Janaagraha rolls out ‘My City, My Budget’ to elicit people’s views on civic woes

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Non - profit trust Janaagraha on Thursday launched its seventh annual ‘My City, My Budget’ programme in the city. They said they would take suggestions from people in all 243 wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on key issues such as fixing of potholes, inadequate distribution of street lights, solid waste management and rainwater harvesting, among other civic issues.

They added that they would take the suggestions back to the civic body and demand that they be addressed through the city budget of the coming year. One can also submit suggestions online on the website http://www.mycitymybudget.in/. Special Commissioner of the Finance Department Jairam Raipur launched the programme.

“Janaagraha has started documenting suggestions for the upcoming budget for the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike for the 2023- 24 year in all 243 wards of the city. Special Commissioner of the Finance Department Jairam Raipur launched the programme and this time around, ‘My City, My Budget’ programme will get suggestion on issues like potholes, street lights, solid waste management and rainwater harvesting,” an official statement from Janaagraha said.

“In the budget of last year (2021-22), Rs 1 crore was allocated to each ward and there were 198 wards (before delimitation). It was all spent on decisions taken in the ward committee meetings and for this Rs 70 lakh has been already released. The rest, Rs 30 lakh will be used to repair the roads,” Raipur said.

“My City, My Budget programme has been launched so that people can take part in the activities of the palike (BBMP) in greater numbers. Here, we have this vehicle, which will travel in all 243 wards and seek inputs and suggestions from citizens, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and the like.

This is so that they can suggest which works need to be prioritized in their area in the upcoming 2023- 24 budget. We will cover all the wards in one month,” he added.