BENGALURU: The state government’s governance experiment with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and five new municipal corporations is set to expand the city’s sanctioned civic workforce by over 1,200, costing the exchequer an additional ₹137 crore annually. With the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ceasing operations from September 2, the shift will mark a significant restructuring of the city’s administrative framework.
Workforce expansion under new setup
Currently, the BBMP has 18,790 employees against a sanctioned strength of 22,411. Under the new structure, the sanctioned requirement is expected to reach 23,689 — an increase of 1,278. Since the civic body remains short-staffed, officials estimate the need to recruit nearly 4,900 personnel to meet the revised sanctioned strength.
The GBA, a first-of-its-kind apex body, is projected to have 314 employees, while the newly created Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), tasked with implementing major projects, will employ 107 people. Each of the five corporations carved out of Bengaluru will have between 2,163 and 4,315 staff members, covering both technical and non-technical roles.
Sanitation staff to dominate numbers
Sanitation workers will continue to form the largest workforce segment, with 16,807 employees responsible for maintaining ward roads and related civic duties. Recruitment drives are also expected in areas such as finance and accounts, town planning, IT, legal affairs, public health, survey, and revenue management.
The final staff figures may change once the government decides on the total number of wards, which is still under review.
Wards and revenue distribution
Officials are weighing options of increasing the number of wards from the current structure to anywhere between 300 and 500. Population projections suggest that Bengaluru West corporation may end up with the highest number of wards, while Bengaluru East could have the least, though East is expected to generate more revenue.
For administrative purposes, the government has tentatively decided to create 50 divisions and 150 sub-divisions within the five corporations.
Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department, Tushar Girinath, clarified: “The government will provide certain guidelines based on which the delimitation commission will decide the number of wards and their boundaries. Reports claiming there will be 450 wards are incorrect.”
Concerns from activists
Civic activists expressed scepticism about whether additional staff would improve governance. R Rajagopalan, convener of the Bengaluru Coalition, said that the systemic flaws of the BBMP could persist. “If practices such as cash-for-posting continue, the problems will remain. At the heart of any institution are its people, and the lack of skilled administrators and engineers is a root cause of dysfunction. Focus must shift to systems, processes, and skill development. The GBA appears top-heavy and only notionally decentralised,” he remarked.
Next steps
The government will soon constitute a delimitation commission to finalise ward numbers and boundaries, while the recruitment process for additional staff is expected to be rolled out in phases. Until then, the city’s transition to a new governance model remains a work in progress.