Critical Issues Plaguing Bangalore: B.PAC’s letter to the Karnataka CM
of 18/18
June 21, 2014 Shri. K. Siddaramaiah, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore 560001 Dear Shri. Siddaramaiah ji, Subject: Follow up on our several memoranda for the improvement of quality of life of citizens of Bangalore City We have been writing to you very regularly on various matters in Bangalore City that require urgent and immediate attention. While we commend the Government on some of the measures such as completion of the road to International airport, commencement of work under Tender Sure and keeping the city open till 1 am, there are several other representations made by us and agreed by you that are pending action. This is making the day to day life of Bangaloreans extremely difficult and challenging. Development of the city’s infrastructure and attracting investment and jobs is central to Karnataka’s economic future. As B.PAC has repeatedly emphasized earlier, there is a crying need for citizens, government, political leadership, civic bodies, other parastatal agencies and other stake holders to come together and address them on a war footing. Bangalore contributes a large share of taxes to the state Exchequer and unless we keep this momentum up by investing in the city’s development, our rural areas and villages will suffer. With all the measures that B.PAC has been suggesting time and again, we have a unique opportunity to make Bangalore the best city in the country in all aspects – Safety Index, Human Quality Index, Entrepreneurial activity, Investment Climate etc. Therefore, addressing the challenges of Bangalore is not to be seen as an elitist endeavor but to be viewed as a pillar of inclusive growth and an economic imperative for augmenting the State’s finances. Sir, we at B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee), have met with you, the Minister for Bangalore, the Home Minister, the Chief Secretary, the Police Commissioner several times with suggestions on various matters. B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee), a nonpartisan “not for profit” citizen’s group that aims at strengthening the democratic process through better governance and transparency and greater citizens’ engagement with the political leadership, requests your
Critical Issues Plaguing Bangalore: B.PAC’s letter to the Karnataka CM
This letter was sent by B.PAC to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri K. Siddaramaiah on June 21st, 2014. This serves as a follow up on our several memoranda for the improvement of quality of life of citizens of Bangalore City.
Text of Critical Issues Plaguing Bangalore: B.PAC’s letter to the Karnataka CM
June 21, 2014 Shri. K. Siddaramaiah, Honble Chief Minister,
Government of Karnataka, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore 560001 Dear
Shri. Siddaramaiah ji, Subject: Follow up on our several memoranda
for the improvement of quality of life of citizens of Bangalore
City We have been writing to you very regularly on various matters
in Bangalore City that require urgent and immediate attention.
While we commend the Government on some of the measures such as
completion of the road to International airport, commencement of
work under Tender Sure and keeping the city open till 1 am, there
are several other representations made by us and agreed by you that
are pending action. This is making the day to day life of
Bangaloreans extremely difficult and challenging. Development of
the citys infrastructure and attracting investment and jobs is
central to Karnatakas economic future. As B.PAC has repeatedly
emphasized earlier, there is a crying need for citizens,
government, political leadership, civic bodies, other parastatal
agencies and other stake holders to come together and address them
on a war footing. Bangalore contributes a large share of taxes to
the state Exchequer and unless we keep this momentum up by
investing in the citys development, our rural areas and villages
will suffer. With all the measures that B.PAC has been suggesting
time and again, we have a unique opportunity to make Bangalore the
best city in the country in all aspects Safety Index, Human Quality
Index, Entrepreneurial activity, Investment Climate etc. Therefore,
addressing the challenges of Bangalore is not to be seen as an
elitist endeavor but to be viewed as a pillar of inclusive growth
and an economic imperative for augmenting the States finances. Sir,
we at B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee), have met with
you, the Minister for Bangalore, the Home Minister, the Chief
Secretary, the Police Commissioner several times with suggestions
on various matters. B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action Committee), a
nonpartisan not for profit citizens group that aims at
strengthening the democratic process through better governance and
transparency and greater citizens engagement with the political
leadership, requests your
immediate intervention in implementing strong and decisive
measures to ensure Bangalore truly becomes a Global and Sustainable
City through strong infrastructure that is inclusive in character
and good governance that attracts investments and creates jobs. Our
Agenda for Bangalore (AfB) to make Bangalore one of the best
governed cities in the country and our initiatives should be a
model for all other cities to emulate. A. URGENT CIVIC ISSUES -
Upgrading and developing Bangalore City Monthly review of progress
on 10 point program to resolve pressing civic issues in Bangalore
city B.PAC vide its earlier letter dated 28th August, 2013 and its
letter dated 20th September, 2013 has already submitted a request
to your urgent attention to serious infrastructure bottlenecks in
the city that are making life for the average citizen of Bangalore
a nightmare. We have also earlier requested for a monthly review of
all our requests herein for the next 12 months including a review
of our previous proposal on 10 Point Program to Upgrade Bangalore
City, which included proposals such as Walkers Bangalore, Garbage
and Debris Free Bangalore, Sewage Free Lakes in Bangalore and Storm
Water Drains, Pot Hole Free Bangalore and Safe Bangalore. This is
to ensure progress on all matters is well on track and that
appropriate and timely actions are taken. Our earlier letters on
critical areas for immediate improvement of civic infrastructure is
attached. 1. GARBAGE AND DEBRIS FREE BANGALORE The garbage crisis
came to a head in August 2012 and a year and a half later we still
find our city filthy with garbage dumps everywhere. Mandur has
become a serious health hazard for citizens leading to public
outrage and is fast developing into a political embarrassment. We
must have a 90 day, time bound clean up drive across the city to
get rid of garbage, construction debris and all other litter,
supported by strong measures to keep the entire city clean on an
ongoing basis, have helpline centers where citizens can call in
case they see a garbage menace, insist on source segregation by
all, institute strong enforcement measures and stiff penalties for
those who litter or do not segregate waste, consistently reduce our
landfill size. Metrics related to progress on waste management
should be tracked and
released to citizens every quarter. We request time bound
implementation of the Kasa Mukta program undertaken by BBMP and
that the same be extended to all wards of the city. B.PAC is very
keen to work with the government to find solutions for the ongoing
garbage crisis. We offer the following suggestions. 1. Enforce
waste segregation by all citizens and penalize citizens and take
penal action against those who do not. Those who segregate their
waste must be incentivized by not having to pay the waste
management cess. This will bring the 4500 tonnes of garbage that
the city generates and sends to the landfill down to 2500 tonnes.
2. Insist that existing apartment complexes also put organic
convertors in situ within a time frame of 6 months. 3. Introduce a
bill to regulate sending waste from one municipal area to another
municipal area 4. All wards to have dry waste collection centers
5.All wards to have in situ organic waste composting centers 6.
Empanelled vendors to process wet and dry waste. 7. B.PAC will take
a pilot project in Madivala Market by installing the organic waste
processing machine and operate it for one month on trial basis
after which BBMP can procure the machine and run the processing
center. 8. A group of 20 B.CLIP participants from batch 1 have
completed their course work and have taken up Waste Management as
their project in their respective wards. B.PAC offers to supplement
the efforts of the BBMP and request government support to make
these projects a success. Our objective is to reduce the waste
going to the land fill and encourage insitu processing and reduce
health hazard for all the residents close to the landfills.
We hope you will look at our suggestions positively and work
with B.PAC to restore the past glory of this garden city which is
now famous as a garbage city. 2. WALKER'S BANGALORE The footpaths
in Bangalore are a nightmare and pose grave risk for young children
and the elderly. They are often neither uniform nor continuous with
several obstacles hindering accident free walking space for
pedestrians. The height between the footpath and the road is often
more than 6 inches which makes it difficult for the elderly to get
off and onto the footpath. A mega program should be initiated to
make Bangalore a walking friendly city over the next 5 years. Each
year BBMP should target and ensure 200 Km of well designed,
standardised footpaths that are safe and encourage walking in the
city. 3. SEWAGE FREE LAKES IN BANGALORE AND STORM WATER DRAINS
Since the time Shri. Kempe Gowda established the city; Bangalore
has been famous for its lake network. In 1962 the number of live
lakes was over 262. It has been steadily coming down with only
about 35 in 1985 and 17 as of now. Most of our lakes, ponds and
other water bodies are highly polluted. The CAG report on Bangalore
has noted that 100 million liters of untreated sewage is let into
the rivers and lakes and this highly polluted water, in turn is
used for multiple purposes. Rainwater Harvesting is already a
mandatory requirement for all citizens. We request that the
Government enforce this strictly and impose stiff penalties on all
apartments, institutions and citizens not following the norms. From
our discussions with water experts familiar with the Bangalore
terrain, it is clear that the water shortage in the city can be
addressed through a series of comprehensive measures outlined with
respect to lake rejuvenation, storm water and sewage treatment and
rain water harvesting. Strict enforcement of the law is a must
here. A city like Chennai with severe water problems has been able
to resolve it with several such decisive measures and citizen
compliance.
a) We must restore the eco-system of lakes in a time bound,
cost effective manner. b) We recommend strong enforcement measures
and stiff penalties to individuals and organisations that are found
to be polluting our lake systems in any manner or dumping in storm
water drains. c) STPs to be installed near the lakes to purify any
sewage that is entering the lakes. d) The storm water drain network
that connects these lakes should be cleaned up and restored. e)
Tank water can be used as a source of drinking water if purified
properly. A high level task force consisting of experts and
concerned citizens should be setup to ensure this project is well
conceived & executed within a defined time frame. 11 of our
B.CLIP participants have taken up water, sanitation, lake
restoration related projects in their respective wards. B.PAC
offers to supplement the efforts of the BBMP and requests
government support and active co-operation in making these projects
a success. 4. THE 3 ELEVATED AND OTHER ROAD CORRIDORS The time
being taken to travel across the city is continuously on the rise.
We need to prioritize the fast movement of traffic in key corridors
of the city. 3 corridors viz, Silk Board to Hebbal, K R Puram to
Yeshwantpur and ITPL to Mysore Road should be taken up on priority
and if need be, the option of making them elevated should be
considered. These will take care of 60-70% congestion for next 20
years. The access to BIAL from South Bangalore via the NICE Road
going through Tumkur Road should be expedited. This will ensure a
smoother travel to the airport. 5. POT HOLE FREE BANGALORE
Bangalore still has over 18,000 potholes to be filled up. The speed
breakers in the city are unmarked and of different shapes and sizes
which causing injuries to commuters. We request that a time bound
plan for filling potholes and having standardized speed-brakers
with adequate illuminated markings be taken up on war footing.
6. Public Transport Namma Metro a) Balance work on Phase 1 must
be completed expeditiously. b) Work on Phase 2 must commence
immediately. c) Simultaneously bus fleet augmentation of BMTC
should be given a priority. d) The number of vacancies in BMTC
should be filled up on a priority. 7. ROADS OF BANGALORE A world
class city needs a world class road network. We are happy to note
that finally work on Tender S.U.R.E in 3 CBD roads has commenced.
a) We request you to start work in the other 4 CBD roads where the
contract for Tender SURE roads is awarded. The implementation needs
to be faster with better inter agency coordination b) We request
you to put out the drawing and schematic of proposed 7 Tender
S.U.R.E road on the website for citizens. c) The Reach 1 stretch of
Namma Metro from MG Road to Byappanahalli was to be Tender S.U.R.E
roads and the DPR for this is also available. We request you to
invite bids for this stretch. d) We understand that 16 other roads
in the city are being upgraded, we request you to ensure that these
are complaint with Tender SURE standards. 8. SAFE BANGALORE B.PAC
has already given a detailed set of recommendations on making
Bangalore a Safe City that would be a model for other cities to
emulate. We thank you for your kind response and look forward to
working with the government closely on this.
9. REVIVAL OF CUBBON PARK, CITY MUSEUMS AND AUDITORIUMS We
thank you for creating the Cubbon Park Management Authority. This
would go a long way in including citizens for the revival of Cubbon
Park, city museums and auditoriums. We should now actively work
towards creating a Museum District around the Cubbon Park Area. We
hope all these measures will help Bangalore reclaim its name as
city of parks and museums. 10. AFFORDABLE HOUSING With Bangalore
continuing to be an employment and opportunity magnet, and a
rapidly increasing migratory population, there is an urgent need to
attend to the housing needs of the urban poor. For this, we propose
that a targeted action plan be put in place to continually create
an affordable housing bank aimed at making Bangalore inclusive and
Slum Free. We should utilize Rs.300 cr earmarked for EWS housing
for 1 slum rehabilitation project immediately. We hope your
government will consider these suggestions on high priority give
effect to the steps outlined above at the earliest and send a
strong message to citizens at large that the government will take
all necessary steps to regain the last glory of Bangalore city and
position as future destination for all. B. URBAN REFORMS Mayors and
Municipal Chairpersons to have fully functional powers We are very
enthused by the commitment of the Indian National Congress in their
manifesto for the Lok Sabha 2014 titled Your Voice Our Pledge. We
invite your attention to para 13 of the manifesto The detailed
Action Plan 2014 2019. In this para the Indian National Congress
makes a commitment as below:- The Indian National Congress will
ensure that Mayors and Municipal Chairpersons have fully functional
powers, so that they can operate as Chief Executive Officers of
cities with executive powers and responsibilities and not just
ceremonial positions. We will also increase the tenure of
Mayors.
We are delighted to note this commitment. We request you as our
Chief Minister to kindly honour the commitment made in the
manifesto by introducing a new Law to change the new Governance
Architecture for Bangalore City, in pursuance of the commitment
made above. We may add here that Dr. K. Kasturirangan Committee
Report has also made a similar recommendation to improve the
Governance of Bangalore City and B.PAC has already written to you
on this subject earlier vide our letter Mayors and Municipal
Chairpersons have fully functional powers dated 14th April 2014. By
fulfilling the commitment made in the Manifesto, we will ensure
that Bangalore gets a new Governance Architecture that will help
accelerate growth and help Karnataka reach higher levels. 1. 5 year
term of office for the mayor with powers to administer the city
Bangalore is a rapidly growing metropolis and its needs are
different from other parts of the State requires dedicated
attention. As proposed by the Kasturirangan Committee, to enable
good governance and administration of the city we must adopt the
Mayoral System of Governance where the mayor is directly elected by
the people for a term of five years would be responsible for
administration and governance of the Bangalore Metropolitan Region.
Further as per the recommendations of the committee, we urge that
the mayor be assisted by mayoral committee of eight members chosen
from among elected and nominated councilors. Establishing a
meaningful term of office for the Mayor of the city, the
Corporation Commissioner and key civic officials are urgent and
important, so that they have adequate time to develop a vision for
the city and implement it. The term of 5 years recommended for the
Mayor will allow him/her to emerge as a politically accountable
leader at local government level with a democratic mandate
comparable to political leaders at other levels of government. It
is also recommended that the Mayor should be vested with executive
powers of the Municipal Government
Please have these recommendations implemented at the earliest.
2. MPC and its functioning The Expert Committee on Governance in
the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) and the Bruhat Bangalore
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) also known as the Greater Bangalore
Municipal Corporation recognizes the need for a paradigm shift from
the previous policy focus on city level urban local government to a
metropolitan level institution to enable better strategic planning
and co-ordination, and to address Bangalores multiple challenges.
In this context, B.PAC congratulates you and your government on
notifying the creation of a Metropolitan Planning Committee for the
Bangalore region. This step was promised by the Constitution in
1992, but successive governments have failed to make it a reality,
although many promised it in their election manifestos. Your
government deserves credit for deciding to constitute this body
without further delay. As you are aware, Bangalore has struggled
with rapid growth in its population during the last two decades,
and the resulting pressure on infrastructure, and public services,
has been enormous. This could have been avoided in part if there
had been a sound and robust planning process. Unfortunately that
was not the case. Throughout the state, town planning is weak, and
has fallen behind even other states in India. Moreover, many
departments and civic agencies make their own plans, without any
coherence or collaboration between them. a)Role of MPC : The MPC
must integrate and organise these divergent efforts continuously in
a seamless manner. The MPC should function as a planner and
coordinator of functions of the various existing municipal bodies.
In effect, the MPC should have overriding powers over all other
plans developed by other State functionaries and local bodies
within the wider metropolitan region. The MPC should prepare a
Metropolitan budget based on plans and estimates prepared by
various stakeholders. The Kasturirangan Committee had recommended
the financial power of BBMP must be reviewed comprehensively for
maximum autonomy. This must be implemented in letter and
spirit.
It is all the more important, therefore that the MPC should
have appropriate members. We write this to urge you to consider the
vital importance of Bangalore to the economy of our state while
choosing new members, as well as a Deputy Chairperson. Bangalore is
fortunate to have many civil society groups and thinkers who care
deeply about the city, and have spent considerable time thinking
about its many issues. Two successive task forces of the government
(BATF and ABIDe) have put together extensive documentation on the
deficits faced by the city and what needs to be done to tackle
these. We must now build on this. b) Setting up and constitution of
the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) The functioning of this
MPC in a manner that realizes the objectives and role of MPC
requires proper constitution of the same consisting of urban
experts, planners etc. We suggest below the names of particular
individuals who may be considered for appointment to the MPC among
the unelected members. Their involvement and participation in the
planning of the city can help revive Bangalore. Dr Ashwin Mahesh,
former Urban Research Strategist, GoK, and member, ABIDe, and CEO,
Mapunity Smt Anita Reddy, Managing Trustee, Association for
Voluntary Action and Service Dr Harini Nagendra, Ashoka Trust for
Research in Ecology and the Environment Mr.Harish Narasappa,
Founder, Daksh, and senior partner, Samvad Partners Professor
Narendar Pani, National Institute of Advanced Studies Smt
Kathyayini Chamaraj, Executive Trustee, CIVIC Professor T G
Sitharam, Indian Institute of Science and Chairman, CiSTUP Mr. V
Ravichandar, CMD, Feedback Consulting and member, BATF Mr. B V
Naidu, Chairman, Sagitaur Group, and Trustee, Electronic City
Industries Association Mr. Sridhar Pabbisetty, Public policy and
Inclusive governance specialist The Bangalore Political Action
Committee would be happy to assist and support this effort
wholeheartedly.
C. STRENGTHENING THE FINANCES OF THE LOCAL BODY AND OTHER CITY
AGENCIES Bangalore contributes a large share of taxes to the state
Exchequer and unless we keep this momentum up by investing in the
citys development, our rural areas and villages will suffer.
Therefore, addressing the challenges of Bangalore is not to be seen
as an elitist endeavor but to be viewed as a pillar of inclusive
growth and an economic imperative for augmenting the States
finances. Bangalore faces a serious shortage of finances to keep
itself strong in infrastructure, economic activity and public
services. Given the importance of the city to the economy of the
state, it is important that we should keep this engine of the state
running smoothly. A number of proposals for increasing revenue are
needed. For instance: 1)The profession tax collected in the city
should be earmarked by the State government for the city 2)50% of
the stamp duties collected on property transactions in BBMP limits
should be given to the city 3)50% of the road tax collected in the
BBMP limits should be given to the city D. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY
OF CIVIC AGENCIES Transparency and Accountability is the hall mark
of good governance. Public at large must be made aware about the
activities that the civic agencies are undertaking, It is important
to set measures of success for each of the agencies, and to also
have public disclosure of their work, whether in small projects or
at the level of achieving an overall vision for the city. We
request the following: 1) Public disclosure of expenditure on all
projects 2) Public information on all tenders for works executed in
the city 3) Regular progress reports on all projects 4) Performance
audits of projects undertaken by the officials of BBMP and other
parastatals, with scope for citizen feedback 5) CAG audit of the
municipal body each year
6) A public accounts committee to be created in BBMP to provide
continuous improvement in standards for project execution E.
DEVELOPING STRONG INFRASTRUCTURE We need world class
infrastructure, if we are to have a world class city. At the moment
there are serious deficits in physical infrastructure, knowledge
infrastructure, social infrastructure and financial infrastructure,
and we must overcome these swiftly. The KIG 20 Report contains a
comprehensive proposal for infrastructure development across all
sectors was earlier presented to the government and largely
accepted. We now call for immediate implementation of the
recommendations of the KIG Report. F. MAKING BANGALORE A SAFE CITY
There is an alarming rise in crimes such as rape and sexual assault
on women all across the country. It is disgraceful, if a large
nation such as ours, cannot find effective ways in which to make
our cities and our country more secure for our women. There is a
crying need for citizens, government, political leadership, civic
bodies and other parastatal agencies and other stake holders to
come together and address this on a war footing. Our women are
being seriously wronged and the inability of our judiciary to act
swiftly to mete out justice has only resulted in emboldening the
bad elements in our society to take advantage of the situation and
attack without any fear. B.PAC has already given a detailed set of
recommendations on making Bangalore a Safe City that would be a
model for other cities to emulate. Suggested measures to curb
violence against women B.PAC (Bangalore Political Action
Committee), a nonpartisan not for profit citizens group that aims
at strengthening the democratic process through better governance
and transparency and greater citizens engagement with the political
leadership, requests your immediate intervention in implementing
strong and decisive measures to ensure safety of women in the
state. Our objective should be to make Bangalore one of the safest
cities in the country for women and our initiatives should be a
model for all other cities to emulate.
In order to achieve this objective, we have listed out certain
immediate and long term measures with a view to ensuring safety of
women in the State. We request the Government of Karnataka to take
immediate action with respect to these suggested action items. 1.
Stringent laws, special fast track courts and increased judicial
capacity a. The Verma Committee Report, headed by the late Honble
ex-CJI J.S. Verma, and the Criminal Law Amendment that came out
earlier this year have both dealt with the matter in great depth
and we strongly recommend strict implementation of the same at the
earliest. It has also dealt in detail with conviction for an
offence of rape in and term of imprisonment. We insist on strong
enforcement measures to ensure citizens and women get back faith in
our police system and judiciary to protect them. b. A rape victim
cannot wait indefinitely for conviction of the perpetrators. Hence,
special courts have to be set up across all districts for such
cases and these courts must close the cases within 3-6 months of
the charge sheet being filed in the court. Charge sheets should
also be filed no later than 30 days after the FIR has been
registered- any delay should be explained to the court. These
courts must handle all cases of sexual harassment, including eve
teasing. c. We recognize that fast track courts can only function
effectively if there is an increase in the number of judges. Way
back in 1988, the Law Commission of India in its 127th report had
recommended that the number of judges per 10 lakh of the population
should be at least 100 as compared to the then existing 10 judges
per 10 lakh of the population by the year 2000. However, even today
India has about 13 judges per 10 lakh of the population. We
recommend that Karnataka takes the lead in this and increase the
ratio to at least 50 judges per 10 lakh of the population by the
year 2018. 2. Staffing of Police station and investigation of
crimes against women
a) All police stations must have women officers and in any
event must mandatorily record any complaint related to sexual
violence. All police officers should undergo sensitisation programs
so that they are sensitive to the victims predicament and handle
the investigations with care, concern and a sense of duty. An FIR
is to be lodged within 48 hours and primary investigation to be
done to ascertain the veracity of the complaint in that period. The
station inspector has to be personally accountable for this. A
written report is to be handed over to the complainant by the local
police even if the complaint is not found to be correct. Not doing
so should result in action against the station inspector, including
a jail term and suspension from duty. b) A special- city level (for
Bangalore and large cities) and district level for other parts of
the State- investigation team must be setup, adequately staffed and
funded with equipment, technology and skills, to ensure that all
such investigation is scientifically done in the best forensic
practices followed worldwide. This team must be entrusted with the
task of investigating the complaint as soon as a FIR is filed. c) A
separate and more stringent procedure for recording the statement
of the victim must be provided for. This may be done without
further traumatizing the victim and in the presence of her lawyer/
magistrate in special cases if need be. This measure becomes all
the more essential in the wake of the recent Delhi gang-rape
incident where there were allegations that the victims statement
was tampered with by the police and therefore is a real
possibility. d) Night surveillance and patrolling by the police
must be intensified in all areas. e) Ensure that the State Police
Complaints Redressal Authority, which the state government
established in 2011 functions properly. This can be done by funding
and staffing the Authority appropriately so that it can commence
effective functioning. Currently, majority of the citizens are not
even aware of the existence of this Authority.
f) Appoint district level ombudsmen focusing only on crimes
against women. g) We also suggest to have dedicated women cell at
every police station manned by women police officers. We suggest
recruiting more women officers in to the force. 3. Special cell and
hotline a) The Karnataka State Commission for Women is currently
understaffed, underfunded and badly run. The Commission should be
professionalized by appointing women who have a track record of
working for womens rights and should be empowered with adequate
funding and staff to be able to function effectively. A special
grievance cell similar to NCW must be set up to address issues from
victims during the course of the trial, so that any case of cover
up, delay and other mal-practices is addressed. b) A 24/ 7 hotline
must be set up with immediate effect to attend to distress calls
from women in need of help. This measure has been recently passed
by the Delhi Government and has been largely welcomed. 4. Special
session of the Legislature We urge you to convene a special session
of the Legislature to discuss crimes against women. Apart from
approving necessary amendments to the current laws, discussion of
this issue in a special session will convey the seriousness and
urgency of the issue to the police, the judiciary, the bureaucracy
and society at large. 5. Creation of a Database; Use of technology
The Verma Committee identified the role of education as crucial and
recommended education reforms to incorporate education on gender
constructs, recognizing discrimination, reduction of
misinformation, sex education and adult education schemes. It also
recommended focus on victims of domestic violence, who are
frequently impoverished persons and have no other protection except
for the State. These recommendations should be implemented
forthwith. We suggest that the Government create a database
containing information on complaints filed in connection in each
police station across the State including details
of the accused, progress on the complaints, conviction rates
and punishment imposed. This database can include a section on
sexual crimes against women. The photographs, names and addresses
of all those charged, convicted for such crimes should be
available. Technology should be leveraged fully for this purpose.
Such a database should be easily accessible by the public through
modern technological means. 6. Creation of necessary Infrastructure
that enhances safety of women There should be adequate street
lighting, plenty of surveillance cameras across, public
transportation even late night to ensure safety for women. We
should also have restaurants and eating places open so that there
is activity on the streets and will act as a deterrent sexual
assault. We hope your government will consider these suggestions on
high priority, give effect to the steps outlined above at the
earliest and send a strong message to citizens at large that the
government will take all necessary steps to ensure safety of women,
not tolerate these heinous crimes against women and that justice
will be swift. We look forward to your support and decisive action
in this regard. G. Fast-Track Courts to Decriminalize Politics On
March 10, 2014, the Supreme Court of India directed in rendering an
order in Public Interest Foundation v. Union of India (the SC
Order), that in relation to sitting MPs and MLAs who have charges
framed against them for the offences which are specified in Section
8(1), 8(2) and 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, the
trial shall be concluded as speedily and expeditiously as may be
possible and in no case later than one year from the date of the
framing of charge(s). We request that your government sets up
fast-track courts with a fixed term of one (1) year to speedily
dispose the back-log to effectuate the Supreme Court Order. This,
we believe, will take care of the current back-log. Already three
out of the twelve months have elapsed.
For cases that are charged going forward, we request that the
process established by the Order is followed to ensure that there
is speedy trial and justice. For your reference, please find
attached the following: 1. Copy of the SC Order 2. List of offences
to be speedily disposed as per the SC Order 3. Non-comprehensive
list of sitting MPs and MLAs from / in the State of Karnataka who
have been charged with the above-mentioned offences. We, at B.PAC,
appreciate your governments action in relation to setting up
fast-track courts to try offences against women and we now request
you to set up the fast track courts to enable the Karnataka
judiciary to meet the expectations established by the Order. We
believe, we have comprehensively laid out a number of governance,
safety and urban sustainability measures, which, if implemented in
a time bound manner will make Bangalore the leading city in the
country and improve the quality of life for every citizen of
Bangalore. With warm regards, Yours sincerely, KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW
T. V. MOHANDAS PAI REVATHY ASHOK President Vice President CEO B.PAC
B.PAC B.PAC
CC: Shri Ramalinga Reddy Honble Bangalore incharge and
Transport Minister Govt of Karnataka Shri KJ George Honble Home
Minister Government of Karnataka Shri. Kaushik Mukerjee Chief
Secretary Govt of Karnataka Shri. S.K. Patha Nayak Addnl Chief
Secretary Home Dept Govt of Karnataka Shri. Ragavendra H Auradkar
Commissioner of Police Bangalore City