BMP ward panels are duds: Study

BMP ward panels are duds: Study
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Are you aware of ward committees? They are as much a part of the Bangalore Mahanagar Pailke (BMP), as much as the ward councillors. But in Bangalore, only one ward committee, that of Basavanagudi, has been holding regular meetings.

A study conducted by Citizens Voluntary Initiative for the City (CIVIC), highlighted the non-functioning of the ward committees in the city. The study was released by Principal Secretary for Urban Development, Shamim Banu on Saturday.

The ward committees are to be formed as per as the 74th Constitutional Amendment.

In Bangalore, ward committees were functional only between April 1999 to November 2001. After the municipal corporation elections of November 2001, fresh ward committees were formed after a delay of more than one and a half years, in July 2003.

CIVIC, in its study has stated that the ward committees were unfruitful in BMP. It observed several problems in the functioning of wards committee, such as internal squabbles and non-observance of rules. The wards committee is not a fully elected body of like the gram panchayat.

The state government nominates the seven members on the wards committee. “This pits the elected councillors against the nominated members,” the study says.

Lack of finances, lack of access to ward level information and lack of control over ward expenditures, were among the problems faced by the committees.

The report recommended that ward committees should function on the lines of gram panchayat. It also recommended the need for one elected member for every population of 5,000 and one wards committee for every 50,000 population.

It also said that the Metropolitan Planning Committee was yet to be set up in the city. It pointed that so far such a committee was formed only in Kolkata.

Urban Development Principal Secretary, that political interference was a part of democracy and we need to accept it. “Even gram panchayat members are required not to belong to any party, but they do have parties,” she said.

As for the metropolitan planning committee, she said that the planning committee in Kolkata had not done anything commendable except for preparing master plans.

She suggested that the minutes of the ward committees can be presented during the council meetings.

Former Mayor P R Ramesh said that rules must be revised, and that more powers must be entrusted to the ward committees.

He said that more funds must be given to BMP and advocated the need of public private participation.