This story is from May 26, 2016

Bengaluru vision group to have six sub-committees

The Bengaluru Vision Group, also called the Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG), which held its first meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of chief minister Siddaramaiah, is set to expand.
Bengaluru vision group to have six sub-committees
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Vision Group, also called the Bengaluru Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG), which held its first meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of chief minister Siddaramaiah, is set to expand.
The 3 0-member group, which comprises corporate honchos, urban experts, ministers and bureaucrats of civic agencies, will be reorganized to form at least six sub-groups or sub-committees to focus on transport, infrastructure, lakes, solid waste management, finance and power.
Besides BVG members, each sub-committee will have domain experts who will meet regularly to execute the blueprint.
Speaking to TOI, a senior member of BBPAG said the issues for the sub-committees have been decided based on the Bengaluru blueprint prepared by Janaagraha and presented to the state government last year. "We will be analyzing the suggestions made by BBPAG members during the first meeting held on Tuesday. Changes will be made if needed," he added.
During Tuesday's meeting, the CM is said to have stressed the need for sub-groups to bring in focus and expertise to BBPAG. However, critics say there is enough knowledge sources available to use and the government is just wasting time on constituting one group after other and that there would be no action on ground. They said, "This government hardly has two years left and if the chief minister is still spending time on forming and rearranging expert panels, when will the suggestions or decision be executed?''
Going by past experience, governments have shown little interest in implementing reports of expert committees, including joint legislature committees. "The recent report on BBMP restructuring and interim report by MLA KB Koliwad-led House committee on lake encroachments are some examples," said Naveen KS, an urban expert and environmentalist.
In his recent Facebook post, urban expert Ashwin Mahesh said the core issue is non-involvement of people in decision making in their own neighbourhoods. "If we changed that, the number of problem solvers would dramatically rise, and many things would get fixed...The best advice anyone can give the government is to follow the laws and to involve the public. The Constitution and the law already contain a vision," he wrote.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA