Draft bill proposes 3-tier governance structure

BBMP restructuring panel publishes draft of Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill

All three major political parties underscored the need for a dedicated law for the governance of Bengaluru, which has a population of around 1.25 crore.

In the run-up to the Assembly elections, all three major political parties underscored the need for a dedicated law for the governance of Bengaluru, which has a population of around 1.25 crore, instead of the city coming under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.

The BBMP Restructuring Committee has published a draft of ‘The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill’ that provides for a three-tier governance structure – Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) at the city level, multiple corporations, and zonal committees and empowered ward committees.

“Even if the government does not want to go ahead with dividing the administration into multiple corporations, which is a political decision, the bill has several reform measures that will overhaul administration of the city for the better. We want the bill to be the starting point of a debate on a new law,” said V. Ravichandar, member, BBMP Restructuring Committee.

The bill argues for Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC) to be notified for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (8,000 square kilometres) and that the Greater Bengaluru Authority be first headed by the chief minister who will be replaced by a directly elected mayor after five years.

“The BBMP is just one of the agencies of the State in the city. The lack of co-ordination is due to the fact that other corporations — BDA, BMTC, BMRCL, BWSSB and Bescom — come directly under the State government and are not answerable to the civic administration. The bill proposes to get all parastatals under the administrative control of the GBA,” said Mathew Idiculla, Centre for Law and Policy Research, who helped the committee draft the bill.

The bill also provides for an alternate way to decentralise administration by forming zonal committees comprising councillors elected from wards within the zone.

They will, in turn, elect a chairperson who will act as an intermediary between ward committees and the corporation.

However, the draft bill provides for multiple corporations and zonal committees in each corporation. The zonal committees will have the power to oversee implementation of projects in their jurisdiction and make recommendations for the budget, crowd-sourcing them from ward committee plans.