[Urbanstudy] Important consultation on parastatals and task forces

[Vinay Baindur]

 *Dear Friends,*

This is the concept note of the one day consultation on the politics of
semi-public departments and task forces in Karnataka. The consultation is
unique as it is the first time that a public meet is being organized to
understand the impact of such agencies on the governance of the state. Laws,
programs and policies of all the sectors are being impacted in this process
of 'reforms'. Elected representatives, Community based organisations, Mass
leaders, Civil Society members, representatives of the industry and academic
researchers will all be participating in the program. Please contribute with
suggestions is any. Thanks



Kshithij



*Para** statal agencies and task forces in Karnataka*

A One day public consultation on their constitutionality, programs,
influence and impact on Democracy



20 December 2008. 9.30 AM to 5 PM

Legislator's Home, Vidhana Soudha. Bangalore



 *Background*

Karnataka is in the forefront of the reforms process. Most of the reforms
adopted by the state are mandatory conditions to loans provided by
International Financial Institutions (IFIs). One such condition from early
1990s was to build what the World Bank called 'good' institutions. The logic
was simple.  'Good' governance requires 'good' institutions. While people of
most developing countries understood this as an attempt to make government
departments genuinely oriented and responsive to the needs of its people,
what the IFIs actually meant was to create 'new' semi-public institutions
different from existing government departments. These new institutions also
called para-statal agencies with a large private interest are typically
headed by senior IAS officers who have significant project experience with
the World Bank or its allied bodies. With an extended logic of keeping
bureaucracy away from development work, the primary responsibility of this
IAS officer is to handover critical public service related projects of the
state to private consultants from around the world. Exorbitant amounts of
public money are paid to these private consultants.

The Para-statal agencies also draft public policies on behalf of the people
of the state and get a token approval from the cabinet without any public
knowledge or debate. So these institutions have the powers of the state but
not the public accountability of an elected government. The very design of
these para-statal agencies make them vulnerable to external influences by
foreign governments, private companies and global banks. Recently there has
been an upswing of such unaccountable institutions in Karnataka. The
Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation or KUIDFC
is one such powerful institution. KUIDFC is responsible for the
implementation of many state level projects worth tens of thousands of crore
rupees. All these projects are traditionally meant to be implemented by
departments of a democratically elected state government. In exchange of
loans from Foreign Banks, KUIDFC gets the state government to sign up to
associated conditionalities including amendments to state laws and policies
that protect corporate interests at the cost of the larger social security
of the people of the state. The vulnerability of such para-statal agencies
to external influences including foreign governments directly affects
sovereignty of our state and the independent rights of our people to decide
what is in their good.  The dismaying upturn of such undemocratic
Para-statal agencies contradicts the Constitutional mandate for Self
Governance in India.

On the other hand, the post '90s loans like the Karnataka Economic Reforms
Loan (KERN) and the others have contributed to a process of changing the
role of government to a mere regulator.  In the name of decentralization or
in spite of it (74th Constitutional Amendment), there has been a growth in
the dominating role of para-statal agencies in getting private companies
perform the functions of the Local Self Governments.  Elected governments
and elected representatives are being sidelined by the reforms process that
is highly dominated by this present centralized control.

Another trend in the state is the emergence of task forces. Though they are
being set up at the drop of a hat they are neither insignificant nor
ineffective in meeting their intended objectives. This is a new way in
trying to establish corporate governance in the state. The usual suspects –
a few corporate icons are empowered as task force members to encroach upon
and co-opt democratic spaces and make decisions on behalf of people at
large. With chief ministers to support them, they function with executive
powers to promote and execute grandiose plans that over ride local knowledge
and contradict people's opinion and aspirations. Like all such initiatives
task forces too function under the guise of community participation. It is
not surprising that the heightened rhetoric of community participation was
to coincide with a set of reform programs that has left the citizens
clueless. It is also not surprising that those who get to be the members of
these task forces are the same (kind of) people who also lead the reform
programs. It is incestuous.

   - All these raise some crucial questions:
   - Are these para-statal agencies and task forces constitutional?
   - Who are they and what do they represent?
   - Who's agenda do they carry?
   - Is the culture of governance they promote appropriate for a democratic
   and diverse country like India?
   - What inherent rights do they have to bypass democratic procedures and
   to have a sense of trusteeship to decide on behalf of people?
   - If they are a threat to people's mandate, how can they be challenged?


It is time we discuss these questions and let the public judge and opine
their views and action on the issue. The proposed workshop on the 20th of
December will look at the evolution of institutions in the urban
development, the direction and the impacts of such processes on the
citizens, specifically the poor, the minorities and people from the lower
caste.  The workshop also explores ways and means through with the issue of
these institutions can be addressed in the state.

*Program Schedule*



Venue: Auditorium, Legislators Home, Next to Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore

Date: 20th December 2008

Time:  9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

*Introduction to the Issue*:  Dr. Kshithij. Urs, Action Aid Karnataka

*Session I: Origin and Constitutionality*

*Speakers : *

   - Mr. Clifton d'Rozario, Advocate and member of the Alternative Law
   Forum, Bangalore.
   - Dr Lalitha Kamath, Independent Urban Researcher, Bangalore
   - Mr. Venkatswamy, Samatha Sainika Dala

*Session II : Programmes, Government and People's Participation*

*Speakers:*

Mr. Gururaja Budhya, Urban Research Centre, Bangalore

Mr.Vinay Baindur, Independent Urban Researcher, Bangalore

Mr. Narendra Babu, MLA, GoK (to be confirmed)

*Session III: Contesting and Challenging Parastatal Governance*



*Speakers: *



Mr. Vinod Vyasulu, Centre for Budget and Policy studies, Bangalore

Mr. Suresh Shetty, Ex- Corporator, Mangalore City Corporation

Mr. Shivsundar, Noted Journalist, Bangalore



*Responses from Civil society and Industry*



Slum Jagathu – Mr. Issac Arul Selva

Representative of BCIC or CII

Citizen's Action Forum – Mr. Mathew Thomas

Represntative of the Raichur Nagarikara Sangharsha Samithi

Representative of the Bidar Nagarikara Sangharsha Samithi



*Summing up of days sessions:  *Y J Rajendra, Senior Academic faculty, St.
Joseph's college, Bangalore.









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