MGP for development or anti-development - Concluding Part

Is MGP merely obstructionist ?

MGP believes that the charges of obstructionism are not well-founded. For example, even while it was vehemently protesting the non-transparent way in which the ADB project was carried out, it still fully cooperated with the authorities, conducted seminars on the subject to educate both the public and the city corporators on various aspects of the project, actively worked to obtain citizens cooperation and feedback in various localities, monitored the works in various areas and submitted reports on them to the concerned authorities. If MGP were merely obstructionist, it would not have done any of these things.

But whenever it encounters foolish and impractical proposals from the government, MGP feels it is its bounden duty to raise objections, especially if the proposal involves the expenditure of public money. The quality of governance at all levels and the vast majority of laws, regulations, programmes and projects proposed and enacted by the government are done without a detailed study, without cost/benefit analysis, without considering the pros and cons and without a debate in which inputs from experts can be obtained. The unending saga of SAS property tax amendments is an example of the amateurishness of the government in law enactment. When it comes to projects, people want to build toll highways, subways, ropeways and flyovers without identifying the real problem. As a result, when the projects are undertaken and finished, the actual returns are nothing compared to the premised world class infrastructure, solution of water problems for the next twenty years, etc. is a case in point.

Why does MGP not make constructive suggestions ?

MGP has made hundreds of constructive suggestions to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the administration. We just give five random samples:

Coupon system for the sale of the kerosene

The suggestion which was implemented on a trial basis in three areas in Karnataka proved a tremendous success in stopping black marketing of kerosene sold under the public distribution system. It was probably too successful for its own good because pressure from vested groups forced the government to withdraw it.

Objective self-assessment for property tax

The system was introduced many years after it was suggested by MGP, but the system that was introduced left out important features that made it simple and transparent. With each amendment, the SAS system has become more and more complicated. MGP had also argued that tax based on property value is intrinsically unfair in that there is no one-to-one relation between the tax paid and the services received and so a head tax is probably a more equitable option. But this suggestion has not been considered at all.

Computerization of property records

MGP made the suggestion that the property and water tax records of all citizens must be computerized and made available to the public. This would put an end to all shenanigans in the assessment and collection of taxes by the city corporation. Mr P. Bore Gowda, the former Commissioner of MCC had appreciated the merit in the argument and ordered accordingly. But the Commissioners since him have not shown any interest in the matter.

Commercial parking

Almost none of the commercial buildings provide the parking space that they are mandated by the law to provide. So MGP has suggested that this law should be scrapped and instead MCC or MUDA should provide the parking for all vehicles coming to the commercial area and the cost of the land for parking passed on to the owners of the commercial properties. Again, this idea has not had any takers yet.

Replacing the motors used in Water Supply with energy-efficient motors

One can replace each motor in the present water supply system with two energy-efficient motors with onetime expenditure of about Rs 1.2 crores. This will save the Corporation Rs 3-4 crores every year in the power bill. Unfortunately, the corporators, the officials, and even the media have ignored this suggestion.

All the above seem like foolproof ideas which are bound to work. But unfortunately none of them have been accepted by the powers that be.

THE FUTURE

MGP believes that once people start exercising their civic rights in earnest and start fighting for them, organisations such as MGP will vanish away. After all, we are here to empower the people and if people are empowered, where is the need for the empowerer? So if we succeed in achieving our objectives, we will be sounding our own death knell. We are looking forward to that day.

MGP for development or anti development - Part 2

Concerning civic and environmental problems

MGP wants government and quasi government bodies to adhere to the law and if persuasion does not work, it will go to the courts to enforce the law. Even here, it normally fights only test cases in which a large number of citizens will be benefited and cases in which it impleads itself (at no financial cost) to give moral support to a genuine public cost. When people bring cases of encroachment, building bye law violations, etc. in which only a limited number of people are affected MGP encouraged the affected parties to file cases themselves. When people (especially MGP members) file such cases with MGP's guidance, an impression is often created that MGP itself has filed the cases, but it is the wrong impression.

MGP feels that to make a real difference, a large number of individuals and organisations have to take up the fight. There are some such individuals and organisations in Mysore now, but their numbers and strength are not increasing fast enough. Without an overwhelming public pressure, even judicial victories are meaningless because the people who violate the law also disobey court orders. For example, there have been court decisions declaring that a bank has violated zonal regulations( which means that bank building has to be demolished), staying the construction of a petrol bunk, ordering the demolition of a building in a park,etc., but in each of these cases, the court orders have been wilfully disobeyed and one has to again approach the courts to enforce these orders. This is what happens when authorities are derelict in their duties and public pressure is not strong enough. So MGP is concentrating now on explaining various aspects of law and important court decisions to the public and encouraging more and more people to make use of them to fight law violators and erring officials. It hopes that when sufficient number of people are aware of their legal rights and how to fight for them, sufficient pressure can be applied on the erring officials. The courts are now ruling that officials who misuse their powers are personally liable for damages and MGP is encouraging the public to press this issue in their fight.

In MGP's view, even when a “development” does not violate the law, it should not be prudent, beneficial to the public in the long run and sustainable. It is opposed to projects in which limited natural resources such as water or limited financial resources are spent extravagantly for the benefit of a few or for general public purposes in which the benefit is not in commensurate with the cost. Such projects are usually initiated by the government in secrecy with little public debate. The recent ADB project to improve the infrastructure of Mysore was one such decision. This was a clandestine affair from the beginning and for all its efforts, MGP was not able to get the crucial details concerning the project. Even now we do not know what financial implications to the citizens of Mysore are. All we know is that the planning was terrible, the improvements in the roads is minimal, the footpaths of the city have been all but destroyed, the improvement in the water supply does not match what was promised (while the project was supposed to solve Mysore's water problems for the next twenty years, we are talking of bringing Kabini water to Mysore before even beginning to pay back the loan!), hundreds of garbage bins constructed all over the city are totally non-functional, the storm water drains are inadequate as exemplified by the massive flooding near the Ballal Circle every time it rains and a significant portion of the sewage still runs through the storm water drains.

The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor was another example. The cloak of secrecy that hung over this project was even thicker. When bits and pieces of the project became public knowledge, it was obvious that the highway was just a red herring, the real issue was the obscene profits to be made in selling the real estate in the proposed townships.

MGP also believes that projects that destroy the ambience of the city is not beneficial to the public in the long run. So it opposed to the construction of commercial complexes, hospitals, petrol bunks etc. in residential areas and to the gaudy advertisements which have been permitted on two major roads in Mysore. The income from these ventures is not quite commensurate with the damage to the ambience of the roads. Once the ambience is destroyed, it cannot be brought back, it is lost forever.

MGP for development or anti development

What does MGP stand for?- Part 1

Is MGP for the development of Mysore or is it anti-development?

Is MGP merely obstructionist or is it constructive also?

What is MGP's philosophy?

Maj.Gen (Retd) S.G.Vombatkere and Prof. S.K.Ananda Thirtha answer these questions in this article.

Mysore Grahakara Parishat started as an organisation dedicated to the protection of the interests of the consumers of Mysore city and its surroundings. Even though its original constitution did not explicitly include solving civic and environmental problems as part of its objectives, many of MGP's early efforts were in these fields.

People objected to MGP's foray into these fields, saying that civic and environmental problems were not "consumer" problems, but the organisation always felt that it was not bound by an unduly constricting interpretation of the word "consumer" Civic and environmental problems arise when government officials who are paid from the taxes paid by the public are derelict in the performance of their duties and as a result the public suffer. So in a larger sense, they are certainly consumer problems.

It is also heartening to see that the courts are also veering towards this wider interpretation. In earlier days, they were of the opinion that one can complain against deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act only when there is direct payment for the service, but now the Supreme Court has gradually relaxed this condition and expanded the scope of the Act to include statutory services provided by the government departments and agencies.

Over the last decade or so, the markets have opened up, there is more competition, merchants have become more consumer-friendly and the problems consumers faced with private providers of goods and services have become less acute. Further, with the advent of consumer courts, they can get their grievances redressed much more easily. While private businesses were becoming more people friendly, the opposite was happening with the government departments; they were getting progressively less responsive to the public and more oppressive. If one has problems with government departments, letters and appeals are not of much effect and the only way out is to approach the courts. But this solution is time consuming and expensive. Civic and environmental problems (which are mainly caused by dereliction of duty by government agencies) were and still are very difficult to tackle individually and need the efforts and resources of an organisation. Over a period, these problems overtook the traditional "consumer problems" as the major area of work for MGP. This change of focus was formalized by the General Body of MGP which duly modified the objectives of MGP to explicitly include these areas.

While there are no doubts about the objectives of MGP, questions are being raised every now and then about the policy it is adopting to achieve these objectives. Specific question that has been raised is whether MGP is for the development of Mysore or whether it is anti-development. Another specific objection is that MGP is merely obstructionist and that it is not constructive. The purpose of this note does not change in philosophy of MGP but is merely a formal explication of the philosophy of previous executive committees which is being continued now.

(This article originally appeared in the Grahaka Patrike of MGP in the Consumer day supplement of year 2005. The article will be published in this blog in three parts starting this week)

Our area of activities- Environmental Activism

Environmental Education

1. Arranging workshops on environmental awareness and environmental law in cooperation with CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai (more than 800 to date).

2. Arranging rallies, tree planting and other activities to promote environmental awareness.

3. A book "Has the Environmental Bomb Exploded?" has been published both in Kannada & English and environmental issues are also covered in "Grahaka Patrike" and annual magazine.


Environmental Activism

1. Closed Chamundi Lead Refinery, Hebbal, for polluting the environment with lead dust.

2. Got Vikrant Tyres Plant to construct a new chimney to reduce effects of pollution.

3. Conducted air and noise pollution surveys in Mysore with help from CPREEC, Chennai.

4. Participation in various environmental public hearings.

5. Participated in the successful campaign to protect Lingambudhi tank from the proposed Outer Ring Road.


Environmental Litigation

1. Won a case in High Court to limit pollution by Vikrant Radial Tyres Plant.

2. Won a case in High Court to prevent sewage pollution in Kukkarahalli Tank and to clean up the tank.

3. By filing a PIL against the construction of library in People’s Park, MGP successfully preserved it.