Fed up with the crumbling infrastructure in the city, industry leaders will urge Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to dissolve the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said T.V. Mohandas Pai, chairperson of Manipal Global Education Services Pvt. Ltd.
Speaking to The Hindu here on Wednesday, he said that a delegation of industry leaders would meet Mr. Shettar on Thursday to impress upon him the need to dissolve the BBMP. “Bangalore is important not just for the State, but for the country as well. Even three years after the councillors were elected, the condition of the civic infrastructure has not seen any improvement. They are intent only on the spoils of office,” he alleged.
He said that with the garbage crisis, the outbreak of plague was becoming a possibility.
“The mounds of uncleared garbage is posing a major health hazard. The government must throw out the old garbage contractors and bring in the new ones who have been awarded the tenders.”
Mr. Pai said the citizens were fed up with the inaction by both the government and BBMP. “There has to be a thorough enquiry by a sitting judge, besides a full audit of finances of the BBMP by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.”
Earlier, speaking at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Karnataka conference on women’s leadership on the theme “Women in business – Taking centre stage in the 21 Century”, he said though the number of women at the entry level is increasing, there was dearth of women in the top positions and boards of companies.
He said that discrimination against women still existed at workplace. He said that maternity leave policies, work environment, lack of motivation, and discrimination in company boards were reasons for dismal presence of women at the top positions. “The 21st Century is a century of change, a century for women. The next 20 years, which will be the best growth period for the country, will bring in immense opportunities.”
Devita Saraf, founder and chief executive officer of Vu Technologies; Vasundhara Das, singer; Soumitra Bhattacharya, Vice Chairman, CII Karnataka and Executive Director and chief financial officer, Bosch Ltd.; spoke.
