BANGALORE: Are Greater Bangalore and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) part of a larger agenda by international finance institutions to take over the economy of the country? Will these projects undermine the democratic set-up of India? Will they mean corporatisation of society? These were some of the issues raised by participants at a seminar on `Greater Bangalore' organised by the Mahiti Hakku Adhyayana Kendra here on Friday.

The Director of the Association of People for Social Action (APSA) Kshitij Urs alleged that these projects were not aimed at the welfare of the urban poor. "These are just conditionality driven programmes, where decision-making will be centralised and indebtedness of the urban local bodies towards the Centre will be decentralised. We are afraid the local people will not have any say in the planning of any projects," Mr. Urs, who has been in the forefront of the citizens' movement against water privatisation, said.

Pointing out that not a single slum had been regularised in the last two years, Mr. Urs sought to know what would happen to the slums if Greater Bangalore became a reality.

Vinay Baindoor of Collaborative for the Advancement of the Study of Urbanism through Mixed Media pointed out that Greater Bangalore was being thought about only in terms of generating more revenue. "We have no clue on how the basic services will be upgraded," he said.

Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board and former Chief Secretary A. Ravindra said there should be a public debate on various issues related to Greater Bangalore.

After the draft notification on the project was published by November 1 as announced by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, citizens would get a month's time to file objections and suggestions. The final notification would incorporate citizens' views, he said.

He said a single planning authority for all the urban local bodies would make sense as it would not only ease administration but also help in improving the quality of life.

Replying to queries, he said issues such as the number of corporations, tenure of Mayor and powers of the elected body should be discussed and debated."We also need to discuss whether BMP should take over services such as water and power supply in new areas or should it only run administration," he added.

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