Bengaluru: When BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad urged the citizens to come forward and apply for ward committee members, they were hopeful of taking up a participatory role in civic administration. However it all got deflated once the final list was out, as none of the names put forward by various citizens groups figured in it.
BBMP on Wednesday submitted the final list for 131 wards and sought three more weeks to submit for the remaining 67. The list is available on BBMP's website (bbmp.gov.in).
Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) and CIVIC Bangalore, which fought for fair nomination process to prevent corporators from nominating their cronies, were aghast at the development. CfB Coordinator Srinivas Alavilli demanded that the arbitrarily constituted 131 ward committees be nullified. He also demanded that the selection process be made public.
"CfB has facilitated at least 187 applications of interested citizens, with 50 per cent being women. Yet, we see not one selected," he added. Ms Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee of CIVIC Bangalore said "The only reason we were asked to submit our applications at Commissioner’s office was that Nodal Officers will be under pressure from local corporators. But after results the credibility of BBMP is questionable." BBMP Commissioner was not available for comment.
Form committees by July 17: HC
The high court granted nearly 3 weeks time to the BBMP to constitute ward committees in 67 wards and complete the process by July 17.
