BENGALURU: On December 1, the city will witness a new way of governance. Ward Committees, which will comprise groups of 10 citizens for each of the city's 198 wards, will meet for the first time and chart out development plans for their ward in conjunction with the ward councillor — an elected member of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The meetings are the result of a sustained campaign by citizens and groups asking the corporation to organise them. This resulted in a circular being issued by the BBMP on November 16, asking for meetings to be held on the first Saturday of every month, starting December.
“Ward committees bring governance closer to the doorstep like nothing else. For a city the size of Bengaluru, no one can address the potholes or garbage issues while sitting at Hudson Circle, leave alone Vidhana Soudha,” said Srinivas Alavilli, member of group Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB).
With the meetings now a reality, the next step is to ensure that citizens are aware of what the ward committees are and its functions. “Since not many people are aware of the functions of ward committees and how they can participate, CfB will be organising various events to help. On November 27, we have a roundtable at 5pm at the SCMI on Mission Road and we are delighted that the Mayor and Commissioner have agreed to come. We are inviting all the 198 corporators personally,” Alavilli said.
The Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), which also contributed to the fight for these meetings, also welcomed the decision and stressed on the need to create awareness. These meetings, open to the public, will also provide insights to non-members about the way the ward is being managed and which projects are likely to be taken up on priority.
“With great effort, we were able to create a website that lists out all ward committees. It would be of great help to those looking for more information about their wards. This list is available at wc.citizensforbengaluru.in, and should be made use of,” Alavilli said.