City’s civic strength: 350 staff for 1L people

BENGALURU: You were right all along: BBMP is responsible for the overflowing garbage and drains mucking up IT City. The Janaagraha-Brown Citizenship Index report reveals that Bengaluru has only 350 municipal staffers per 1 lakh population. Durban in South Africa has 3,000 civic workers per 1 lakh people.
With a low Citizenship Index (CI), comes another indicator: urban local bodies have failed to deliver.A mere 0.32 ranking shows that civic bodies have made the process of participation complicated, which puts off citizens.
It’s clear that local government in the city is highly stretched. Bengaluru is by far the worst compared to other Indian cities – Chennai has 500 staffers per 1 lakh populace, Ahmedabad has 600 and Pune has 700. Pune fares better as the city is smaller and has a smaller population than Bengaluru.
The shortage of human resources relates directly to the engagement of citizens, fails to meet the growing needs of the city and affects policy changes, the report said. BBMP has filled nearly 10,000 vacant posts of 19,000 sanctioned, and caters to a population of nearly 1 crore.
It’s also known that the skills and competency of the municipal staff fall short of the expectations of an ordinary Bengalurean. The report also analyzes that it isn’t commensurate with their responsibilities. About 90% of the staff in the Palike are Grade C and D employees and only two bureaucrats of IAS cadre manage the 1 crore population. Recruitment of staff is another anomaly in the municipality. The report describes how a chief accounts officer holds a Masters in physics and a deputy commissioner of revenue has a doctorate in geography.