As citizen activists raise their pitch to get more people to enrol in ward committees, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has said that the list for all 198 wards will be finalised next week. The one-month deadline given by the High Court of Karnataka to set up these committees ended in May.

With allegations that councillors are misusing powers to pick and choose people for the committees, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Pasad said citizens can send in their nominations directly to him. In fact, activists had alleged that in many cases, councillors were thwarting nominations of residents who were more likely to question them. In addition, there are misgivings about the kind of work involved and the time they need to put in, they said.

The Palike had recently informed the High Court of Karnataka that ward committees have been constituted in 68 wards. Of these, around 27 have been functioning even before the High Court’s intervention. Kathyayini Chamraj from CIVIC Bangalore said, with the Commissioner enabling nominations to be filed through him, residents, who had hesitated to file their nominations fearing interference from councillors, could also now apply.

“It is necessary for serious-minded citizens to become part of it to break the nexus. Or else, people chosen by the councillors will hold constitutional positions,” she said. So far, various civic groups have managed to get 350 people nominated to the ward committees. A similar campaign to get more citizens to volunteer was held by the Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) on Saturday as well. Srinivas Alavilli from CfB said, “We need 1,980 people to stand up and be counted as members of the 198 wards. However, a very few people signed up owing to a variety of reasons. This is an opportunity for people to get into governance.”