Last month, a few errant citizens laid road humps on a street without taking permission from the Bengaluru civic body. “When I complained about the violation, a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official visited after about a week. But even to this day, no action has been taken to remove the humps,” said a resident of J.P. Nagar. “The officials are not answerable to voters. If there was a councillor, s/he can be questioned and has the powers to direct officials to remove the same,” he added.
It has been over three years since citizens in Bengaluru have been grappling without an elected body in the city’s civic body - the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). With no councillors for the wards, people have been reeling under several civic issues, struggling to communicate with bureaucrats.
Citizens say in the six or five working days a week, officials say they are busy attending meetings at least three days, and on the remaining days, they simply pretend to be listening to the problems of the wards, without it resulting in solutions.
With yet another promise of civic elections being held this year likely to fade into obscurity, citizens are clueless about who to approach.
Srinivas Reddy of the Bengaluru Navanirmana Party said every second person he encounters asks the same question - When is the BBMP election?
“People are fed up with the present system and style of functioning as these officials do not have any accountability. In the Whitefield area, which is an IT corridor, not a single footpath is in good condition and that is the state of governance. Despite people raising this issue on many platforms, including in the ward committee meetings, nothing is being done,” he said.
Mr. Reddy further said the absence of councillors, who are a bridge between people and officials, is strongly felt. “The elected representatives have accountability as they fear defeat during the elections. In a democracy, elected representatives are the keepers of the system. Most of the time officials are inaccessible,” he added.
Tara Krishnaswamy, an activist, said ward committees without councillors are not a valid body and they are currently run in an ad hoc manner. “The citizens in the ad hoc system speak to ad hoc officials hoping to resolve the problems in their area. But no changes are happening as officials do not care. People now talk to MLAs, but an MLA of an Assembly constituency cannot take care of concerns of the ward and it is not his/her job either. The councillors play a crucial role in the urban governance because people can meet them regularly in ward offices which are located in respective wards,” she said.
Srinivas Alavilli, another activist, wondered as to how the BBMP Budget can be spent without an elected body. “Can Delhi spend the country’s Budget without an elected body? Can officials in the Vidhana Soudha handle the Karnataka Budget? While an elected body is necessary at these levels, how then can the BBMP Budget can be spent by the officials? The elected representatives are keepers of the Budget and they are accountable to the public with regard to spending each penny. I urge the government to hold elections as soon as possible,” he said.
