<p>A milestone is an occasion to celebrate and take renewed pledge to achieve standards of excellence. But Bangalore city’s civic authorities seem to have neither a sense of history nor responsibility to be bothered about a major milestone in the life of the state capital’s civic governance.<br /><br /></p>.<p>How else do we explain the fact that they have completely missed a major milestone in the history of city’s civic governance? <br /><br />Today, Bangalore’s municipal governance completes 150 years. On this day, 150 years ago—March 27, 1862—the city’s first civic body, named the Bangalore City Municipality (BCM), was formally established. The city, fifth largest in the country today with a population of nearly one crore, was home to just over one lakh people in the early 1860s when the British rulers perceiving the need for a self-governing civic body to manage its affairs. It required the citizens’ involvement and monetary contribution. <br /><br />In October 1861, nine prominent citizens of the time came together and involved other citizens to sign a “Declaration” and submitted it to the British authorities expressing their intent to set up a municipal board under the Improvement of Towns Act of 1850. The declaration was an important first step as the act required the government to get consent of a good number of citizens before establishing a municipal body. <br /><br />After considering the declaration, the British rulers gave a go ahead and subsequently on March 27, 1862, the city’s first municipal board led by the nine eminent citizens came into existence, and with that the first civic administration of Bangalore. Among the nine members were Indian officials, non-officials and at least British officials. <br /><br />The BCM’s revenue for the year 1862-63, according to the Karnataka Gazette, was a meagre Rs 21,981. The BCMS’s revenue was somewhat better, Rs 37,509. A common British administrator kept a close eye on the two bodies. <br /><br />Subsequently, the British modified municipal acts several times. The changes led to legalising the two bodies in 1881, but continued to function independent of each other. <br /><br />A year later, the concept of election was introduced to induct non-official members and, for the first time, property tax was introduced in the city. Property tax payers became eligible to elect non-official members to the board of each of the two civic bodies.<br /><br />Until 1913, when philanthropist K P Puttanna Chetty became BCM’s nominated non-official president, the British did not allow non-official Indians to head either of the civic two bodies. <br /><br />Seven years later, however, the British acceded to the idea of an elected president. This system generally continued until 1949, when, post-Independence; the two the boards were legally merged to form the Corporation of the City of Bangalore, then to Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, and then to its present name—Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.</p>
<p>A milestone is an occasion to celebrate and take renewed pledge to achieve standards of excellence. But Bangalore city’s civic authorities seem to have neither a sense of history nor responsibility to be bothered about a major milestone in the life of the state capital’s civic governance.<br /><br /></p>.<p>How else do we explain the fact that they have completely missed a major milestone in the history of city’s civic governance? <br /><br />Today, Bangalore’s municipal governance completes 150 years. On this day, 150 years ago—March 27, 1862—the city’s first civic body, named the Bangalore City Municipality (BCM), was formally established. The city, fifth largest in the country today with a population of nearly one crore, was home to just over one lakh people in the early 1860s when the British rulers perceiving the need for a self-governing civic body to manage its affairs. It required the citizens’ involvement and monetary contribution. <br /><br />In October 1861, nine prominent citizens of the time came together and involved other citizens to sign a “Declaration” and submitted it to the British authorities expressing their intent to set up a municipal board under the Improvement of Towns Act of 1850. The declaration was an important first step as the act required the government to get consent of a good number of citizens before establishing a municipal body. <br /><br />After considering the declaration, the British rulers gave a go ahead and subsequently on March 27, 1862, the city’s first municipal board led by the nine eminent citizens came into existence, and with that the first civic administration of Bangalore. Among the nine members were Indian officials, non-officials and at least British officials. <br /><br />The BCM’s revenue for the year 1862-63, according to the Karnataka Gazette, was a meagre Rs 21,981. The BCMS’s revenue was somewhat better, Rs 37,509. A common British administrator kept a close eye on the two bodies. <br /><br />Subsequently, the British modified municipal acts several times. The changes led to legalising the two bodies in 1881, but continued to function independent of each other. <br /><br />A year later, the concept of election was introduced to induct non-official members and, for the first time, property tax was introduced in the city. Property tax payers became eligible to elect non-official members to the board of each of the two civic bodies.<br /><br />Until 1913, when philanthropist K P Puttanna Chetty became BCM’s nominated non-official president, the British did not allow non-official Indians to head either of the civic two bodies. <br /><br />Seven years later, however, the British acceded to the idea of an elected president. This system generally continued until 1949, when, post-Independence; the two the boards were legally merged to form the Corporation of the City of Bangalore, then to Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, and then to its present name—Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.</p>
