Roads, potholes, street lights and traffic mess, all service level promises dominating the poll campaign is all fine. But what will be on the new council's agenda is fixing the macro problem of governance? Urban experts and activists argue that even without going the full hog by splitting the BBMP, the Restructuring Committee report can set the roadmap for reforms.
Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, which evaluates city governance structures over 100 parameters covering urban planning, design and structures every year, had given BBMP a score of 2.8 out of 10 and 18th rank among 21 cities in the country in urban governance. The Centre has now re-evaluated the proposed city governance structure if all the recommendations of the restructuring committee are implemented and saw the score go up from 2.8 to 5.2.
“The incoming council and the State government can carve out a clear action plan for the civic body based on the BBMP Restructuring Committee’s report even if restructuring does not happen. While comprehensive restructuring is the desirable end goal, uncertainty around that need not hold “achievable reforms” hostage,” said Srinath Viswanathan, co-ordinator with Janaagraha.
A member of the committee said, “They have to first start with strong functional ward committees with audit powers bestowed on them. The new council should do away with standing committees. Of the 198 councillors, around 130 sit on these committees and directly award contracts, which is the main source of corruption. The new council can also think of zonal councils to strengthen the delivery mechanism,” he said.
