ashwin mahesh

Looking back at the struggle to improve governance in Bengaluru, it is painful to see how many opportunities we have missed. Each time, when it seemed that a new dawn was within reach, a new obstacle too was discovered! With the result that we are now going into an election to the city council without knowing if the council will exist at all. It is amateurish, and has been brought about by a single-minded focus on power instead of what is good for the city. The realisation

There are two or three ideas which, if the government embraces, we can easily have a great run of economy and society. (1) Promote the principle, not the program: The government has correctly focused its attention on a few important programs. Swachh Bharat, smart cities, Make in India... these are unexceptionable, and long overdue. But we have seen through decades of Congress rule that programs don't add up. We need principles to anchor those programs, and if we promote those

Even a cursory look at some of the problems in urban governance will reveal that the current structure of public administration and governance is inadequate to tackle them. Different levels of government rarely cooperate. Worse still, even at the same level of government, silos in administration are everywhere, with each department blissfully unaware of what others are doing. Financial powers are still by and large held by national and state politicians. Surely we can do bett