Maximum of 7 Municipal Corporations Instead of BBMP

 Legislative Assembly Joint Scrutiny Committee Report Recommends

Maximum of 7 Municipal Corporations Instead of BBMP

Bengaluru: The Legislative Assembly Joint Scrutiny Committee has submitted its report stating that a maximum of seven municipal corporations should be formed under the ‘Greater Bangalore Administrative Authority’ and the mayor should have a tenure of 30 months.

Committee Chairman Rizwan Arshad presented the report in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

When the ‘Greater Bangalore Administrative Bill-2024’ was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on July 25, 2024, members objected. As they insisted on referring it to a House Committee, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had promised to form a House Committee to examine the bill. Accordingly, the Legislative Assembly Speaker formed a ‘Legislative Assembly Joint Scrutiny Committee’ on August 22, 2024 and appointed Rizwan Arshad as its Chairman.

‘The committee has held discussions with officials from the Urban Development Department, Parliamentary Affairs, Legislative Department, and Law Department. Also, advice has been sought from the MLAs representing the city. Opinions have been received from citizens and organizations, and many changes have been suggested, and a report has been prepared and submitted,’ Rizwan Arshad informed.

No financial power: The ‘Greater Bangalore Authority’ (GBA) cannot have any power regarding the rates of taxes, fees, cesses, and user charges of the municipal corporations. It is an advisory authority and may have the power to take policy-related decisions, the report states.

The committee, which has sought the opinion of the Advocate General on whether the ‘Greater Bangalore Administration Bill’ would be contrary to the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, has suggested that the State Finance Commission’s recommendation should be sought for the distribution of funds among the municipal corporations.

The state government can provide core funds for major projects through the GBA. The administrative expenses of the GBA should be borne by the government. The report states that consultations should be held with the concerned municipal corporations before undertaking major projects.

Key recommendations of the report: 

• * The term of office of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor should be 30 months
• * There should be approximately the same number of wards in the newly created municipal corporations
• * The number of wards in each municipal corporation should not be less than 100
• * Each municipal corporation should start with ‘Bengaluru’. For example: Bangalore East Municipal Corporation, Bangalore West Municipal Corporation, Bangalore South Municipal Corporation
• * A resident of a municipal corporation should be allowed to contest in only one ward
• * After being elected as a municipal corporation member, one cannot change the voter list of a ward of another municipal corporation. If you do so, your membership will be cancelled
• * The Regional Commissioner in the Greater Bangalore Authority should be named as the Chief Commissioner
• * The District Collector and Superintendent of Police should be members in the Greater Bangalore Authority
• * MPs should be considered as members of the authority in the event of voting rights
• * BBMP Act – 2020 should be included in the bill
• * Each standing committee should have a minimum of five and a maximum of 11 corporation members.
• * The term of the ward committee should be limited to 20 months
• * The MLA should be the chairman of the ‘Field Consultation and Coordination Committee’ and the corporation members should be members. The members of the Legislative Council who have votes in the assembly constituency should also be members
• * Tax should be imposed on entertainment programs
• * Property tax should be confiscated after two years of non-payment of arrears, and action should be taken to auction it after one year
• * The power to create private streets should be given to the commissioner from the ward committee
• * Separate committees should be formed for lakes, fisheries, and horticulture

Objection to spelling and grammatical errors

The Joint Scrutiny Committee of the Legislative Assembly has found many spelling and grammatical errors in the Kannada version of the ‘Greater Bangalore Administration Bill-2024’.

There are differences in the translation of the bill, which was written in English, into Kannada. The errors in the clauses have been shown in the report and it has been suggested to correct them.

The names of the posts have also been entered incorrectly. There are differences in terminology, and the wrong translation should be corrected. Noting the discrepancies in several sections, the committee also suggested that each chapter be newly translated and that Kannada and English versions be prepared and provided side by side.

Despite all these instructions, the draft bill has been published in English in the report submitted by the Joint Scrutiny Committee of the Legislature.