Amid concerns raised by civic activists about the interference of councillors in the proposed ward committees, Mayor G. Padmavathi on Wednesday asked the councillors to recommend 10 names from their ward for the respective committees within 10 days.
At the council meeting, she told the councillors that the High Court had set a deadline for constituting the committees which the BBMP was liable to stick to.
However, civic activists are concerned that such a move will result in councillors choosing their “cronies”, thus defeating the purpose of the ward committees.
Kathyayini Chamaraj, executive trustee of CIVIC Bangalore, said the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act, 2011 was silent on the process of nomination and had no provisions to keep out politicisation of the committee. “It just says that the BBMP has to nominate 10 persons, without any details on how the selection has to be made,” she said. “We had sought a democratic process by calling applications, scrutinising them, calling for objections, and setting up a committee of noted citizens to select the best among the lot. Sadly, this was not done.”
Rebate extended
The BBMP council passed a resolution to extend rebate on property tax payments till May 31, after several councillors raised concerns about the difficulties citizens were facing in making the payment online. The council also resolved to get borewells repaired and arrange for drinking water for residents on priority.
BJP member Umesh Shetty suggested that property tax payment be linked to Aadhaar to weed out bogus entries. This suggestion was welcomed by Ms. Padmavathi, who asked Tax and Finance Standing Committee chairman M.K. Gunashekar to study its feasibility.
Another decision taken was to play the national anthem at the beginning and end of council meetings.
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