Greater Bengaluru Governance Act meant for reforms, ends up centralising power: Tejasvi Surya

Bengaluru, Oct 11 (IANS) BJP Yuva Morcha President and Bengaluru South Lok Sabha MP, Tejasvi Surya, said on Saturday that the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act was a chance to reform Bengaluru's governance, which has instead undergone re-centralisation in the garb of decentralisation.

He made the statement while speaking at the panel discussion on the GBG Act organised by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy in Bengaluru.

"What we now have is maximum government, minimum governance. The Act adds more bureaucratic layers instead of building state capacity. Power continues to flow from the top from the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, not from the people upward," he noted.

"Five powerless corporations, five ceremonial Mayors, no real devolution of finances or authority. When it comes to Ward Committees, although the number of members has increased, the Chairperson (Corporator) still holds veto power, and participation remains merely recommendatory. Parastatals like Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewarage Board (BWSSB) and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) remain outside any real accountability," Surya said, while hitting out at the Congress-led Karnataka government.

"The Act buries the long-neglected Metropolitan Planning Committee instead of empowering it, violating the 74th Amendment of the Constitution," he added.

"If the goal was to bring governance closer to the people, we could have achieved it by increasing wards and empowering zonal or ward committees -- not multiplying corporations. The GBG Act, in short, is old wine in a new bottle repackaged for Bengaluru -- More bureaucracy, less democracy," he noted.

Surya also said, "There's a serious insecurity among those in power when it comes to transparency. We (BJP) had to go to court just to get the Metro Fare Fixation Committee report made public -- Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had sought an exaggerated hike, and fares were revised arbitrarily without publishing the report for more than four months."

"Even today, startups working on urban mobility solutions are struggling to access live Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) data. At a deeper level, those in power still see citizens as outsiders. Worse is developing a patronising attitude," he added.

"That mindset has to change if we truly want decentralisation and accountable governance," he said.

--IANS

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