JOIN USPanel to recast BBMP calls for integration
The panel on BBMP structuring has proposed a three-tier system with a Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) working to integrate various corporations offering civic amenities.
The panel, with B S Patil, Siddaiah and V Ravichandar as members, submitted its report to the government last week. It pointed out that keeping big corporations like BWSSB, Bescom, BDA, the police force and BMTC out of the civic body’s grasp creates major administrative hurdles.
It envisages integration among the agencies and other municipal bodies to provide efficient service to the citizens.
The panel cited the example of roadwork when citizens are inconvenienced due to lack of integration among various agencies and multiple authorities.
Despite a host of agencies needing to work on a project, a clear lack of mapping and definition of each one’s responsibility results in a blame game among them, the panel noted.
The GBA would focus on integrating the agencies in the ‘Principal-Client’ model. While the BDA and BWSSB would report to the GBA, the other para-statal corporation entities would work in tandem with the authority to accomplish its larger goals.
The agencies providing civic amenities (para-statals) should align with the citizens at the ward level by having a designated ‘Single Point Of Contact’ (SPOC) at the ward to resolve citizen queries and requests specific to any of the para-statals.
The SPOC officer should be conversant with the organisational structure, jurisdiction, processes and activities of the agencies.
Based on the internal organisation of the para-statals, an individual could also be a SPOC for multiple wards. Also, a virtual avatar of these SPOCs could be mirrored online where most of the citizen queries can be addressed without the need for human intervention. The panel has also recommended monthly coordination meetings between the agencies at the zonal level for effective integration.