Don’t take opinions of only elite to shape Bengaluru: NGO to DK Shivakumar

BENGALURU:  In the backdrop of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar making efforts to restore the image of Bengaluru, the Environment Support Group (ESG), a Bengaluru-based non-governmental organisation, has written to him, urging him to institute a process to ensure the city is governed and administered democratically.

The group, which has environmentalists like Leo Saldanha, pointed out, “Karnataka has placed trust in the past in a network of rich and famous personalities drawn from IT/BT sector, film and entertainment industry, real estate developers and the like to imagine what is right for Bengaluru. This initiative which took the form of Bangalore Agenda Task Force in the S M Krishna-led administration during 1999-2004 resulted in privileging elite interest and diverting financial resources to projects that favoured their imaginations thus denying the masses their rightful benefits.”

The letter stated that the B S Yediyurappa government too attempted a similar approach through Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Taskforce and the Plan Bengaluru 2020. But that resulted in skewing resources -- financial, human and material -- to serve the cause of the elite.

They pointed out that Shivakumar has pushed ahead with creating forums to seek views of the elite in shaping the future of the metropolis knowing well that this is undemocratic and unconstitutional. The ESG batted for the constitution of the Metropolitan Planning Committee to take all necessary measures to ensure democratic governance of Bengaluru through an elected council.