SUMMARY
The Vision Group Was Formed In May 2016 To Push To Find Solutions To Infrastructural And Civic Bottlenecks In Bengaluru
The Karnataka government is reportedly scrapping the Bengaluru Vision Group which was set up in May 2016 under the chief minister’s chairmanship.
The Vision Group consisted of 23 members in all, apart from ministers. The members were well-known Bengaluru citizens such as Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal.
The group was formed to find solutions to resolve infrastructural and civic bottlenecks in the Bengaluru city. Its mission was to improve the life of Bengalureans by implementing the Bengaluru Blue Print prepared by Janaagraha, a not-for-profit organisation.
The Vision Group further aimed to improve the life of Bengalureans by ushering in several reforms along with e-governance solutions and increased participation by citizens, organisations, and industry members.
The Karnataka government’s decision came in the wake of the recent questions posed by the Bengaluru High Court upon the requirement of such a group, along with the existence of the Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC).
The Namma Bengaluru Foundation had filed a petition earlier for quashing the order on the formation of the Bangalore Blue Print Action Group (BBPAG).
“The petition described the formation of the group as illegal and unconstitutional, saying that BMPC should be declared the only committee authorised for planning Bengaluru,” reported a local daily last week.
The court also stated that Vision Group was not formed under the law and its existence alongside BMPC would only create confusion.
The Karnataka government was of the view that the Vision Group was only an advisory body, while the BMPC is a constitutional body. However, the high court believes that experts can always be called for advice when needed and no separate group is required for this purpose.
Meanwhile, Sachin Bansal has exited his 10-year-old venture Flipkart, after selling his stake to Walmart in the $16 Bn worth acquisition deal. Also, the lobby group framed by Bansal along with his co-founder Binny Bansal and other industry stalwarts has lost his impetus.
In April this year, lobby group Indiatech CEO Gyanendra Badgaiyan had resigned from the company.
Bengaluru recently gained the title of the city with the maximum technology opportunities. Having disbanded the Vision Group, will the state government be able to utilise its in-house resource of experts and entrepreneurs to fight the infrastructural challenges of the city?
