No hope of improvement

Bengalureans say next decade also might not bring better amenities

A recent 21-city survey conducted by Janaagraha has revealed that Bengaluru’s citizens are most pessimistic about an improvement in amenities in the next decade.

Of the 1,248 persons (random sample) interviewed in Bengaluru for ‘Voice 2014’, almost 60 per cent saw no hope of improvement in the city's infrastructure even in a decade. The survey has also re-confirmed that the city is marred by poor civic participation.

This, coupled with the findings of the Annual Survey of India’s City Systems 2014, also conducted by Janaagraha, paints a depressing picture of the city’s governance. It ranks 18th among 21 cities with a below average score of 2.8 on 10 on its governance systems.

It is seen to be performing poorly in urban planning, municipal financing and quality of political representation, according to the study.

Though the city has fared relatively better in citizen’s participation, there is not much to boast about. For instance, of the 1,248 respondents, an abysmally low — 30 — participated in activities of the Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in their area.

D.S. Rajashekhar, president of the Citizen Action Forum (CAF), an umbrella organisation of more than 500 RWAs in the city, said that though residents’ associations have been more proactive than ever, it is not spread evenly across the city. “The outer zones are still low on the radar,” he said.

More than 77 per cent of the respondents have never attended a ward committee meeting and 50 per cent are unaware of ward committees and their meetings. The survey also indicated that most of the respondents are either uninterested or blame lack of time for their non-participation.

Experts believe that the pessimism and lack of participation has its roots in the pathetic state of urban governance and lack of political action to fix it.

Ashwin Mahesh, an urban expert, said that the avenues for citizen participation – ward committees – were formed only recently and in most cases, still non-functional.

Bengaluru ranks 18th among 21 cities with a below average score of 2.8 on 10 on its governance systems, according to the survey