The Hindu : BATF summit on Feb. 15 to evolve new agenda

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 09, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

BATF summit on Feb. 15 to evolve new agenda

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Feb. 8. The Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) will hold its fifth summit on February 15.

Several projects being implemented in coordination with the seven stakeholders — the BMP, BDA, BWSSB, police, Bescom, BSNL, and the BMTC — "to take Bangalore Forward", will be studied at the summit. The summit will lay emphasis on chalking out the goals to be achieved by the stakeholders in 2003, according to the BATF member and official spokesperson, V. Ravichander.

``We will take stock of the achievements in the past three years and focus on the agenda for this year. The pre-summits are all about presentations on the stakeholders' performance in the past three years. They will also speak on what the BATF platform means for them,'' he says.

The pre-summit sessions will be held on February 10, 11, and 13. The BDA and the BSNL will make presentations on the first day, the BMP, police, and the BMTC on the second, and the BWSSB and Bescom on the third.

``The confidence with which the BATF programmes were kicked off in 1999 was presumptuous, and the focus is on project implementation strategies now,'' Mr. Ravichander says.

It may be noted that the BATF, which was set up to act as a catalyst and transform Bangalore on the lines of Singapore, has held three annual summits. By the time the fourth summit was organised, most of the core members of the stakeholders (civic agencies) had been transferred. The only officer who has remained in the same organisation in the past three years is the BDA Commissioner, Jayakar Jeorme. "I have seen all the four summits, and am ready for the fifth. I am ready to roll out the BDA's achievements and goals for 2003 at any time,'' he says.

The core team comprises the commissioners of BMP, BDA, Police Department, the chairpersons of the BWSSB and Bescom (it was KPTCL when the BATF was formed), the representative of the telecom district, and the Managing Director of the BMTC.

Achievements

Implementation of infrastructure projects, including flyovers, `Swachcha Bangaluru' (door-to-door garbage collection), `Nirmala Bangalore' (under which 100 toilets were built), and the `Park and pay' scheme; introduction of the Fund-Based Accounting System (FBAS); increase in the collection of property tax; and construction of modern bus shelters and development of parks are some of the achievements of the BMP in the past three years.

The introduction of the one-way rule by the traffic police, aimed at easing the congestion on the roads, simplified procedures for billing and new connections by Bescom and the BWSSB, renovation of the Shivajinagar bus stand and modernisation of bus depots by the BMTC, and the BSNL's steps to give new connections and introduce online bill payment are the other achievements in the past three years.

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BATF summit on Feb. 15 to evolve new agenda