By Qamar ZJ
The Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) has taken pains to dig out all the data relevant to all the wards in Bengaluru. Did you know that 47% of the money has gone to one vendor without the necessary tendering in the city? Did you know the percentage of such funds in your ward? Their website can help you find details specific to your ward.
We looked at some of the areas in Bengaluru that Residents Watch primarily covers to give you an idea. Did you know that the Hoysalanagar ward which includes major parts of Indiranagar has the highest amount of works being given to a single contractor? In this case, almost 74% to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL).
If we move the needle further east towards Whitefield, we find the Hagaduru ward getting 68%, Varthur at 43%, Hoodi at 39%, and Kadugodi getting 27%. When we move to HSR Layout, we realise that KRIDL was contracted to do 47% of the works, that matches the city average. In Bellandur, that is at 33% while Koramangala is at 23%. If you want to know about your ward’s allocation, just check out this website.
What does all this mean? The higher the percentage, the higher are the chances of that money being siphoned off through fake bills. KRIDL is not new to this as this newspaper report confirms. Interestingly, a BJP leader had alleged that the agency was the hub of corruption during the Congress-JD(S) regime last year. The BJP is doing nothing different after occupying the same seat of power.
Why not KRIDL?
Clause 4(g) of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act is meant to provide special exemptions to projects in exceptional circumstances. According to BNP, “This clause is abused every year by all parties to give thousands of crores of projects to KRIDL, violating norms and giving rise to corruption and misgovernance!” The BNP promises to unearth specific scams related to these funds in the days to come. They will be sharing details of individual projects taken up in different wards of Bengaluru.
What next?
“We believe that the root cause of corruption is the quality of corporators elected by the citizens,” says party treasurer Subbu Hegde. “If citizens elect candidates known to be ethical, and with a proven record of community service, corruption can be removed to a great extent.”
Hegde’s assertion is that when corruption is discouraged, good officers will be recognized and encouraged. “MLAs and ministers will find it difficult to interfere in BBMP affairs,” he says. “Therefore, BNP is going to contest BBMP polls with the right candidates. Many of our volunteers have fought legal battles but find that the corrupt system cannot be shaken by fighting from outside, either by filing legal cases or by activism. Therefore, BNP will enter the system and clean it up from inside.”
