Three years of Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) culminated in a summit on Saturday at which the seven stakeholders who are members of this unique public-private partnership presented before chief minister S M Krishna their report card on their achievements and their agenda for the current year.
As just a few able and efficient officers working in a focused manner have succeeded in developing the city and its quality of life, the Karnataka chief minister announced that he now wanted this model to be replicated in other major cities of the state - Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore and Belgaum.
During the summit Krishna also released three CDs in the urban initiative series which provide models that other cities and organisations can use to try out the BATF formula for themselves.
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BATF consists of a secretariat funded by a donation from Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani and manned by a group of dedicated professionals who represent the private side of the public private interface.
Such has been the success of the effort that, as one BATF professional said, their goal is now to go from emulating best practices to evolving next practices which can become new benchmarks.
BATF also has a council headed by Nilekani and including the chiefs of the seven stakeholders - Bangalore Mahanagra Palike, Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Bangalore Police and BSNL.
The mood at the summit was celebratory and a bit self-congratulatory. But above all it exuded an optimism -- a feeling that it can be done.
At a time of urban decline in the entire country here was a critical mass of forward-looking officials, dedicated professionals and an actively organised citizenry which has actually turned around the prospects of a city threatened by runaway growth.
The optimism came in part from what the public thinks of the BATF initiative. Successive rounds of opinion polls by TNS Mode have brought out the following.
While a majority of the public has been consistently perceiving some improvement in civic services, those who think a lot has been done has gone up from 6 to 28 per cent. Low income group citizens (83 per cent) share this perception: 63 per cent see some improvement and 19 per cent a lot of improvement.
BATF highlighted three major breakthroughs it has made. One is the fund-based accounting system it has helped devise for the city corporation from the earlier cash based one which is changing the way it functions -- from a departmental to enterprise approach.
It now produced quarterly financial statements and has the benefit of an MIS.
Perhaps the most visible symbol of change is the 23 Nirmala toilets, built with a Rs 8 crore contribution from Mrs Sudha Murthy. These are a symbol of a new clean and better way of living for which even the poor are willing to pay and advertisement revenue is now forthcoming.
The final model has resulted from an enormous amount of changing while learning.
Another conceptual breakthrough with BATF initiative is the attempt to give the city a most comprehensive digital spatial map on the basis of which a new comprehensive development plan for the city is being made.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Data Initiative with French assistance played a part. A key beginning was made with the National Remote Sensing Agency being asked to prepare a map of the city and now after the 2001 census, people data has been incorporated.