Need of the hour: A minister to augment Bengaluru's growth

With KJ George stepping down as the Bengaluru development minister following controversies surrounding DSP MK Ganapathy's suicide, the focus is now once again on the post of a dedicated minister for the city. The portfolio was created in the wake of complaints over the city's poor infrastructure. The question is, will the absence of a dedicated minister affect the city's growth? How important is to have a minister for a city like Bengaluru? Urban experts share their views with TOI.
An experienced, non-corrupt minister must for city's growth
- RK Misra, Urban expert
A dedicated minister for Bengaluru was something we had been demanding for a long time; an incharge minister is not enough because there's no concerted approach and no full authority either.
We were relieved when a minister was appointed eight months ago. There was finally one contact person in the government whom we met on a weekly basis, discussed problems and solutions for the city. We cannot leave this portfolio with the chief minister because he has other responsibilities and no time for this. When there's a minister who has time and authority to deal with the challenges the city face, it's useful, considering that coordination between civic agencies is almost impossible. The minister not only has the authority to hold meetings but also to take decisions.
This is missing now again. We had seen substantial improvement on PRR (peripheral ring road) project which was stuck from the 1980s, elevated corridors and lake rejuvenation works which will now slow down.
We need an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore to make the city relatively decent which will require funding from agencies apart from the government. We need a person for the city who can attract investment in infrastructure and industry. That is the job of the Bengaluru minister. Moreover, the magnitude of investment required is so high that we need someone to market the potential that Bengaluru has. Not having a minister is a blunder; a stop-gap arrangement will not work.
The CM has to immediately appoint a minister who is senior enough to understand the importance of Bengaluru to the state and and also has the confidence of a chief minister honest because there's so much money in the city. We don't want someone who will be negotiating bribes.
Having a mayor with powers to plan and manage city is a wise idea
- V Ravichandar, civic evangelist
Bengaluru was the only city in India to have a city incharge minister at the state level. Currently that role is donned by the chief minister who has multiple responsibilities in running the state. The challenges of managing a 10-million strong and growing city is huge and is not doable as a part-time portfolio. There's a need to align the activities of multiple civic agencies. The infrastructure needs, be it traffic, waste management or water distribution, need fulltime attention.
Our city is in rapid decline and we need new governance and administration models to replace our tried and failed systems. Ideally, cities need to be masters of their own destiny. This implies that at the helm, it has a mayor with full powers to plan and manage a city. This was the intent of the 74 th Constitutional amendment; a recommendation of the Kasturirangan Committee and the BBMP Restructuring Committee also. But it hasn't seen the light of day. The role of the state in determining the fate of Bengaluru is huge. We should never give up the idea of having an empowered mayor incharge of Bengaluru.
Many worry about the quality of our leaders at the city council level. History has shown that national leaders cut their teeth in local politics before going on to state and national-level politics. For instance, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad were all city mayors before reaching greater heights. We have rosy notions of a Bloomberg in New York or a Sadiq Khan as mayors incharge of liveable cities like New York and London. It can happen here too but for that we need a leader focussed on Bengaluru; it can start with someone from the state cabinet. who enjoys a chief minister's confidence and in due course transition to the city level leadership.