The Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act, 2024 presents a historic opportunity to transform governance in Bengaluru, but its current form falls short of delivering the change citizens need. Janaagraha’s analysis, using its City-Systems Framework, reveals that while the Act makes some advances in terms of providing a metropolitan governance structure for Bengaluru, it suffers from weak planning processes, disempowered local governments, and limited citizen participation.
Our study offers a roadmap for the Government of Karnataka to unlock the Act’s potential through three key steps: immediate administrative actions, time-bound notification of rules, and critical legislative amendments. It identifies priority provisions, sets clear timelines, and recommends structural reforms such as empowered mayors, stronger ward committees, enhanced public participation, and robust transparency measures. Grounded in a comparative assessment of the GBG Act against the Bill drafted by the Brand Bengaluru Committee in 2024, the study underscores that urgent, targeted reforms are essential if the Act is to meaningfully improve quality of life of citizens in the Greater Bengaluru Area.
