Governance

Amid the hue and cry over the death of IAS officer D K Ravi which has prompted the public and the opposition parties to demand for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case, there seems to be differences of opinion in the IAS Officers’ Association on demanding CBI probe. A set of senior officials Citizen Matters spoke to said that the IAS Officers’ Association in its central committee meeting on March 17th did not pass a resolution to demand the State government to hand over the case to CBI. “In the meeting it was decided to wait…

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) presented its annual budget, the last by the current Council, on March 17th 2015. The total outlay in the 2015-16 Budget is of Rs. 6730 crores. Acknowledging the financial situation of the BBMP to be “tight and tough”, Chairman of the Finance and Taxation Committee, V Anand characterised the budget as a realistic one. Instead of initiating new projects, the budget’s main focus would be to see through the ongoing and spilled over works and to cut down on administrative overheads. Total grants of Rs. 2,891 crores are expected from the State Government. The…

The one who strove relentlessly to fill in the state's coffers, himself has landed up in a coffin. Tragic. Shocking. The sudden death of an upright officer, DK Ravi, brings to the focus, the conditions, constraints and challenges of officers chasing taxes, evaders and hoodlums, in general, and upright officers like Ravi, in particular. We don't know yet the reason or the cause of his death, but conscious citizens like me ponder what could be behind it. And the most haunting question is, did his crusade cost his life? While that question is yet to be answered, this throws open…

DK Ravi interacting with students in Kolar. Pic: Basu Raju The news of the death of D.K. Ravi, former Deputy Commissioner of Kolar District, has come as an absolute shock. Ravi was transferred from his position in Kolar to Bengaluru, where, as Deputy Commissioner in the Commercial taxes (intelligence) wing, he launched a series of raids and investigations into Bangalore’s builder companies. It is said that these raids had discovered huge levels of tax evasion. Ravi is said to have committed suicide in his flat yesterday (March 16th 2015). However, as far as we know, there is no suicide note.…

After attending six meetings of a Federation of RWAs over, I thought I’d scream if I heard  the word “segregate” one more time. Nonetheless, I decided to attend their  monthly meeting  in February. And I did end up screaming—even before I got to this meeting at Sanjaynagar’s RMV Club where residents of ward nos. 18, 19 and 100 meet regularly. On the way, I passed by the road along ISRO’s east wall (where Ramesh Dutt, secretary of the Federation, and Kala Sunder, an active  member, live) and saw two pourakarmikas pushing their garbage carts and converging on an eyesore-of-a-dump, and…

With less than two months for the BBMP council term to end and election season to commence, the one-man committee formed by the government to probe financial irregularities in the BBMP has submitted its report. The report has the potential to become a weapon for the State government to dissolve the BBMP council and postpone the election. On February 19th 2015, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a one-man committee headed by IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Kataria to probe into various irregularities in the BBMP. The committee which investigated into the matter has now submitted its report to the government. Speaking…

Most of the buildings in Bangalore have bye-law violations - some minor, others major. Pic: Shree D N Two days after the State government announcing the implementation of Akrama Sakrama scheme, there are all indications the issue will yet again face legal hurdles. Mangaluru-based Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development has already filed a fresh petition in the High Court of Karnataka questioning the implementation of Akrama Sakrama. Bengaluru-based Citizens Action Forum too has decided to file a separate petition. Vidya Dinker, Convener of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, who is the main petitioner in the case dismissed on February 3rd,…

The three-member committee formed by the State government to look into the Restructuring of BBMP will hold a series of meetings with Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) and Non-government Organisations, community-based organisations, apartment owners’ associations and other citiens, to give their suggestions and inputs on the ongoing restructuring exercise. The government has formed the three member committee headed by former chief secretary B S Patil, with Siddaiah and V Ravichandar as its members. The committee has been entrusted with the task of studying the impact of restructuring BBMP and chalk out the ways in which the city can be governed more…

Even as the State government is gearing up to implement the Akrama Sakrama scheme that allows the regularisation of the building byelaw and certain land use violation in urban areas including Bengaluru, the new rules have raised several concerns. While a section of the civic society opposes the concept of regularisation as a whole, a few others find lacunae in the new rules which they say might prove disastrous if the scheme is implemented. In fact, there are serious doubts over the new rules of being big developer-friendly, rather than being people-friendly. There is not much difference between the 2007…

On February 27th 2015, yet another malnourished child from DJ Halli passed away due to pneumonia compounded by malnutrition and cerebral palsy. Nawaz died at the age of 4 years and 4 months, weighing only 9.8 kg. His pneumonia was fatal because he didn’t receive treatment at the local primary health centre (PHC). Known as the Maidan Hospital’ at DJ Halli, this primary health centre and maternity home is infamous locally for turning away pregnant mothers who are on the verge of delivery, if they do not pay extra money. People typically don’t even attempt to use the centre for…