Over 4,219 ward committee meetings have been held in 198 wards of Bengaluru in the last one year. Janagraha, a Bengaluru-based NGO, conducted a study to evaluate the performance of ward committees in Bengaluru between August 1, 2020 and September 4, 2021. The study revealed that only 40% of nodal officers (76 nodal officers) were able to effectively respond and answer all questions regarding ward committee meetings for this survey.
With a mandate to conduct regular Ward Committee meetings, as well as to understand the performance of Bengaluru’s wards, Janagraha conducted a first-person survey between 6-18 September. Calls were made to 198 BBMP nodal officers.
Based on the collected data, an assessment was made with regard to the regularity in conducting the Ward Committee meetings and making the meeting proceedings available in the public domain between the survey period of August 1, 2020 to September 4, 2021.
“Two wards – Hombegowda Nagara and Gotigere – conducted 100% of the meetings and were consistent in uploading the proceedings on the website. Vasant Nagar, Kumaraswamy Layout, Dayanand Nagar held more than 25 meetings but failed to upload even a minute of the meetings Sixty-five wards have demonstrated less than 25% adherence to the revised mandate by holding less than seven meetings during the survey period. Of the 54 wards that have held more than 21 meetings during the survey period, a large majority are in the proceedings of the Ward Committee meeting. Failed to upload more than 50% of K,” the study found.
Insights were revealed at Janagraha’s Ward Committee Workshop on Saturday, which will enable sharing of experiences of citizens participating in Ward Committee meetings, dispelling myths and misconceptions on Ward Committees, costing Rs 60 lakh allocated to Ward Committees effectively. focused on using and taking steps from. Reviving non-functional ward committees.
Special Commissioner (Finance) Tulsi Madineni said: “Democracy will flourish only when citizens participate and when they demand accountability. BBMP has allocated Rs 60 lakh for each ward committee in Bengaluru. This is not a big amount but a start. If we see success, we can definitely work towards raising the fund in future,” Maddineni said.
“This amount is mainly allocated for fixing potholes, borewells and maintaining footpaths. Janagraha has conducted a walkability index and we are working towards repair of footpaths. I request all citizens to participate in the ward committee meetings. Progress is slow as we are facing lack of funds and capacity. However, I believe that we can achieve success. Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city but its citizens’ participation makes it unique. Here, citizens are ready to spend time and make efforts for the development of their city.” Madineni added.
Speaking about the survey conducted by Janagraha, Srinivas Alvili, head of citizen participation at Janagraha, said: “Thousands of meetings have been conducted. Many nodal officers are doing excellent work. We noticed that wards with active civic groups have ward committees which are functioning well. At the same time, there are some wards where meetings have not been held. All this information is important for BBMP to understand the ways to strengthen the ward committees.
“With over 4,200 ward committee meetings taking place in the city in a span of 12 months, clearly decentralization is slowly coming to life in Namma Bengaluru… Citizen efforts to keep the burning will go a long way.” Sapna Karim, Head, Citizens Partnership, Janagraha said.
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