Bill enabling political appointment to BWSSB tabled

The State government on Thursday tabled an amendment bill in the Assembly seeking to appoint a Chairman and Managing Director to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

The bill — the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill, 2015 — is intended to empower the government to appoint a person with political background as the chairman. Currently, there is no provision to make political appointment to the BWSSB, nor is there a post called Managing Director. Normally, IAS officer is appointed the chairman, who is also the executive head of the Board.

When Law Minister T B Jayachandra piloted the bill, the BJP opposed it, terming it politically motivated.

“It is ridiculous that the government wants to amend the Act for the sake of an individual. There is no public interest involved. The government has to clarify what is the urgency in bringing in the amendment in a hurried manner,” S Suresh Kumar of the BJP said.

The Congress government had recently issued an order appointing party leader Chinnaswamy as the BWSSB chairman, as part of the exercise to appoint heads to various boards and corporations of the government. But the order was later withdrawn as there was no provision in the Act.

Interestingly, there is no mention of tenure of the chairman in the bill. She/he shall hold the office “at the pleasure of the State government.” The BWSSB directly comes under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds Bengaluru development portfolio.

Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar said the government has introduced the bill without informing about it in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.

Moreover, there is no need to amend the BWSSB Act in such a hurried manner. This is not acceptable. The House can discuss about it in the next session of the Legislature, he added.

Jayachandra defended the government saying that the government has powers to table any bill.

The government does not have any ill intention in brining this bill. The amendment is aimed at ensuring better governance, he added. However, the bill has not been passed.