Ward committees productive, action-oriented: Alavilli

Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder, Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) highlighted the benefits of having regular ward committee meetings in the city, while drawing attention to some issues the committees are facing at the moment.

Addressing the citizens' interaction programme, Alavilli said more citizens are now showing enthusiasm, coming forward to participate in the ward committee meetings.

Discussing the takeaways from the committee meetings so far, he said, “The committee meetings are turning productive and are action-oriented. It is also good to see the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited officials participating in the meetings.”

Alavilli urged residents to check the BBMP website frequently, as data on property tax, ward committee works and other details are available for the public to view on the portal.

“In so many meetings, citizens are asking questions and giving suggestions. It feels good when citizens themselves come and tell me this,” he said.

However, according to Alavilli, there are certain issues to be addressed. “There are no ward offices in many places. There are no meeting notifications being issued to the citizens. There is also a shortage of BBMP staff. There are certain corporators who are resisting citizens’ participation and so on. These things will be sorted out in the coming days,” he said.

As there are many who are unaware of the meetings, the BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said, “We have instructed the ward committee members and the secretaries to put out invites in all public places. Every citizen must know that the meetings are conducted during the first Saturday of every month.”