1-day summit: Cost Rs 21 lakh, no progress

[karira]

As reported by TNN in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 20 August 2008:
1-day summit: Cost Rs 21 lakh, no progress-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India

1-day summit: Cost Rs 21 lakh, no progress

BANGALORE: Day-long meeting on transforming the city, and promises galore. The result - not much action on the ground but only hefty bills. The money spent on the meeting: Rs 21,86,487.

The Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development (ABIDE), the one-day summit to take stock of the civic projects in the city held at IISc on June 28, cost the BDA (nodal agency) this whopping amount.

Information obtained under RTI by an NGO, Karnataka Right To Information Activists (KRIA) Forum, shows that the BDA had spent the huge amount on audio visuals, flowers, stalls, carpets, plastic chairs, banners, decoration of the hall, electronic support, bags, video filming of the event etc. What takes the cake is the catering bill — Rs 7,48,857 on food and Rs 36,126 on coffee and snacks!

M V K Anil Kumar, who got the information under RTI, on expenses incurred on the ABIDE meeting, said he pursued it because the much-publicized meeting offered little chance for citizens’ representation.

"These meetings have about 75% attendance by the bureaucrats and the rest by the corporate company representatives and retired officials. They can chalk out programmes in air-conditioned halls of posh hotels and announce them but what about the residents, who are major stake-holders in the development of the city?" asked Anil Kumar, who is also convener of the RTI group Kria Katte.

The idea of spending Rs 21.86 lakh on a meeting to chart out the future course of the city — all the while sidelining its citizens’ take on the process of development — reflects the state of affairs in which development planning is taken up in Bangalore.

Kumar had sought the information from the urban development department, which in turn, directed him to BDA stating that the UDD was an overseeing body that only issued directions on meetings of this nature.

[jps50]

Well done Mr. Anil Kumar. Why not file complaint with the Govt for such waste of good public money for a bad purpose, based on the info received by U.