Assembly passes amendment keeping Greater Bengaluru Authority out of municipal affairs
Deputy chief minister and Bengaluru development minister
DK Shivakumar
, who piloted the bill Monday, said the bill was only to ensure "clarity and prevent disputes in future".
"Though the Bill was passed earlier, some people had filed petitions in court," said Shivakumar. "We have now made it clear in this bill that GBA will not interfere in matters of municipal corporations that come under the 74th amendment of the Constitution."
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He explained that under the existing law, GBA had powers to intervene in affairs of municipal corporations. "A PIL was filed alleging municipalities were being brought under govt control," he said. "Although the court did not uphold the PIL, we moved this amendment to avoid confusion in future. Municipalities will function independently and will not be under govt control."
He went on to say that mayors and corporators elected directly by the people will have complete authority.
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"Today, we may be at the helm, tomorrow we may not — but there should not be scope for dispute. That is why we removed the provision (allowing govt control)," Shivakumar said.
Reiterating his stand, Shivakumar said: "I do not want others to indulge in politics over Bengaluru's future, nor will I. Municipalities will have powers of taxation, financial autonomy, reservation, elections. The 74th amendment is fully protected.
Congress will never allow Rajiv Gandhi's historic amendments to be diluted."
Insisting that his heart beats for local bodies, Shivakumar said: "When I was urban development minister, we ensured the Belur Declaration along with then revenue minister MY Ghorpade. At that time, each panchayat received only Rs 1 lakh in grants. During SM Krishna's tenure, this was raised to Rs 5 lakh, and later 27 departments were brought under panchayats to empower them."
On Satish Reddy's (BJP) claim that certain villages in their constituencies were not included, Shivakumar said: "If we include villages now, panchayat members would automatically become municipal corporators, which could invite objections. Therefore, we will first conduct elections within existing municipal limits, and later, after discussions with all of you, we will decide on expanding boundaries."
Highlighting financial imbalances between different zones, Shivakumar said: "Mahadevapura collects the highest tax revenues, whereas other parts of Bengaluru do not generate as much. But one municipality's money cannot be transferred to another — if we do so, it would violate the 74th amendment again. In such cases, the govt must provide financial support. We have only brought this amendment for the welfare of municipalities.
Our purpose is to ensure that when other parties form the govt in the future, they cannot misuse it to bring municipalities under govt control."
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