Jairaj: was he good?

Recently, I heard someone say, "Oh no, they transferred K Jairaj". Somewhere else, "good riddance" was the call.

Well, though it was nice to see some folks care about ongoings at BBMP, when it comes to passing judgment on how good or bad Mr Jairaj was during his 14 months in the office, how can you or I do that?

Really, first tell me how much you know about responsibilities of the BBMP commissioner? Next, tell me if there is a way, a benchmark like thing to measure his performance? Who exactly runs and manages our city? Local MLAs? North/south Bangalore MPs? BBMP or BDA - they both seem to build roads and flyovers? State Urban Development Minister? Or HDK himself, doesn't he announce and inaugurate every significant city project? And finally, what role does the Mayor of our city play?

The very few - those journalists or NGO-champion types - may know all this well. But for most of us, its like a little puzzle. How does an ordinary citizen of Bangalore know who to blame or praise for the goods and bads of our city? Well he can't. You and me just don't know enough to pass judgments like that.

Agree?

[Note: Photo sourced from The Hindu website]