Politicians, bureaucrats and citizen apathy are the key factors that have led to the sorry state that Bangalore is in today, according to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder, Biocon and President, Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), who presented a charter offering solutions to turn the situation around.
While greater citizen participation was an important point emphasised by members of B.PAC in their conversation with elected representatives, better focus, infrastructure and funds for Bangalore city was one of their main demands.
“Our present system makes a mockery of the mayoral system. We need a credible mayoral system and an extended term for the mayor to chalk out a vision and implement it,” she said.
The city also needs a separate ministry for effective planning and co-ordination of the city’s growth, she said.
“Bangalore deserves better and we propose that the professional tax collected from the city be reinvested in the city itself. Fifty per cent of the stamp duty and road tax collected need to be ploughed back into developing the city. Additionally, we also need to strengthen urban politics by increasing the number of seats from urban areas and ensure that clean money comes into politics,” Mazumdar-Shaw said.