Representatives of NGO Janaagraha addressing a press meet on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT
The entire Core Urban Region (Integrated Governance) Bill, 2026 has the words ‘Consultation’ appearing seven times, ‘Participation’ five times, and ‘Accountability’ only once. In contrast, the word ‘Government’ appears 475 times and ‘Commissioner’ 780 times. The word ‘Public’ appears 290 times, but only as passive recipient, not as active participant, says Janaagraha, a voluntary organisation’s presentation, putting the 271-page Bill in a nutshell.Addressing a press meet on Tuesday, representatives of the organisation, Anita Kumar, V.R. Vachana and Srikara Prasad, who were members of the study team, explained how they ranked the CURE Bill in comparison with its predecessor Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, and the recently promulgated Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024.They scored all the three, based on city planning, power to elected representatives, transparency and accountability, citizens’ participation and the ability of the institutions to deliver. The CURE Bill scored five per cent over the age old GHMC Act, but 10% less than the latest GBG Act, which leaves ample scope for improvement, they said.
