Civil society groups present wish list; no-show by BJP, Congress

36 organisations want their demands included in election manifestos of parties

Despite being invited, representatives from the Congress and the BJP did not turn up for an event on Friday organised by a group of NGOs that had published their wish list for the State to be included in the election manifestos of the parties.

As many as 36 civil society organisations, including Child Rights Trust, International Justice Mission, and Karnataka Sex Workers’ Union, came together to compile the wish list. While Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA and working president of the KPCC, and S. Suresh Kumar, BJP MLA, were absent, representatives from the JD(S), AAP and CPI(M) attended the event.

One of the top demands is to bring in a Bill to ensure “responsible governance” so that elected representatives are held accountable for not fulfilling promises, and for corruption. “The manifesto has a list of demands covering various sectors, from food security, housing, nutrition, and education to health, farmers’ issues, and water,” said Kathyayini Chamaraj, trustee of CIVIC.

The wish list seeks implementation of the minimum support price (1.5 times the input cost and investment cost of land) for all crops, based on the M.S. Swaminathan committee recommendation. Other demands include establishment and functioning of ward committees, law on right to housing, nutritional security instead of just food security, raising the age for free and compulsory education to 16, setting up town vending committees to demarcate hawking zones, and protecting the rights of landless SC/ST people.

For Bengaluru specifically, the wish list seeks an integrated water management authority to deal with water supply, sewage, storm-water drains, lakes, and groundwater issues; converting waste to biogas at ward level, and ensuring last-mile connectivity.

Stating that the wish list lacked a rural understanding and was created from an urban perspective, G.N. Nagaraj, State secretary, CPI(M), said more focus should have been given to farmers and workers’ issues. JD(S) leader P.G.R. Sindhia and Ashwin Mahesh from the AAP participated