Call for bolstering ward committees in Karnataka cities gets louder

The Act mandated the setting up and devolution of powers to urban local bodies (ULBs) as the lowest units of governance in cities and towns.

Srinivas Alavilli, head of civic participation, Janaagraha, said that Karnataka Ward Samiti Balaga, a coalition of citizens to strengthen ward committees, will act as a responsible pressure group to bring together apolitical voices from all cities of Karnataka to strengthen the institution of ward committees.

“We sincerely believe that strong ward committees lead to inclusive and resilient cities. Ward committees offer a unique opportunity for citizens and elected leaders to shape their cities, and the Ward Samiti Balaga will serve as a forum for exchanging ideas and best practices to establish ward committees in our cities and make them grow into forums for planning and development beyond grievance redressal,” he said.

Santosh Nargund, Janaagraha state head of civic participation, said, “It is the 30th year of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. The main intent behind the law was to decentralise power to local governments and the people to resolve issues at the local level. Therefore, by the end of 2022, we can hope to see the formation of ward committees across all the major cities of Karnataka.”

Ganesh Sahyadri, the representative from Shivamogga, has called for a state-level monitoring to pave the way for the effective functioning of ward committees. Hence Karnataka Ward Samiti Balaga is being formed to facilitate the implementation of the ward committees across Karnataka.”

K L E Law College Principal Dr Sharadha Patil, who represented Hubballi–Dharwad region, also underscored the need for Balaga forum to increase active participation of the public and to form ward committees in cities.

Radha, a Ballari representative, has called for creating awareness on the long-term benefits of ward committees in backward areas

‘Our City Our Challenge’

On June 11, young change-makers were celebrated at Bala Janaagraha’s #CivicFest, an online fiesta, attended by over 450 plus students across India. The event also marked the valedictory of the six-month ‘Our City Our Challenge’, where 73 of the 1,389 projects by children were picked as the best ones.

Winning projects were selected based on the type of issues picked by children, the magnitude of efforts taken by the young change-makers to resolve them and the quality of civic engagement undertaken by them to become influencers and create awareness on the specific issues they tried to address.

“Some of the best projects included those aimed at solving waste management issues in cities. Bengaluru’s garbage issue often hits headlines. Aarav Jain and Adhyayan Sharma from Learning Paths School tried to solve the overflowing garbage bin issue. Through their project ‘Garboball’ they created an innovative bin that compresses waste into sheets and creates more space in the bin. Also, by installing netted hoops around the bin, they ensured that waste does not spill over to the streets,” Janaagraha said in a statement.

“The quality of life in cities can be improved only when citizens take charge. Quality is not an accident. It is an outcome of consistent, intelligent and constant effort. Our education system must have lessons that mould responsible youth capable enough to shoulder the responsibilities and contribute to nation-building,” said S Kannan, principal, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Bengaluru.