Bengaluru: BBMP’s declaration of the list of members for the 127 ward committees, out of 198 in city, hours before a high court hearing, has upset civic activists and political parties. They questioned the manner in which the selection for these committees was carried out.
The Aam Aadmi partyKarnataka on Wednesday addressed the media regarding this issue and called for a transparent procedure for the composition on these committees. As per rules, a ward committee must comprise two people from SC/ST, three women, two from general category and three from any welfare associations or organisations.
To keep up with the spirit of 74th constitutional amendment and '13H' of the KMC Act, 500 applications were filled by interested citizens belonging to their respective wards. “But only those recommended by the corporators and the ones related to them were made ward committee members, as BBMP wants to smoothly continue with its corrupt ways,” said Mohana Dasari, Co-convener, AAP Karnataka.
AAP members stated that the ward committees were functioning as 'private limited companies', because they are constituted only by individuals who are related to the corporators.
Shantala Damle, Co-convener, AAP Karnataka, added that there was a lack of awareness regarding the roles of the committee and the need for people’s right to be part of it. “If AAP comes into power we will implement ward committees with the true spirit of the law and within 60 days,” she added.
AAP urged the BBMP Commissioner to establish transparent procedures and if he failed to do so, then the party would launch protests and intensify awareness campaigns in Bengaluru.
