The city Mayor, G. Padmavathi, on Monday said ward committees would be notified in a month, in accordance with the High Court directive. The matter would be taken up during the council meeting on Wednesday, she said. “Many councillors have not replied to my letter seeking recommendation of members to ward committees. If the councillors do not recommend names, we will choose the members,” she said.
Civic activists welcomed the High Court intervention. Leo Saldanha, a petitioner in the case and coordinator of the Environment Support Group, said this was the first time the court had given a deadline for implementation. “We have been pushing for ward committee constitution since 1992,” said Mr. Saldanha, and added, “Transparency and accountability cannot happen unless there is public participation.”
Civic activist Kathyayani Chamaraj said while the directive was a good move, not notifying area sabhas would limit the role of the public. “The area sabha is the only place where the entire population gets to participate and give recommendations,” said Ms. Chamaraj. Five polling booth areas together form an area sabha.
Incidentally, a few wards in Mahadevapura had set up ward committees even before the notification of rules in 2016. “When the BBMP council election was held, one of the conditions we had put was that the councillor should form a ward committee,” said Srinivas Reddy, a member of Hagadur ward committee. The committee meets regularly once a month and puts forth to the councillor suggestions on issues affecting the public. The committee, however, still needs to be notified by the BBMP council.
