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Abide - all the right noises

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Written By tsubba - 29 June, 2008

Bangalore governance BDA Kasturi Rangan Abide Citizen Reports Participation

#1. at yesterday's meet, the media reports that while the CM spoke on finances and the big picture, the heads of various departments spoke of issues at a much finer scale, and the members of various RWA's spoke about many nuts and bolts issues[1]. (Added later: After I have written all that I have written, I observed a curiously familiar position on sakrama, property taxes and egovernance by a name very familiar. I am 99.87% sure that our own Silkboard has found mention in that article. which means he was there. So he will defintely post his field notes. You can ignore this post.) All else apart, that these type of interactions between the netas-the babus-and the greater city praja have been hapenning on-and-off in the past few years is by itself a positive sign. it augurs well that the politicians of KA have learnt to make the right sort of noises as far as civic issues of bangalore are concerned. And the CM has promised to take this to 7 other cities. Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Bellary and Davangere city.

#2. Missing, ofcourse, in action were any local representatives because they dont exist. From what I read, this was apparently a meeting with pan city agenda - sewage systems, garbage disposal, governance, metro, mono, roads type of issues were discussed. Nobody is reported to have mentioned anything area specific. So, local representatives even if they were present, they too would prolly have given out pan bangalore ideas and opinions like the others.

#3. Dr. Ravindra made a presentation on the Dr. Kasthurirangan Committee report. It is interesting that the report is finding greater and greater mention and word is spreading. But it is curious that nobody has raised the obligatory dissenting voice from any quarter.

References:

  1. Tips from people for good governance Bangaloreans want more accountability from officials One citizen suggested local residents’ views must be obtained in case of land use change There was a complaint that BBMP does not respond to emails http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/29/stories/2008062960810400.htm
  2. Laying facts bare... It was one of the rare chances that laymen were provided to interact with the decision makers in different government departments. http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jun292008/state2008062875961.asp
  3. For a world-class city! Bangalore, dhns: The State Government has brought out a Bangalore-specific policy and would strive to make it a world class city with world class infrastructure, said Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, while inaugurating the interactive workshop on Saturday. This was promised by the BJP in its election manifesto. http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jun292008/state2008062875962.asp
  4. Govt motto: ABIDE by experts views Over 400 experts from various fields, including several residents welfare associations and civic organisations, participated in the day-long interactive workshop Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDE) , organised by the State Government, http://deccanherald.com/Content/Jun292008/state2008062875960.asp
  5. See changes in infrastructure of Bangalore in a year: Yeddyurappa ‘I have a dream to transform it into a city of global standards’ http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/29/stories/2008062954710500.htm
  6. Summits to be held in seven cities http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/29/stories/2008062954680500.htm

COMMENTS

Governance at a Loss

Naveen - 17 October, 2008 - 15:35

BATF, BTRAC, & now ABIDE !

Would any of these have been necessary if the govt is doing what it was appointed to do ?

As a caricature, these acronyms imply that the govt is not up to the task, & therefore, the proliferation of these various so called "initiatives" to "tackle" the "problems".

A simple initiative - the long overdue recognition that co-ordination between the various governmental agencies for effective functioning & a solution for that, such as what has been recommended by the kasturirangan committee - is still not being implemented - one wonders what the delay is for.

Thank heavens a BMLTA has been appointed, though it may not necessarily be dictating policy to other bodies, yet.

BMLTA has no teeth

idontspam - 17 October, 2008 - 17:13

It doesnt even have false teeth. It lives on hope. Basics of governance is not in place. Watch while some African countries start overtaking us soon on quality of life.

Mr Rajeev Chandrashekhar + Yeddy on planning

silkboard - 21 October, 2008 - 04:30

Source: TOI, 'Integration is the key'

A progress report of the task force - recently presented by convener and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar to chief minister B S Yeddyurappa - highlights the need to ensure comprehensive planning for Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) as against planning taken up by individual agencies.

Sir, please. Some progress on strengthening local government structure. Elections for BBMP, more power and accountability for them. Some quality debates and action on Kasturi Rangan committee report. Please resists the temptation to do it yourself and may be even do a good job in the short run. If I may suggest, work on building the institutions, and not on filling the gaps yourself on short term basis.

bottom line

tsubba - 29 June, 2008 - 02:45

But beyond what was said and heard, what exactly does this meeting amount to? How permanent is this and how legally binding is this? Who gets to participate? The CM and the babus heard opinions, but what is it that they learnt, if anything? Is any of what was said or discussed actionable or binding? In the wake of this public meeting, will the babus and the netas hit the drawing boards and the meeting rooms? And what is the permanence of this? x months from now will the meeting be held again to take stock of what was said and what was done? All this is not all that fanciful and extraordinary at all. This is precisely the type of setup that the JNNURM is trying to build, though i am not sure if it suggests any systematic mechanisms to build this public participation beyond the town hall meeting type of setup. Meetings of this type allows people direct access to decision makers and executive body. ------------------------------

Kasturirangan report - no progress?

silkboard - 17 October, 2008 - 04:50

We haven't heard anything on KR report recently, wonder whats up? Creation of ABIDe like body is perhaps a good short term step, but institutionalizing involvement of locals and experts in urban governance will be a welcome step.

BBMP's local elections are delayed as well. I don't think these are simple delays due to government's laziness, I suspect some thinking is on behind the scenes to either re-organize BBMP's wards and boundaries, or to fine tune recommendations of KAsturi Rangan committe's report.

But, as this isn't something that will make any newspaper sell (talks of committes and councils are so boring, isn't it), we will probably not get timely updates on what Yeddy's govt is doing with regards to KR Report.

Let us wait, and hope to hear something soon.

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