Ward Committees were mandated in 1993  by an amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act (we could have a hyperlink on this word which could lead to the BELIEF session on this topic) to involve citizens in grassroot governance. However, in reality, the ward committees  exist mostly in name only, and often comprise persons  loyal to the corporator or fellow-members of the state or national party to which the corporator belongs. Currently, in the absence of a BBMP council and corporators, the MLAs of various constituencies have chosen citizens whom they personally favour to constitute the ward committees in their respective constituencies.

In effect, this suppresses the voices of active, aware and civic-minded citizens in the wards and defeats the very purpose for which ward committees are constituted.

Having identified this as a fundamental problem, the BNP is working to remedy the situation by spreading civic awareness and encouraging citizens to participate in the governance process at the ward level.