BDA chief seeks DyCM's help to rejig staff

The power tussle brewing in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has come to light once again.

Newly appointed BDA chairman S T Somashekhar has decided to crack the whip on his colleagues. With files piling up and long queues of citizens seeking at his office, Somashekhar has approached the deputy chief minister G Parameshwara for help.

He has given Parameshwara a list of officials he wants to shuffle, as Parameshwara is also the Bengaluru Development Minister and head of the BDA Board.

Somashekhar has complained to Parameshwara that BDA officials do not follow his instructions and are delaying work unnecessarily.

Citing an example, Somaehskhar said: “I directed one of the secretaries to clear some pending files. I found that the files were left untouched for more than a month. My follow-ups landed on deaf ears,” he said.

He has also pointed out to Parameshwara that some officials are approaching Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to retain their postings.

“I had recently transferred two officials from North Bengaluru to South, but they approached the CM and got back to their previous posts within a fortnight. So, I have approached Parameshwara and after he approves, I will shuffle the staff -- like the one in charge of Banashankari will be given Arkavathy and vice versa,” Somashekhar said.

Another senior BDA official added that there were a lot of problems in the BDA’s land acquisition and engineering sections.

“There are some who have retained their posts for the past 17 years. We have also come across cases where when an officer is changed, he takes all the section files along, leaving the new officer helpless and delaying cases further. So, when a shuffle is needed, interference of politicians should be kept at bay,” the official said.