No inputs from ward committees in BBMP budget this year

The BBMP budget, to be presented on Monday, will not contain inputs from the citizens and the ward committees, though the rules are firm on holding consultations.

Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun announced in October that ward committee meetings must be held regularly. BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad issued a circular to that effect, besides holding a training programme explaining the dos and don'ts to be followed and who all can attend the meetings.

The civic body though has failed to collect inputs from the newly formed ward committees to include the ward-level development projects in the budget.

The Karnataka Municipalities and Accounting Rules, 2006, specifies: "Every municipality shall have two rounds of public consultation when preparing the budget."

Such public consultations, the rules stipulates, "shall be in a structured manner inviting representatives from the Registered Residents Welfare Associations, Registered NGOs, Trades and Industry Associations and such other associations and prominent citizens that the municipal council may like to invite."

Prasad told DH that the committee meetings are not happening in all the 198 wards, despite such meetings being held for the past three months. "We'll consult the ward committees from the next year in a structured way while preparing the BBMP budget," he said.

Data compiled by DH revealed that only 82 wards have conducted meetings in the past three months. "We are consulting the public through NGOs like Janagaraha's 'I Change My City' initiative, which collected inputs from the citizens through surveys and meetings," Prasad insisted.

The civic body takes inputs from the corporators, Prasad added. "We've incorporated 32% of the suggestions in the last year’s budget," he said.