Bengaluru: The new BBMP's biggest flaw is that its mayor only has a one- year term. This is surprising, when it’s evident that even a chief minister with a five-year term cannot bring the state up to par. Many feel the mayor’s term should be extended from between two-and-a-half years, to five years.
The general opinion is that unless the mayor’s tenure is extended with executive powers, the city can’t progress and would head towards disaster. The two-step process — increasing the tenure of the mayor and empowering him or her with more executive powers, will enable the mayor to deliver the goods in the present set up.
In Kochi, for instance, the Mayor is given executive powers to ensure matters move quickly and eaily, said urban expert V. Ravichandar. The mayor, he said, should focus on stabilizing the financial situation and implement infrastructure-specific and citizen service-centric strategies. To tide over the financial crisis, revenues and expenditures must be streamlined and pending bills and loans cleared periodically, he felt.
Priority should be accorded, added Mr. Ravichandar, to technology-based, time-bound citizen services. Sakala kind of services with fixed time frames will help achieve the desired goals.
Another urban expert, Ashwin Mahesh, feels a directly elected mayor with a two-and-a-half or three-year term is ideal for a city like Bengaluru which is craving for an infrastructure boost. The Mayor, he feels, must be an executive leader and should be directly elected instead of being picked from the council. The council, he went on, should only be an advisory body and the mayor must execute certain projects which can benefit and remain in the minds of people.
The present mayor, Mr. B. N. Manjunath Reddy, with a mere one-year term, has little scope for introducing any changes in the city. Besides, the budget for BBMP has already been finalized and until next April the present mayor has no financial power. He can only adhere to whatever has been planned. For instance, proper execution of TenderSure roads can be made a grand success, he suggested.
‘Congress can’t play this game every year’
Activists allege that the Congress may have gained the BBMP this time after taking independent candidates into confidence. Three union ministers and five state ministers had to spend one entire day during the mayoral poll. Should this continue for five years? Ravichandar said MLAs, MLCs and MPs cannot vote every year to get their candidate as mayor. Since BJP has a large number in the council and most resolutions get nixed.
Focus on policy matters
If the mayor has to make maximum use of his present one-year term, he must focus on policy matters. These could include: introducing metered parking, solar street lights, mandatory rain water harvesting and utilizing every drop of water. This is still possible if the mayor has the required will, felt Ashiwn Mahesh, urban expert.
