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.”