The Citizens’ Action Forum, a civic group, on Monday wrote to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, requesting him not to give his assent to the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Bill, that was recently passed by both Houses of the State.
Vijayan Menon, president, CAF, in his letter said, “The Bill is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and goes against the provisions of the Constitution of India 1950 as it is in violation of the 74th Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1993. The Amendment was passed to ensure that municipalities were given constitutional backing to become sound and effective units of self-government in a bid to ensure effective three-tiered governance – the Centre, the State and units of local self-government. The Bill, in effect, seeks to entirely erase the third tier of governance, by providing for the State government to usurp the power of the municipalities.”
He also said, “The Bill purports to reorganise the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), a municipality, and replace it, in part, with the Greater Bengaluru Authority – an entity that has minimal local elected leaders but is rather composed of executive officials, members of the State Legislature, and bureaucrats from other parastatal entities. This is in violation of Article 243-R of the Constitution of India that expressly provides that municipalities are to be composed of elected councillors.”
The civic forum also says that there were severe shortcomings in the citizen consultation process held for suggestions and objections to the Draft Bill and that there has been no real study on the reasons why there are administrative and governance defects in the current BBMP. The letter argues that instead, it has been decided at the outset itself that size was the issue.
Published – March 17, 2025 10:06 pm IST
