Survey finds 87% of Bengaluru voters unaware of ward committees

Decentralisation of Bengaluru’s administration may remain a far cry as the concept of ward committee – introduced at least three years ago – is yet to gain popularity in the city.

Nearly 87% of the voters – who were surveyed by Janaagraha, a not-for-profit, had no knowledge of the ward committee, where grievances related to BBMP, BWSSB, BESCOM etc are heard by officials.

The survey, which covered over 506 samples across 27 wards, also found only 17% of the people knew the name of the last mayor, while 97% knew prime minister’s name and 83% knew the chief minister’s name. Over 95% of the respondents said they did not attend the bi-monthly ward committee meetings so far while 88% of them said they never met their ward councillor in the past.

The response also mirrors the voter turnout for BBMP elections which is far less than the percentage of voters who go out to vote for the Assembly and Parliament elections. Comprising of 29 questions, the survey – called City Politics Survey, 2022 – was conducted to gauge awareness of voters regarding the governance of their city and ward ahead of the BBMP polls likely to be held in September or October.

Among the notable findings of the survey are: pedestrian infrastructure (23%) was cited as the most significant issue as compared to traffic congestion (16%) and lack of availability of clean water (15%).

The survey found access to water as key issue faced by the urban poor while the middle and upper class were lamenting the traffic.

Srinivas Alavilli, Head of Civic Participation, Janaagraha, said, “We tried to understand the degree of awareness citizens, particularly the first-time voters, have about BBMP. The results showed that very few understand the role of BBMP, corporators, ward committees etc. However, they are keen to vote and want civic polls to be conducted on the basis of everyday issues that affect them,” he said. “To improve our city, the institution of local governance must be strengthened, beginning with participating in local elections.” He appealed to the political parties to present a compelling vision for our city and seek votes.