Unpeeling the layers
When something goes wrong in a neighbourhood, who does one call? Who is that elected people’s representative that one goes to? Most of us may think of the local MLA or MP. Rarely do we think of the Councillor or as we call it, the Corporator.
In 1992, the Parliament
enacted the 73rd (Panchayati Raj) and the 74th (Urban Local
Bodies) Constitutional Amendment. This enabled the devolution of powers from
the state governments to local governments. The intent of this was to ensure
that functions like building and maintenance of roads, health, water and
electricity supply would be the responsibility of the local government. This meant
that citizens could voice their needs to their elected representative for
effective provision of services. While it is by many measures insufficient, the
12th Schedule of the 74th Amendment outlines the 18
functions that Urban Local Body (ULB) needs to carry out. However, in many
states including Karnataka, even these responsibilities have not been fully devolved
to the ULB.
Bengaluru is
administered by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. BBMP is supervised by
the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Dept of the Karnataka
Government.
Bengaluru is a classic
example where the state government has not sufficiently devolved the authority
and responsibility of administering the city to BBMP. Key services like water
and sewerage, electricity and public transport do not come under its ambit. So,
while BBMP is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the roads, it
is not responsible for the water supply, sewerage and electrical lines laid
under/over the road. Neither does it have any coordination with the Bengaluru
Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) which runs the city bus service. The
Namma Metro is run by the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)
which reports to the State Government. In addition, BBMP does not have planning
powers which is vested with the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) which in
itself is against the law. Planning is a function that is supposed to be done by
the Metropolitan Planning Committee that has never been convened till date.
The power structure within
the BBMP itself is flawed. BBMP is divided into wards and each ward is
represented by a councillor elected for a 5-year term by the people much like
the state and union legislatures. The councillors in turn elect a mayor. The
mayor used to have a term of 1 year which was then increased to 2years and 6
months. However, unlike the state and union governments, the bureaucracy headed
by the Commissioner (who in turn is an IAS officer appointed by the state
government) is not necessarily in a reporting relationship to the mayor. In
fact, most of the executive functions rest with the commissioner. This
effectively leaves the elected representatives at the mercy of the state
government.
The last election to
BBMP took place in 2015. Their term concluded in Sept 2020. Since then, there
have been various discussions of splitting the BBMP into different
corporations. Successive state governments have been vacillating on the
elections in the name of re-structuring the corporation.
As I write this today
(24th July 2024), the Greater Bengaluru Authority Bill has been
tabled in the State Assembly. In the next blog, we will delve into the proposed
bill.
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