A file photo of Citizen Action Forum founder president N.S. Mukunda at a public hearing of the BDA at Ambedkar Bhavan in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain more-in Bengaluru has one of most vibrant civic activism networks in the country where it’s not unusual for residents’ welfare associations and neighbourhood groups to join hands and hold the authorities accountable. People come together to scrutinise urban planning and even mega infrastructure projects. RWAs started taking shape in the city in 1990s, but matured into a pan-city platform — Citizen Action Forum (CAF) — in 2008. Today, CAF has over 110 RWAs as its members. It completes a decade this weekend. “The first meeting of 30 individuals was held in Century Club after some of us broke away from [the non-profit] Janaagraha to form a completely citizen-centric organisation. We haven’t looked back since,” recalled N.S. Mukunda, founder president, CAF. “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar cautioned that political democracy will have no meaning without social democracy. Our work has been to push for social democracy,” he said. The Forum, has since been pushing the envelope for citizen participation in urban governance and has been a champion of the 74th amendment of the Constitution, arguing for not only decentralisation of power but also devolution of funds. “Every major urban policy, CAF has been there offering a well-considered critique and a citizen's perspective,” said D.S. Rajashekhar, incumbent president. CAF organises awareness campaigns and mobilises support over policy issues. It has often knocked on the doors of the judiciary for policy interventions. Most of their successes have also been victories in legal battles. Some activists and bureaucrats have criticised the forum’s reliance on the judiciary. Their PILs have put the brakes on implementation of the Akrama Sakrama Scheme, commercialisation on 40-feet wide roads in RMP – 2015, the steel flyover project on Ballari Road and RMP – 2031. Lack of inclusivity? A major criticism against CAF is that with RWAs being a middle-class phenomenon, it is not inclusive of the poor. “We are trying our best to broadbase CAF to include all sections of society. The other criticism of over reliance on judiciary is linked to the make-up of CAF,” Mr. Mukunda said adding while they were able to convince several individual bureaucrats and politicians on their point of view, often it did not translate into collective action leaving them with little option. Srinivas Alavilli, who along with a band of activists now leads Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) that emerged out of the ‘Steel Flyover Beda’ protests of 2016, said CAF was an inspiration for CfB. “It is fascinating how CAF organised people and channelled the frustration among citizens against the system in a constructive way in an age when there was no social media,” he said. CAF, in its inception, was never meant to be an organisation for Bengaluru alone, but had a vision to act as a citizens’ forum in the entire State. A decade later, however, it has not taken up any campaigns or causes outside Bengaluru. “We want to work on implementation of the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Indian Constitution that provides local self-government. With this, we will take CAF outside Bengaluru. We also have specific inputs to decongest Bengaluru, by developing Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in Karnataka,” Mr. Mukunda said. A decade of activism 2008: Citizen Action Forum (CAF) is formed with individuals and RWAs as members to become the first pan-city RWA organisation. Its first campaign is against the government's decision to adopt Capital Value System (CVS) for property tax in Bengaluru 2009: Brings a stay order from HC to Akrama Sakrama scheme. A petition against this order is still pending in the Supreme Court 2010: Challenges zonal regulations in RMP – 2015 in HC, which allowed commercialisation on 40-feet wide roads. BDA was forced to change this rule and ban commercial establishments on 40-feet wide roads in 2014 2011: Submits a self-sufficient water plan for the city, which doesn’t involve diverting water from other river sources 2016: Is one of the petitioners before the National Green Tribunal in the Bellandur lake pollution case. It was also an applicant in the NGT in the steel flyover controversy 2017: Challenges Draft RMP – 2031 in the High Court arguing that Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee should plan for the city, not BDA. HC has ordered government cannot notify RMP without its approval.

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