Welfare scheme beneficiaries not identified yet

The ward committees are yet to zero in on the beneficiaries of the various BBMP welfare schemes in the 198 wards. The citizens, meanwhile, are saying the committees have indeed failed in this regard.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), after a direction from the Karnataka High Court in April 2018, decided to constitute ward committees as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976.

The BBMP Commissioner issued a circular to conduct mandatory ward committee meetings monthly, to not only raise issues but to take the social welfare schemes to the beneficiaries in the ward as well.

Activists complain that in most wards only corporators are involved in preparing the beneficiaries’ list and in a few cases, the list is approved without bringing it to the notice of the committees.

“The beneficiaries of the welfare schemes should be chosen through the ward committees only. We have approved the rule in the BBMP council meetings and have directed the ward committees to follow this,” said N Manjunath Prasad, BBMP Commissioner.

“Despite the commissioner’s direction, most ward committees are not following the rules. For the past three months though, the ward committees are understanding their responsibilities and there is an increased awareness about social welfare schemes. In the future, this will be implemented as per the rules set by the BBMP,” said Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), who is spearheading the campaign for ward panels.

According to the Bagalagunte ward corporator, K Narasimha Nayak, in his ward, the beneficiaries’ list is being prepared in the ward panel meeting. “The beneficiaries’ list for social welfare programmes will be prepared only once or twice a year, hence, in all the committee meetings, we will not discuss it.”

“At the moment, there are no rules laid out to select the beneficiaries in the ward committees, but choosing them in the ward panel meetings is a good move as there will be transparency,” Jayamahal corporator M K Gunasekhar suggested.

Venue: The Chancery Pavilion, Residency Road

Date: February 16, 2019

Registration begins at 4.30 pm.