In a big boost for decentralised functioning and participatory democracy, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has allocated Rs 60 lakh for each ward committee in the city. Out of these 60 lakhs, Rs 20 lakh each are to be spent for roads, pavements and borewells based on the ward committee’s recommendation. This was sanctioned by BBMP Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Friday based on the suggestions from the public collected ahead of the 2021-22 BBMP budget preparation. Janaagraha, an NGO working on urban governance, partnered with 40 other civil society organisations to collect inputs from citizens as part of the MyCityMyBudget campaign. In the recent past, ward committees were also instrumental in setting up Ward Decentralised Triage and Emergency Response (DETER) Committees for COVID-19 management during the peak of the second wave. Although in law for a long time, ward committees were regularised in Bengaluru following instructions of the Karnataka High Court
Gaurav Gupta said, “Ward committee meetings in each ward must discuss issues for which grants have been set aside and take appropriate decisions and obtain approval to start the work in order to resolve the issues.” In the absence of an elected council, one senior BBMP officer has been appointed as a nodal officer for each ward. Gupta, during a meeting with the officers on Friday, instructed officials to address all ward level grievances in an expedited manner. “Ward committees have been set up to respond quickly to citizens in the city, and ward council meetings will be held on the first and third Saturdays of the month. BBMP, Water Board, Bescom and Traffic Police Officers, Ward Committee Nodal Officers and members and local citizens must participate in this meeting, and appropriate action must be taken to resolve the complaints/issues discussed at the meeting,” Gupta said. He added, “Citizen participation is of utmost importance in order to resolve the issues in the city. In this regard, Citizen Partnership Programme has been launched to maintain cleanliness in the city and adequately manage the city's solid waste disposal process. Coordinators at the zonal, divisional, ward level and Shuchi Mithras at the block level and volunteers at lane level are being deployed. This would help to address the waste disposal system,” he added.
Janaagraha which has been working with BBMP for years now welcomed this move. Srinivas Alavilli, who is part of the organisation said, “Bengaluru is one of the very few cities in the country to constitute ward committees -- today’s announcement of allocation of funds toward committees is an excellent indication that the BBMP wants to empower ward committees. Participatory Governance is not new to Bengaluru but today it took an entirely new and significant step. We appeal to all citizens to join their ward committees and wherever the ward committees are nonfunctional, use this opportunity to activate them.”