birth Control (ABC) centres that have been attending to dog bite complaints, and have been counselling…

BBMP launched BLCARES on August 14, to decentralise Bengaluru’s Covid management process. BLCARES or 'Bengaluru Local - Covid-19 Awareness Response and Emergency Sahaya' attempts to emulate the booth-level management technique during elections.  The programme includes BLCARES.in, a tech platform developed by the joint effort of civil society organisations including Janaagraha, Sensing Local and Reap Benefit. These groups along with Citizens for Bengaluru, CIVIC, Hasiru Dala, Naavu Bharateeyaru, Slum Mahila Sanghatane, Azim Premji Foundation, etc., will also help in citizen volunteer mobilisation and training. The BLCARES platform also contains resources and IEC training material for volunteers.  https://twitter.com/BBMPCOMM/status/1294217712781033472?s=20 Centralised COVID response had…

Delhi has no COVID war room. But the capital had become the centre of attention in the fight against COVID-19 when on June 9th, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia estimated that Delhi, groaning under an acute shortage of hospital beds, would need over 5.5 lakh beds by end July. A shocked public, the city administration, hospitals and even Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepped in. The BJP at the Centre and AAP in Delhi called a truce as they joined hands to deal with what was becoming a crisis in the capital. Their crisis management efforts finally yielded some positive results. At 10.25…