BBMP to train ward committee members

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is mulling a bottom-up approach to iron out various hiccups surrounding ward committee meetings in the city, before which the committee members and officials will be given special training.

Addressing a citizen interaction programme — Ward Committees: An Imperative Step Towards Local Governance — organised by Deccan Herald and Prajavani as part of the ‘DH and Citizens for Civic Amenities’ events, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said a batch-wise training programme is already in progress for BBMP officials. He said that the same will be conducted for corporators also, soon after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The commissioner was replying to Padmanabha Reddy, opposition party leader in the BBMP Council, who sought permission from both the mayor and the commissioner for conducting training sessions for all committee members.

Manjunath Prasad said that the BBMP will have a bottom-up approach in governance in the coming months where the ward committees and ward sabhas (after establishment) will put forth their required budget, which will be included in the BBMP’s budget.

Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said, “The citizens have the right to question authorities in the ward committee meeting if their grievances during the previous meeting are not resolved. The citizens should also cooperate with ward committee members and BBMP officials.”