Can core reform measures override politicking in civic administration?

Civic bodies in major Indian cities have had a different image build-up and a seemingly recalibrated approach on how well they can serve the taxpayer. This has been the trend that has been noticed across major cities in the last three decades when city life was rapidly under siege from various inefficient utility service providers like municipal water supply, drainage, power and waste management, among other such civic ‘facilities’. Coming under increasing pressure from civil society activists and a concerned lot of residents who wanted their worries to be redressed under a consensual, cooperative model of governance, Bengaluru came up with a ‘Janagraha’ scheme.

Elsewhere in India, while keeping the reins of power with them and conceding some public-private partnership space, some other municipal bodies provided a say to the stakeholders to keep the model in working condition and meet the eligibility criteria for increased funding from multilateral institutions. Under NDA rule at the Centre, a renewed attempt on improving public hygiene and cleanliness has led to cities being ranked on various parameters and one has seen how Indore has remained the cleanest city in the country with many southern cities playing catch up with some cities who were not supposed to have been among the top slots in the first place.

In this context, the recent 8900-report on the alleged irregularities of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seems an elaborate, structured attempt to once again reform the wretched municipal administration model which has plagued the Garden City for decades now. Political critics may not miss out on the timeline of the study made by Justice H N Nagamohan Das, as it touches on the period when Karnataka was under the BJP rule. Yet, the news reports circulating about the methodology implemented for undertaking it makes it interesting. The inquiry, according to media reports, covered 761 completed projects, 528 selected through random sampling and 233 others identified for scrutiny.

The methodology included file inspections, on-site verification of works, and financial audits. As per its findings, several projects showed procedural lapses, discrepancies in expenditure, and execution shortfalls. The report, now in the hands of the state government, is expected to form the basis of further action. Of course, it would be keenly watched as to how Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would use this study to both hammer out a workable solution and use it intermittently to silence his saffron political critics, whose earlier tenure was not exactly a remarkable one to speak of.

With the state encountering a recurrent set of problems on the communal peace front and the standard accusations and counter accusations on its model of governance and its outcome, the incumbent government may have just got something heavy to enable it roll on reform measures and counter criticisms about the recent changes it has brought about to streamline municipal administration.

Bengaluru has had continuity in a few vital sectors, irrespective of the party in power and that has been to maintain its lead in the IT sector and its ever-increasing role in public life.

If it can also eschew politicking and focus on serving the public, who deserve better for the taxes they pay, to sustain the administration machinery, then it would herald a new beginning in India, like in many other fields.