Citizens, leaders exchange ideas for better Bengaluru

To address various issues plaguing the city and exchange ideas to tackle them, Namma Bengaluru Foundation-Citizen Partnership (NBF-CP), a citizen and civil society led partnership, held a consultation on Monday.

More than 20 citizen activist groups – including Citizen Action Forum (CAF), Koramangala Residents’ Welfare Association( RWA), Victoria Layout RWA and Vidyaranyapuram RWA – and MPs,  MLAs, MLC, and other key stakeholders interacted in the programme.

Executive Trustee, Citizens’ Voluntary Initiative for the City (CIVIC), Bangalore, Kathyayini Chamaraj, said the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act should be amended to rectify flaws in it. She also suggested that encroached land recovered be utilised for Anganwadis and other social infrastructure.

CEO of NBF Sridhar Pabbisetty stressed upon the audit of BBMP funds by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). “The Palike should disclose the financial condition, costs of projects implemented and other related information on its website,” he said.

Responding to this, Malleswaram MLA, C N Ashwath Narayan said BBMP audits are crucial and there was a lot of financial mismanagement.

Hebbal MLA R Jagadeesh Kumar said CAG audits should be made mandatory and unless they are followed by action taken reports on the findings, the process  is incomplete.