<p>The Bill seeks to merge the districts of Ramanagara, Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban into one large ‘Bangalore Metropolitan Region’ (BMR) with an area of 8,000 sq km. <br /><br />The Bill seeks to create an overarching council which will plan and oversee/supervise the development of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region.<br /><br />The Concerned for Working Children (CWC) and Gram Panchayat Hakkottaya Andolana have demanded the withdrawal of the Bill. <br /><br />“The declaration of the BMR will neither require any prior notice to be issued to Gram Panchayats or Municipalities nor their consent, thus violating the rights and functions of the Gram Panchayats and Gram Sabhas as per the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act and the 73rd constitutional amendment. It will be a unilateral show of power and a virtual takeover of the whole BMR by the State government,” they have stated.<br /><br />Convenor of the Andolana, Nandana Reddy said, “The creation of BMR will imply a transfer of all rights over social and economic planning and resources to a <br />“Metropolitan Planning Board” (MPB) under the chairpersonship of a nominee of the chief minister. Further, the chief minister, who is the chairperson of the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), can reverse even the proposals of the Municipal Corporation headed by the Mayor.” <br /><br />She further stated that the MPB does not allow for any representation from duly elected local authorities. <br /><br />This body has been awarded perpetual succession unlike the term of office of elected members. Issues of poverty alleviation have been relegated primarily to the <br />Municipal Corporation without assigning any funds for the purpose. <br /><br />It is listed under ‘discretionary functions’ and is ‘subject to availability of resources’, she added.<br /><br />The organisations contend that this Bill along with the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2011 popularly known as the ‘Community Participation Law’ (CPL), will erase the role of people’s representatives and will relegate the issues of poverty alleviation and human rights to the backburner.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The Bill seeks to merge the districts of Ramanagara, Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban into one large ‘Bangalore Metropolitan Region’ (BMR) with an area of 8,000 sq km. <br /><br />The Bill seeks to create an overarching council which will plan and oversee/supervise the development of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region.<br /><br />The Concerned for Working Children (CWC) and Gram Panchayat Hakkottaya Andolana have demanded the withdrawal of the Bill. <br /><br />“The declaration of the BMR will neither require any prior notice to be issued to Gram Panchayats or Municipalities nor their consent, thus violating the rights and functions of the Gram Panchayats and Gram Sabhas as per the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act and the 73rd constitutional amendment. It will be a unilateral show of power and a virtual takeover of the whole BMR by the State government,” they have stated.<br /><br />Convenor of the Andolana, Nandana Reddy said, “The creation of BMR will imply a transfer of all rights over social and economic planning and resources to a <br />“Metropolitan Planning Board” (MPB) under the chairpersonship of a nominee of the chief minister. Further, the chief minister, who is the chairperson of the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), can reverse even the proposals of the Municipal Corporation headed by the Mayor.” <br /><br />She further stated that the MPB does not allow for any representation from duly elected local authorities. <br /><br />This body has been awarded perpetual succession unlike the term of office of elected members. Issues of poverty alleviation have been relegated primarily to the <br />Municipal Corporation without assigning any funds for the purpose. <br /><br />It is listed under ‘discretionary functions’ and is ‘subject to availability of resources’, she added.<br /><br />The organisations contend that this Bill along with the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2011 popularly known as the ‘Community Participation Law’ (CPL), will erase the role of people’s representatives and will relegate the issues of poverty alleviation and human rights to the backburner.<br /><br /></p>