Editor/publisher Mr Suresh Yerapathi, of In & Around Mysore (fortnightly for free distribution) put us wise on the launch of two websites on the same theme - Dasara-2006. With the same contact person - Dasara Spl. Officer, MCC - and identical e-mail ID - comm_mcc@yahoo.co.in.

Our municipal corporation must have had a legitimate reason for this web duplication. Let us let that pass. I found the two sites supplementing each other in providing information. For instance, I was looking for info. on Dasara sub-committees. Mysoredasara.com gives us details of officers manning six sub-committees. I checked out Mysoredasara.info., only to discover there were nine other sub-committees.

Now I know why our municipal body was thoughtful enough to sponsor two Dasara sites. Critics might say that there would have been no need for ‘D dot info’, if the ‘dot com’ were to give information on all the 15 Dasara sub-committees.

Those helming these committees are all officials The official sites give the names of president, member-secretary and joint secretaries of each sub-committee. The panels may have non-official members. Apparently, they are not important enough to be listed on websites.

To get an idea of the bureaucratic hold on the conduct of Dasara festival one has only to go through the list of heads of sub-committees. The panel on tourism is headed by the conservator of forests; the panel on cultural floats, by the zila panchayat deputy secretary; sports & wrestling, by excise dept. deputy commissioner; publicity, by a municipal corporation revenue officer; and yuva dasara, by district watershed officer. It is the same story with other panels.

So much for bureaucracy in Mysore Dasara. I thought they wanted to promote participation by the public and the corporate sector.