BATF — gone with the wind

BATF — gone with the wind
The BATF, now almost forgotten, has been criticised for civic failures. S. Kushala cross-examines former BATF member V. Ravichandar for the citizens’ court
Times of India


Where does the BATF stand now?
There are contrasting statements by the government and members.
The BATF’s last summit was on January 31, 2004. Since then, we have not interacted with civic agencies or government on BATFspecific initiatives. We ceased to exist once the elections were announced in February 2004.
The government had assured at the IT captains’ meeting that the BATF would continue functioning.

You were preparing to organise review summits. What transpired between the BATF and government after this?
There has been no meeting between the government and BATF either before or after the meeting between the government and IT captains. There was no preparation to conduct any summit.

Public Works minister H.D. Revanna recently lashed out at the BATF for its poor performance and said it had not performed its duty. A case in point was bad roads. Comment.
We appreciate feedback. The BATF charter was consultative and facilitative. BATF was never the agency responsible for execution of civil work. For the record, there is a citizen report card of 2003 done by the Public Affairs Centre. It shows that citizens have seen a dramatic improvement (over 2-3 times) between 1999 and 2003.

It is alleged that BATF worked only for the Krishna government . Comment.
This is erroneous. BATF had concerned, apolitical citizens who were empowered by the state government and spent their own money, time and professional skills to help build a better city. To reduce this commitment into a political connotation is not warranted.

Did BATF members submit any progress report to the government on its work in the last five years?
Several documents have been submitted to the government and stakeholder organisations.

Have you achieved all your targets, what are they? Despite being touted a success story, the model has been ignored in its birthplace.
Targets were set by the seven stakeholders. The BATF acted as a catalyst and facilitator. A few key wins: accountability summits, SAS property tax, BDA undertaking city infrastructure from own funds, Nirmala toilets, Swachha Bangalore, bus shelters. A city like Bangalore needs many more before a cycle of sustainable change can occur. As far as the model continuing, it is the government’s prerogative.

In the DOCK

Name: V. Ravichandar
Date of Birth: February 22, 1957
Qualification: BE (Mechanical) BITS, Pilani; MBA, IIM, Ahmedabad
Address: 5th floor, Oxford Towers, Airport Road, Bangalore

Once an active member of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force, Ravichandar is the CEO of Feedback Consulting, a national research based consulting firm, and has over 23 years experience in marketing consulting. Over the last three years, Ravichandar has been contributing to the city improvement initiatives on a pro-bono basis, specifically with the Self-Assessment Scheme for property tax launched by the BCC, BDA infrastructure projects and public bond issue, IT Corridor plan, and metropolitan spatial data infrastructure planning.
The BATF initiative has wound up as the coalition government did not give it a green signal. PWD minister H.D. Revanna came down strongly on the BATF and questioned its commitment to the city.

VERDICT
NOT GUILTY

Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, associate professor of corporate strategy, IIM, Bangalore.

The BATF played a useful role in defining some priorities for urban renewal, kick-starting important new initiatives and providing a forum for public interface with different agencies involved with development of the city. Ravichandar is correct in saying that implementation of routine city maintenance was not part of the BATF charter. The current government has been quite ambivalent about the status of the BATF, and appears scared to say that it has been wound up. At the same time, they have done nothing to restore the processes the BATF had put in place. Many of the current problems with Bangalore’s roads are due to ineffectiveness of the BCC, which does not follow quality standards. Even when the BCC lays or repairs roads, the surface does not last beyond the next monsoon. Roads under the control of the PWD or CMCs are worse. I don’t see how the BATF can be blamed for this.