Bengaluru's GBA Reform: One Year Later, Old Problems Persist Amid Workforce Shortages

Greater Bengaluru Authority faces a workforce crisis after a year of reform, leaving citizens in the city’s 369 wards with little improvement in service delivery. The state government dissolved the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 2025 under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, creating five new corporations and a pan‑city body, the GBA, in hopes of decentralising administration and bringing government closer to residents. Yet the expected benefits remain elusive, as the workforce remains unchanged from the old 198‑ward structure and a 40‑percent vacancy rate hampers operations.

The new governance model was designed to address micro‑level issues by expanding the number of wards from 198 to 369, theoretically enabling more focused attention to local problems. In practice, however, the city corporations are still operating with the same personnel allocation that served the old BBMP. “The GBA is like a novel concept on paper without an execution plan,” said R. Rajagopalan, convenor of the Bengaluru Coalition. The mismatch between ward numbers and staff has left citizens unable to locate the engineers responsible for their neighbourhoods, forcing them to visit corporation offices even for minor complaints.

“I still don’t know which engineer is in charge of my ward,” said Sneha Nandihal, co‑founder of I Change Indiranagar. “All our engineers have dual charges, and when we question them about anything, they very conveniently say that they are just in‑charge of specific work and get away. The accountability is missing.” Residents of Koramangala, such as Pranith B., report that ward‑level meetings have become rare. “Now, once the complaint is raised, they don’t visit often, follow‑up becomes very hard, and repeated calls won’t yield a response,” he said. He added that many working‑class families find it difficult to access basic amenities without a reliable local officer.

Experts point to the shortage of engineers as a key obstacle to essential services. V. Ramprasad, a solid‑waste‑management specialist, explained that micro‑level planning is required for effective garbage collection, monitoring of black‑spots, and sustained waste‑management efforts. “At present, such planning has taken a hit with the dearth of engineers. Right from collecting waste to monitoring black‑spots, we need sustained efforts, but staff shortage doesn’t allow such focus,” he said.

Commissioners, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted that the workforce shortfall forces them to focus on day‑to‑day crisis management rather than innovative solutions. “Each officer is executing tasks meant for two or three officers. There has been no compromise in managing everyday issues, but existing staff is overwhelmed and there is less scope for collaborative experimentation,” a commissioner told The Hindu. He cited the reduction of congestion at the Kaggadasapura Railway Crossing in east Bengaluru as a rare example of a micro‑level solution that was implemented, noting that such successes are limited due to the lack of personnel.

The state government has been working on dedicated Cadre and Recruitment (C&R) Rules for the GBA, but has yet to notify them a year after the authority was formed. Once the new rules are adopted, the government is expected to recruit additional staff directly for the GBA. M. Maheshwar Rao, Chief Commissioner of the GBA, told The Hindu that the rules were framed by a committee headed by former Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar and have been sent to the government for approval. “Initially, ground‑level requirements were assessed and sent to the government, but we were asked to rework. Then the committee was set up, and recently it gave a report,” Rao said.

The first of a series of reports evaluating the restructuring of Bengaluru governance will continue to track the GBA’s progress, the recruitment of new staff, and the delivery of services across the city’s expanded wards. The ultimate test will be whether the new structure can finally translate its theoretical decentralisation into tangible benefits for Bengaluru residents.

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