All City wards may have Commissioners

BBMP also plans to start Facebook pages

If everything goes as per the BBMP plans, every ward in the City will soon have a ward commissioner and a Facebook page.

The Palike is contemplating to create posts of Ward Commissioners and open Facebook pages for every ward to streamline the administration to help citizens get better and faster services.

According to sources in the BBMP, the Palike Commissioner Rajneesh Goel is keen on creating the position of Ward Commissioner.

“The idea is to reach out to the citizens at a brisk pace. We want the issues to be addressed at the local level and not wait for the head office to look into even the minor issues,” said a top Palike official.

However, the problem lies in identifying people to occupy the posts of ward commissioners. “We have to identify people who are capable of handling all the functions of the Palike at the ward level. The person who becomes the ward commissioner will have to represent all the departments like the Health, Revenue, Engineering and the like. We are still working out the modalities,” added the official.

The BBMP is also planning to open 198 Facebook pages for as many wards in the City. According to officials, the Facebook pages will help connect with the people in each ward and address the local issues. It will also give quick feedback from the citizens.

Man power shortage

“Our biggest challenge is the availability of human resource. We do not have people to handle this job and train our officers at the ward level. Once this is addressed, the Facebook pages can start functioning,” said another official.

The BBMP is following on the footsteps of Bescom, which has opened a Facebook page for all its sub-stations.