RWAs divided on need for such committees : The Hindu

Residents unsure if meetings are held

From being political platforms for the ruling party to useful tools to raise local concerns, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) are divided on the need for police station or thana-level committees.

With the Delhi government looking to revive the committees, which is chaired by the area MLA, residents say that the meetings of the thana-level committees have never been held regularly, if ever.

Police visits

“We haven’t had any thana or district-level committee meetings. However, once in a while police officers visit the area, particularly around festivals. When we had a spate of car thefts in the area recently, we told the police, but did not get the right reply,” said Chetan Sharma, the chairperson of the Federation of Greater Kailash-II RWAs and the secretary-general of the Confederation of NCR RWAs. He added that if the thana-level committee did exist, the “gap between what the public wants and what the police does” would be bridged. 

East Delhi RWAs Joint Front president B.S. Vohra said that there had been no meetings of any such committee that had been called by the MLAs in the past two years.

Genuine stakeholders

“Police officers hold meetings, but that is only once in six months or so. These thana committees can be beneficial only if the genuine stakeholders are called. There is a danger of the MLAs only including their own supporters, like in the mohalla sabhas,” said Mr. Vohra. 

In some areas, even when the committees were holding meetings, they weren’t regular or very useful, according to residents.

‘Political meeting’

Geeta Bhargava, the honorary general secretary of the Defence Colony RWA, said the last meeting of the thana-level committee, of which she was a member, that she attended was held about two years ago.

“We would be asked what our concerns were, but there was no result. It was more of a political meeting. We have a good rapport with the Station House Officer so we don’t really need the committee,” said Ms. Bhargava.

with thanks : The Hindu : LINK

RWAs fume as AAP takes Mohalla Sabhas to the aam aadmi

With elections to the municipal corporations inching closer, the Aam Aadmi Party government is going full throttle with its plan to reach the grassroot workers in the 272 wards of the Capital. While it is pulling out all stops to make its key tool – ‘Mohalla Sabhas’ – appealing to the ‘aam aadmi’, a growing sense of alienation clouds the city's Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) as they rue of never being consulted for the project.

Trying to prepare a robust structure under the 'Swaraj' model, the government has come out with a detailed district and Assembly constituency wise list of mohalla sabhas. The 2,972 Mohallas are going to be spread across 11 districts and 70 constituencies with each one having a unique 'Mohalla ID Number'.

On deeper observation it emerges that the number of Mohallas given to a constituency has been based on the voting population of the area. Each of these mohallas has been mapped with the nearest polling booths in the respective constituency.

“Every district is going to have anywhere between 250-270 mohallas and if counted constituency wise then there shall be around 35-70 mohallas in each Assembly. With a mammoth 83 mohallas, South-West district's Matiala constituency is the biggest of the pack,” said a senior official.

Pressure builds

The pressure to urgently start the ambitious project on ground is seemingly visible in the urban development department and the District Urban Development Agencies (DUDA). The biggest challenge in their hands at present is appointing a staggering 5944 'Mohalla Coordinators' and 'Co-coordinators'.

While the work has to be voluntary, the government plans to offer each coordinator Rs. 5,000 per month to meet transportation and other expenses. The eligibility has been kept rather simple, yet technology driven. The applicant must be a registered voter as on 11.01.16 and a resident of the Mohalla being represented. Besides, s/he must have an Android phone and working knowledge of computers/emails.

“Mohalla Sabhas will be held once a month and the coordinators' role is most important as they will have to prepare the agenda, conduct door-to-door outreach programs to note the issues to be taken up, attend meetings with DUDA and so on,” the official explained.

While others may find the system of 'grassroot democracy' appealing, the RWAs are fearing their very existence. “No RWA was consulted for the entire Mohalla Sabha process. How do they plan to choose what work is to be done with public meetings where around 4000 people turn up. If a ward has say15 colonies, then 15 or 30 people – one or two from the RWA of each colony – are enough to decide upon works to be carried out,” said Atul Goyal, convenor of United RWAs Joint Action (URJA) – an umbrella body for about 500 RWAs in the Capital.

Disgruntled

We are not against the idea of Mohalla Sabhas, but we wanted it to be more structured. One that would involve RWAs and not alienate them, he added. Several others have questioned the AAP government about its promise to bring an RWA Act.

“The AAP before coming to power had promised in its manifesto of bringing an RWA Act to them legal sanctity. They spoke of empowerment of RWAs, but nothing seems to have happened. They are dismantling the topography of a colony this way,” said B S Vohra of East Delhi RWAs Joint Front.

with thanks : The Hindu : LINK

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