ABIDe moots ‘BBMP One’ centres
Help centres are being re-christened to help citizens in the City, say officials
The proposal of Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) to set up ‘BBMP One’ centres as one-stop solutions for civic services, might just put more pressure on the already dwindling resources of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
However, BBMP has now decided to re-christen its help centres to “BBMP One”. “We have decided to re-christen them and see that the citizens benefit from these centres,” said a Palike official. The plan as pursued by BBMP shows that the current help desks will act as small centres supplementing the actual “BBMP One” that will be built later during the course of time. “We have to start somewhere even if it puts pressure on the resources. Also the centres may in the future can ease the workload on Palike employees and ensure efficiency,” said the official.
While this is being pursued, others in the Palike say, “ With the addition of these new ‘BBMP One’ centres, we might have to go back to the drawing board for providing a uniform infrastructure.”
While the Palike fears an increase in its expenditures in the long run, the other suggestions, including the one on online khata transfers have also raised a few questions. “There might be certain discrepancies in the khata transfers on the ground. But an online record of the khatas may well see a high level of misappropriation,” said the official.
Meanwhile, ABIDe contends that the process of getting new infrastructure set up for the ‘BBMP One’ centres is not that big an issue. There may well be resource crunch for the BBMP. He felt that the Palike will have enough resources to fund the project even if the property tax collection goes up by 25 per cent.
ABIDe has said that the proposed centres can even be merged with the administrative offices at the ward level. “Ultimately the rationale behind the suggestion is to take governance to the ward level,” he said.
Regarding the proposal for online khata transfer, the task force believes that the move will serve twin purposes. Apart from easier access to the public, it will provide a centralised land data base for the agencies. “Why is it that there is only 60 per cent of property tax collected as of date? Because not every property is online. The centralised database of land records ensures that there will be a comprehensive and spatial view of Bangalore for the city agencies,” Ashwin postulated.
Website upgradation
On the lack of upgradation of city agency websites, ABIDe has said that the ‘Namma Bengaluru’ website may very well be the answer for a transparent governance. However, citizens will have to wait for this macro-level co-ordination website that shall track the city agencies work.
