Future tense, BATF shuts shop

BANGALORE: Will development come to a halt in Bangalore? For, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force is shutting shop.
Since the new government has not said anything about its continuance, the BATF is busy winding up its operations.
The grandiose project of the erstwhile Krishna government, BATF drew up the map for the Public-Private-Partnership to develop Bangalore''s civic services on par with international standards.But today it has neither agenda nor tasks to perform.
The BATF, headed by Nandan Nilekani, was formed by the Krishna government in 1999 with the other five task forces through a Government Order — Information Technology headed by N.R. Narayana Murthy; Bio-technology by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; Education by Raja Ramanna; Health by H. Sudarshan and Infrastructure by Rajeev Chandrashekar. A few task forces had wound up after submitting the reports.
Though CM Dharam Singh stated that he would continue the projects initiated by his predecessor, neither the BATF chairman nor its members are sure about its future.
"It is understood that with the change of government, the BATF has ceased to exist. We have discontinued our activities with the stake holders. We are in the process of documenting our work and within a month or two, the BATF office (on Alexandria Street, Shantinagar) will be closed. As for people working for us, we will help them relocate in other companies," former BATF member V. Ravichandar told The Times of India.
"The BATF was formed through a GO and not through legislation. If the new government wants to revive the task force, it is its prerogative to decide on the kind of PPPs it chooses to have, members and the mandate for such a task force," he added.
In the GO, it was said BATF will come up with recommendations to upgrade the infrastructure, but the organisation chose to work on projects with the stake holders, except the donor project — Nirmala Bangalore — which it handled with the BCC. Of the 100 toilets committed by Sudha Murty at Rs 8 crore, 23 toilets have been constructed and seven more are under construction. Now, it is between the donor and the BCC to carry out the project.
The BATF has spent Rs 5.1 crore on its activities, including the six annual, half-yearly and quarterly summits, office establishment, consultancy charges for implementation of one-ways, Fund Based Accounting System and media blitzkrieg for the SAS.