The civic body wants to run all government primary schools and libraries in the city. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has written to the State government seeking administrative transfer of 1,599 schools and 203 libraries in civic limits.

Chief secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar is said to have given an in-principle approval for the proposal in the city co-ordination meeting held every fortnight, but it is facing some resistance.

The move comes in the wake of councillors pointing out that while citizens approach them with problems about schools and libraries, they have no administrative control over them.

While BBMP runs 156 schools and colleges, the State Education Department owns and runs 1,599 primary schools in the city limits. The government schools are run through district schemes and, hence, the funding and administration is routed through the Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat.

“Why should the zilla panchayat have administrative control over assets in the corporation limits? It does not make sense. The proposal aims to streamline administration. If approved, the schools will continue to be run by the Department of Primary and Secondary Education, but the funding and administrative control will be routed through the BBMP, and not the ZP. This will bring in more accountability,” said N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP.

The civic body has also proposed to take over 203 libraries. It collects library cess (6% of property tax), which it deposits with the Department of Public Libraries.

Councillors argue that instead of paying another department, the BBMP can invest and maintain libraries in the city.

The proposal has drawn the ire of Kannada writers, led by Sahitya Akademi president Chandrashekhar Kambar. They argue that all libraries in the State must be under one department and not be handed over to the BBMP.

The BBMP has also sought transfer of 48 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the newly added outer zones. As of now, only PHCs in the core city are with the BBMP.