BENGALURU: The last direct recruitment of staffers for the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) took place way back in 1996. The authority’s tasks have increased manifold, but no additional staff has been inducted in the last 27 years, said multiple officials. The public is being impacted badly due to the snail’s pace at which projects and files are moving.
The present staff strength is 333, of which 129 are BDA employees while the rest are on deputation from other government departments. The BDA staff consists of caseworkers, both first-division assistants (FDAs) and second-division assistants(SDAs), Class D employees and superintendents. The deputation staff consists of engineers and deputy secretaries and there is no shortage at that level.
A senior official told TNIE, “We are just functioning with 40% of the required staff strength. Every activity stands affected. BDA has 64 layouts at present with Banashankari VIth stage Layout and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout having 20,000-plus sites. We have just 22 superintendents, 28 FDAs and 30 SDAs to cater to them.”
There is an unfortunate scenario of a single caseworker handling issues of residents of four or five layouts, he explained. “The staff strength of 129 is grossly inadequate. A minimum strength of 300 is required to do the job properly,” the official added.
Another official said, “In place of 700 employees carrying out the same tasks in 2000, it is just 129 now. Most of them are people who have been given the jobs on compassionate grounds as no active recruitment has happened. Even the jobs outsourced are having a shortage of staff.”
The departments of Land Acquisition, RTI, the four sub-divisions in different parts of the city, the offices of the Deputy Secretary (1, 2, 3 & 4), the Reconveyance Department are all impacted, he added. “Ultimately it is the public who are suffering.”
A source said, “It is taking a big toll on the present staff too. Literally everyone is stressed as one person is doing the job of four or five people. The government definitely needs to take urgent steps to kickstart the recruitment process.” Among major upcoming projects crucial for the city which the BDA is working on are the city’s Master Plan, the Peripheral Ring Road and the Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout.