Governance

The summary revision of electoral rolls is underway in Tamil Nadu with the publication of the draft electoral roll in September. Those who will have completed 18 years as on January 1, 2019 can enroll themselves in the voter list and those who wish to make any changes or deletions may also do so during the revision period. The final voter list is to be published on January 4, 2019. If you are looking to add, change or delete yourself from the rolls, these are the steps to be followed. Just be quick, for the deadline is October 31st. Addition…

Swine Flu in Karnataka: 86 cases recorded in BBMP limits this year As many as 542 cases of Swine Flu have been registered so far in Karnataka and eight people had died, between January 2018 to October 17 2018. The toll continues to rise.  86 people were tested positive in BBMP limits, of which 54 cases were recorded in Bengaluru Urban, by the state's Health and Family Welfare Department. Most of the deceased patients were treated at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) between August and October. The latest death reported is of a 58 year-old man from Bengaluru south…

Around the city, it's easy to see that a number of localities are struggling to manage their waste. Heaps of trash lie around on the sides of roads, and are cleared only occasionally. The BBMP has tried various things to stop this - from warning signs to pleas to decorating a few places hoping that people will be reluctant to dirty them. None of this has worked. Now comes a different explanation. Some communities want to bring back the old bins. Until about a decade ago, the municipality used to have bins at street corners and people would dump their…

It was a novel idea of providing services to students in the comfort of their homes: Apply for the BMTC bus pass online and have it delivered to you at home. However, the new service has run into rough weather as close to 70,000 bus pass applications remained unprocessed, forcing the students to turn up in large numbers at the KempeGowda  Terminal to collect their passes. With September 30th being the last day to avail these concession passes, and many unable to apply for it online because of glitches in procedure, many students queued up at the BMTC depot to…

There's a lot of talk about Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation's efficiency, price increase and making data-based decisions. People are asking the BMTC to stop fare hike. Before getting emotional about it all, let us go through the following points. Do we want to run BMTC as public sector transport organisation generating profit/Return on Investment (ROI) and to grow the network specifically focused on profits? Do we want to run BMTC as an employment-oriented social responsibility organisation to the public at large irrespective of its income/expenditure status? Do we want to run BMTC as a social responsibility for every citizen (Indian…

Citizens of Bengaluru were delighted to notice the tough action taken against the perpetrators of the city’s biggest eyesores - the polluting buntings and banners. These ugly and disfiguring hoardings used to obstruct straight vision and trigger off accidents by diverting motorists. For the past one month, thanks to the ultimatum by Karnataka High Court Chief Justice subsequent to a couple of PILs; the buntings were removed on a war footing. But now, for the past few days banners and buntings have started slowly popping up trampling the ban order. A few days back huge banners were being fixed across…

The tenth edition of Daan Utsav, a celebration of the spirit of giving, is around the corner and various programmes and initiatives have been lined up in the city from October 2nd to October 8th. Since 2009, Daan Utsav has commenced on Gandhi Jayanti, with events and initiatives spread across a week to follow. The festival was created with the aim to give back to the society. Individuals, NGOs, educational institutions and corporate companies have over the years come together to provide their time, money and effort to share with those in need. The various initiatives as part of Daan Utsav…

Sampath Raj, the 51st Mayor of Bangalore, finishes his term as the first citizen of the city in September. As the race for his successor heats up, we caught up with the man for a chat on his experience as the Mayor of Bangalore, on city administration, and other pressing issues. Much like that of a seasoned politician, his interview turned out to be more interesting for what he hinted at, rather than what he said. A mayor is considered a figure head and is not really considered very powerful. Is that what your experience has been in office? The…

Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) organised a 'Commuter Ballot' campaign at Kempe Gowda Bus Stand, Majestic on September 20th, 2018. About 95% of the commuters who took part opposed the price hike. They also demanded that the State Government support to BMTC to make busses more affordable. The Karnataka Government has proposed to hike both BMTC and KSRTC bus ticket fares by 18% in context of the soaring fuel prices by the Central Government. Two days ago, the State Government has been quoted in the media that the proposal to hike the ticket fare is going to be temporarily docked.…

The cash-strapped municipality of Bengaluru, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has acknowledged the long-known financial problems the BBMP is facing. BBMP is unable to fund the pending infrastructure projects, with amounts payable by the BBMP including pending bills mounting upto Rs 15,428.67 crore. BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad formally wrote to the Karnataka Urban Development Department asking that the BBMP be brought under the ambit of Karnataka Local Fund authorities and Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2003. The act says the local body must compulsorily try to achieve 'sufficient revenue surplus' - excess of income generated in comparison to projected income. The commissioner…