It has been over four years since the BBMP corporation elections are due and the previous elected body's tenure expired in September 2020.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. (Wikipedia Commons)
Amid ongoing discussions about improving Bengaluru’s municipal governance, the Siddaramaiah-led-Congress government has clarified that it plans to restructure and not bifurcate the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda explained that the restructuring will establish a three-tier system aimed at better administration.
It may also be noted that it has been over four years since the BBMP elections are due. The corporation elections are expected to be held by the end of the ongoing year.
However, the government’s plan to restructure the BBMP has raised concerns about further delay in the elections among the public.
Addressing the concerns, the Minister confirmed that the overdue BBMP elections will be held before the restructuring process begins, ensuring compliance with legal obligations and addressing public concerns.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s civic activists demand the state government consult the public instead of taking unilateral decisions on the matter and criticise the problems in the existing structure.
The state government made serious deliberations on restructuring the BBMP in the meeting held under the headship of CM Siddaramaiah at his official residence on 11 June.
A delegation led by Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who is also the Minister for Bengaluru Development, participated in the meeting. Senior Ministers Ramalinga Reddy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Zameer Ahmed Khan and other legislators also took part.
Based on the report and recommendations made by the restructuring committee headed by former IAS officer BS Patil and others, the Congress government is considering bifurcation of the BBMP into three-tier structures, with zonal-level corporations.
Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told South First: “I will make it very clear that the government is not bifurcating the BBMP, instead restructuring it into three-tiers. The government is gearing up for restructuring based on the report submitted by the restructuring committee consisting of former IAS officer BS Patil and other experts.”
Gowda, who is also the spokeperson of the Karnataka government, pointed out, “They have studied thoroughly about the BBMP’s administration and governance for the last one year. After extensive consultation and analysis, the committee recommended restructuring of the BBMP.”
On how the government planned to restructure the BBMP, the Minister explained: “The government has worked out some models for the proposed restructuring of the BBMP. There is likely to be a zonal-level corporation, then an administrative body at the Bengaluru-level and a body headed by the Chief Minister to look into the affairs.”
Talking about reasons for the restructuring, he said that the current structure is inadequate and challenging.
“There are likely to be more than 240 wards. Each ward is being planned to confine for the maximum populace of around 25,000 to 30,000. The main intention to have under 30,000 people in a ward is to ensure that the governance is delivered to the last mile/person. The main intention to restructure the BBMP is that the current structure, governance and administration is inadequate and challenging to maintain the entire Bengaluru,” highlighted Byre Gowda.
“We need to address several concerns such as structural weakness and future needs of Bengaluru. Importantly, all agencies such as BESCOM and BWSSB will come under one banner. The restructuring of the BBMP is expected to give better administration and governance,” elaborated the Minister.
Amid the state government’s deliberations on restructuring the BBMP, concerns have arisen about potential delays in the long-overdue BBMP elections. However, Minister Krishna Byre Gowda assured that they are “legally bound” to conduct the corporation elections before any restructuring begins.
As soon as the news broke out that the Siddaramaiah-led-Karnataka government is gearing-up for the restructure of the BBMP, several people, especially netizens have not only expressed concerns over the delay of the BBMP elections but also demanded to conduct the corporation polls immediately.
It has been over four years since the BBMP corporation elections are due. The BBMP’s previous elected body tenure expired on 10 September, 2020.
When asked whether the government is planning to hold the BBMP election before or after the restructure, Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told South First: “We cannot avoid the BBMP elections, which is already delayed by over four years. We are legally bound to restructure after the elections.”
“It is legally impossible to prioritise restructuring of the BBMP over the pending corporation elections. We are most likely to first hold the BBMP elections and then take up the restructuring work. The party leadership has already given instructions to the cadre to begin preparations for the BBMP elections and it will be most likely be held within this year itself,” highlighted Krishna Byre Gowda.
Meanwhile, civic activists demand that the state government consult with the public before taking unilateral decisions on the matter.
Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru’s Convenor Sandeep Anirudhan told South First: “On such a huge decision that affects the city’s very foundations, the government should not take an unilateral decision. It needs to hold a transparent and detailed Pre-legislative Public Consultation. The Government should not adopt any short cuts.”
Talking about it further, he explained, “It has been over 32 years; the Govt of Karnataka has never followed the law. In 1992, 72nd amendment of our the Constitution was passed. It mandates the setting up of a Planning Authority called ‘Metropolitan Planning Committee’ and a unified, devolved and decentralised City Governmentt, managed by an elected council.”
“It is not because anything is missing in the law that Bengaluru is lawless, and has poor governance. It is only because of lack of political will and poor management. The law already provides for all the aims that the proposed restructuring that the government claims it proposes through its new measures,” he said.
Criticising the inaction of state government for three decades, Sandeep said, “So, the inaction for three decades only proves that the government, both the present one and previous ones are least bothered about a vision for planned sustainable development for the city. It also has no interest in decentralisation as it has not held elections to the BBMP for 4 years, nor has it formed ward committees or area sabhas to aid decentralisation. We haven’t had any of this for the past 32 years.”
Sandeep said that if the 74th amendment is followed, the city will get everything its people needs.
“The BBMP can perform better only if it is disciplined, has transparency and non-interference from the state government and MLAs. If these things don’t change, and if we merely have 5 Corporations, we’ll just end up with 5 malfunctioning Corporations, instead of one. And the process of cutting up the city, and setting up new corporations will create a huge mess which the city will take a few more decades to recover from,” he explained.
Pointing at the BBMP, he added: “Three major malaises that are affecting the city today: First, there is unplanned development, which the Supreme Court itself has called out, Second, lawlessness, nobody is following any of the laws or bye laws, and there is zero enforcement by the government. Third, misgovernment – there is complete breakdown of governance, day to day functions are not happening, nor policy decisions.”
He insisted that before the government does anything major, they should prove themselves by making the existing laws work.
“Let them make the Metropolitan Planning Committee work, let them issue a sustainable Masterplan for the next 25 or 50 years, let them unify all parastatals into BBMP, let them ensure there’s is accountability, transparency and responsibility at all levels. Let them stop the lawlessness, the destruction of the city. If they can manage to do this for 2-3 years, then we can consider new ideas from them. When they cant even do this, why should we trust them with such hare brained ideas?” asked Sandeep.
Stating that it is just a gimmick, he added: “This announcement is a mere gimmick to avoid holding BBMP elections. Not holding corporator elections deprives citizens of grass root interaction with the system.”
“Let the elections be held first, let ward committees and area sabhas become functional. This is part of the constitution, they are duty bound to implement it. Let them prove their competency,” demanded Sandeep.
Talking about the issue, civic activist Srinivas Alavilli told South First:“The bifurcation or trifurcation of the BBMP is less important than addressing the root cause, which is the lack of political empowerment of the BBMP. BBMP does not have control over functions or funds and does not have powers to recruit staff. Decentralization is always a good idea as it improves transparency and allows people to hold elected representatives accountable.”
Stressing on the importance of public consultation, he stressed, “Without wide public consultation, debate in legislature and consensus building, the government cannot make unilateral decisions. All the civic agencies that serve Bengaluru such as BESCOM, BWSSB, BMTC and BMRCL should be brought under the City Government.”
“In Mumbai, BMC which is one of the richest municipal corporations in the world, runs even the local bus system and has an annual budget of ₹60,000 crore whereas BBMP has ₹12,000 crore budget,” he pointed out.
“We need several reforms to strengthen the city municipal corporation. Greater Bengaluru Authority makes sense but we don’t know what powers it has and whether MPC and BMLTA are part of this new entity. It is not a good idea to restructure unless BBMP is politically and financially strengthened by law,” added Srinivas.
(Edited by Neena)
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