PROOF Public Discussion

Public Records of Operations and Finance

A Call to Public Vigilance

BMP Commissioner turns focus on citizen and councillor accountability at PROOF public discussion

In a great leap forward for democracy, public disclosure is clearly gaining ground through the platform of PROOF. The live action validating this point was played out at the Satish Dhawan auditorium, Indian Institute of Science, at the tenth public discussion to analyse the financial performance of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. Mr Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Urban Development was present as chief guest. Mr K Jairaj, Commissioner BMP along with Mr Gaurav Gupta, Special Commisioner BMP, and Harsh Gupta, Additional Commissioner, presented the latest plans and the performance of the BMP. Also present at the event was Mr M. Rajamani, Jt. Secretary Ministry of Urban Development. In her opening remarks Ms Venkatachalam, Principal Secretary Urban Development Department, embodied the language of a “new urban philosophy, where the State is brought under the prism of critical appraisal”. This, she said, furthers accountability and better management of city governance.

K Jairaj made references to the major challenges in the functioning of the BMP, citing short response time for issues, lack of capacity of the BMP in the engineering, sanitation, and financial management areas, a volatile political administrative relationship, absence of social capital and the parallel accountability of other institutions – Council, Press, Judiciary etc. Turning the focus on citizen responsibility and highlighting the role of the councillor in local area development, Mr Jairaj said, “I urge you to come to the council meetings, and see your corporators at work.” On the issue property tax collection Mr Jairaj announced a house-to-house enumeration exercise with the target of netting an additional 150 crores in property tax.

Presenting PROOF in education, Ashok Kamath highlighted the cost incurred per child/per year in BMP schools - Rs. 10,370! Later in a moving speech Mr Jaipal Reddy referred to this and was led to question – where does the money go? He set the tone for the public debate later, quoting Kofi Anan, saying “The 21 st Century is the Urban Century”. Applauding the role of Ramesh Ramanathan in steering the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Mr Reddy termed him the “guiding light at the national level”. He also echoed the sentiments of Mr Jairaj, stressing the need for citizens to connect with their elected representatives.

In the Open House session moderated by Ms Rohini Nilekani, the issues of land-use violation were voiced. “Demolition is not the answer,” said Mr Jairaj once more urging citizens to be vigilant and work collectively with the Corporation to solve this problem.

The question regarding the overlapping jurisdictions and works being carried out in an uncoordinated fashion was raised. “Protocols are being enforced,” Mr JKairaj assured and the incidence of unsupervised road-cutting has come down.

Another highlight of the event was the release of the PROOF charter that will encourage the spread of the disclosure mechanism in other cities. The overarching impact of the culture of accountability and transparency will ultimately surge across 63 cities through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, with Public Disclosure a mandatory reform therein. Underlining the importance of the Mission Nandan Nilekani said this was a significant change in the way government is looking at Urban Development.