Towards a Greater Bengaluru

Picking off from where we left off, the State Government recently introduced “The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024” in the Legislative Assembly on 22nd July 2024. As per the bill, it intends to “(i). Establish the Greater Bengaluru Authority for coordinating and supervising the development of the Greater Bengaluru Area; (ii). Establish not more than ten City Corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area for effective, participatory and responsive governance: (iii). Empower Ward Committees to become basic units of urban governance and facilitate community participation; (iv). Integrate and streamline political accountability of all public authorities delivering services in the Greater Bengaluru Authority; (v). Improve the quality of life of all citizens by instituting a decentralised, participative, efficient and equitable governance framework for Bengaluru; and (vi). Provide for matters incidental thereto.”

The bill envisages a civic organisation with:

1.      Greater Bengaluru Authority; (chaired by the Chief Minister of Karnataka)

2.      City Corporation; (each corporation having a minimum population of 10 lakhs, minimum population density of 5000 persons per sq.km, revenue of a minimum of Rs. 300 Crores in the year of last preceding census, at least 50% of the employment should be non-agricultural, etc.). Each Corporation is then further sub-divided into:

a.      Zonal Committee

b.      Ward Committee

c.      Area Sabha

The origin of this bill lay in the proposal made by a 3-member committee called the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2018. The Greater Bengaluru Authority as envisaged in this bill was to be headed by a directly elected Mayor for Greater Bengaluru but the tabled version mentions that it will be chaired by the Chief Minister which goes against the spirit of 3-tier devolution envisaged in the 74th Constitutional Amendment. The 2018 version recommends that the GBA has planning and coordination powers while the executive power vests with each city corporation. However, the tabled bill does not mention planning responsibilities and accords the GBA with executive powers. The 2018 version recommended a cabinet like executive structure with a mayor-in-council having the mayor, the deputy mayor and 10 other members. The tabled version states that the mayor and deputy mayor will have standing committees for various types. The criticism is that the system of standing committees has not worked in the past as the authority/responsibility is diffused. The 2018 version recommends a 20-member ward committee which shall consist of 10 elected members based on proportional representation based on party vote share in the municipal elections and another 10 nominated members from civic society headed by a Secretary who shall have executive functions. This ward committee will have the powers to execute, supervise and audit the works of the Corporation and can retain a part of the revenue. However, the tabled version has a lower level of committee members and does not have such executive powers provided to the ward committees.

The coming days will be interesting as the opposition parties BJP and JD(S) and may civic groups have opposed the present version of the bill and has now been referred to a House Committee.

The greatest issue seems to be the fact that the State Government has still maintained the stranglehold of authority on the City Government in the proposed bill. Will this primary aspect be challenged?

Credits: Much of the information has come from the following sources

1.      The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2024: https://data.opencity.in/dataset/b55b4051-70a9-40f8-a688-6af90f5c7547/resource/2e6ec894-277f-4671-8c82-1e8ddd2dc23d/download/gba-22.07.2024final.pdf [last accessed 26 July 2024]

2.      The Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2018: https://data.opencity.in/dataset/bbmp-restructuring-expert-committee-reports/resource/bbmp-restructuring-expert-committee%2c-the-greater-bengaluru-governance-bill---2018 [last accessed 26 July 2024]

3.      Comparison of the 2018 and 2024 Bills: https://citizenmatters.in/greater-bengaluru-bill-2024-brand-bengaluru-committee-greater-bengaluru-authority/ [last accessed 26 July 2024]

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