Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar has taken the government to task following reports of local bodies of government dirtying their hands with allegations of misappropriation. He took to twitter to express his anger and said that this is a government of builders and contractors.

 

Allegations are that engineers at Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) have a nexus with civil contractors and get 2 % cut (commission) from all tenders. Likewise, there are also allegations that BDA engineers jack up the cost of project as they are hand in glove with contractors at the cost of a handsome share. Reports also mention that other bodies like Revenue Department officials - tahsildars and sub-registrars, Karnataka Industrial Development Board, RTO, police, excise officials are also part of demanding what is called in local slang - mamul, haftha, cut, share or rather 'commission'.


United Bengaluru, a coalition of several citizen groups working for the welfare of Bengaluru had submitted a letter citing the problems in these areas and plans to tackle them to the Chief Minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy, as soon as he came into power.


The letter raised concerns about 11 areas including: Commercialization of Residential Areas, Infrastructure, Ward Committees and Citizen Participation in Urban Governance, Metropolitan Planning Committee and Revised Master Plan 2031, Solid Waste Management (Garbage), Functioning of the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) Plants across Bengaluru, Integrated management of water system and Revival of Lakes in the City, Bannerghatta Eco-Sensitive Zone, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Women and Children's Safety and mobility in terms of BMTC, BMRCL, Unified Metropolitan Transportation Authority.


Even MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has addressed these issues, especially RERA, rejuvenation of lakes in Bengaluru and infrastructure.


But United Bengaluru has not got any response from the government in this regard yet. Especially at a time when results of the urban local bodies election have been announced and Congress-JD(S) are likely to hold power in most of these bodies, it is important to address these issues of concern. Strict action should be taken against the nexus between government staff and private players leading to the misappropriation of tax payers' money.