UFERWAS - COMPLETE INFORMATION
UNITED-FEDERATION OF RESIDENT WELFARE ASSOCIATIONS (U-FERWAS)
Regd.No.219/07 # 12-13-705/10/AB, Balaji Residency, Gokul Nagar, Tarnaka, Hyderabad-17
Tel: 040 6450 4993, 6521 4993, Fax: 27154118.e-mail: [email protected] , www.ifhd.org
Vision: Resident Welfare Associations are the finest expression of civil society consensus; an answer to urban problems; a tool for community building and for self-management and direct democracy.
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RWA -GHMC WEBSITE LINK
Applicant agrees that the infromation provided is correct and truthful as per his knowledge. Suppression of information or providing falsifying information would lead to rejection of the application and would attract penal provisions as prescribed Under Section 213 of GHMC Act,1955.
Applicant need to produce original documents at the time of verification.
rwa.ghmc.gov.in/
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Why A Federation of All Resident Welfare Associations?
Vison: Resident Welfare Associations are the finest expression of urban civil society consensus, an answer to many urban social problems, a tool for community-building and for self-management and direct democracy. Let us forge a new mechanism for social transformation and local development.
Political intermediation in the urban local bodies has not proved to be very effective and successful. Decentralised self-governance without self-management has not yielded the expected results in terms of development and quality of life. Hence, there is a need for creating necessary mechanisms for self-management by the communities themselves in the urban areas. The area or colony resident welfare associations and the apartment-building residents welfare associations are emerging, precisely, as the most suitable mechanisms for self-management. Since these bodies are composed of educated, qualified, experienced people who, in general, have some leisure, they are the best people to self-manage and self-govern their areas. A new urban cosmopolitan culture stressing upon improving the quality of life with voluntary efforts is developing in the midst of the complexities of modern life. New communities of sharing and caring are being built.
Now, there is an a merging concept called ‘flat culture’.
The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, the Election Commission of India and other constitutional bodies have started recognizing the RWAs as partners for fair and equitable delivery of services to the public without political and partisan considerations. Since some time, various resident welfare associations in and around the twin cities have been meeting on ‘ad hoc’ basis on some most urgent common issues, like property tax, cable T.V. connections, electoral registrations, drinking water distribution, etc. so as to reduce delays, wastage of resources, insecurity and corruption
Recently, a number of RWAs gathered in Tarnaka have unanimously decided to constitute a formal federation of resident welfare associations (United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, U-FERWAS):
To be Proactive and Constructive; To liaise with the concerned authorities; To mobilize, coordinate and To express Civil Society Consensus in One
Voice in respect of major common issues and concerns, where there is, at present, lack of transparency in the decision making, or neglect of civic amenities.
The main focus is to stimulate awareness on the responsibilities and rights of the residents and to enhance the attention, action and commitment of the Administration towards all-round well-being of the residents and to empower the residents to become active agents of change and to supervise proper
implementation of the powers and responsibilities devoluted to the urban bodies, as per the 174th Amendment and Article 232 of the Constitution.
They would function as ‘de facto’ citizens’ ward councils, till they are formed by the statute by the Government, as recommended by the National urban Renewal Mission.
Therefore, all the flat owners and Residential Welfare Associations in the municipalities and corporations are requested to form Federations
in their respective wards and manage their own affairs and to affiliate themselves to U-FERWAS, Hyderabad.
Revised Model Protocol of Agreement Between GHMC and
U-FERWAS-Our Commitment:
Being the democratically-elected basic unit of local governance, we have the right and the responsibility to represent the resident-citizens
in our localities, before all public service providers who are paid by public funds. Hence, as stakeholders, we offer to:
1) Help in the collection property tax or any other levy;
2) Cooperate in D.P.L. Centers (for ration cards or family cards);
3) Cooperate periodically in voter registration, verification and election process;
4) Collection of census and other information-collection on various beneficiaries;
5) Study and pooling of individual and collective problems, so that the administrative machinery is not disturbed and their time is not
wasted by individual representations and discussions;
6) Ensure authenticity, validity and public-interest nature of the complaints and collective representations;
7) Ensure the general compliance of the official rules and regulations by the residents regarding constructions, public space and public utilities;
8) Identify, inventorise and protect public properties and prevent their misuse and encroachments;
9) Come forward, wherever possible, to self-manage, under contract, the maintenance of essential and proximity services, such as,
cleaning, sweeping and greening activities, parks, street cleaning, lighting, garbage and other solid waste management, drainage de-congestion,
treating mosquito menace,etc.;
10) Come forward, to liaise, similarly, in the case of other services, such as, electricity and water;
11) Provide consumers’ endorsement on the quality and quantity of the services and goods provided by the private contractors and the municipal staff;
12) Maintain general health and hygiene in the area and to act together in case of emergencies like epidemics, floods, fire, heat waves, etc.;
13) Co-plead, along with GHMC, or to go for Public Interest Litigation (PIL), in certain cases, and to make appeals to the Courts, so as
to seek relief and to protect the rights of the Corporation;
14) Ensure the quality and due process of works undertaken, by carrying out ‘social audit’ and third-party evaluations;
15) Cooperate in the implementation of welfare measures undertaken in favour of the slum-dwellers who are a part of the local community;
16) And, in general, to collaborate to implement any economic, social and cultural welfare measures undertaken by the Corporation in favour of the children (vaccinations, child labour), senior citizens (safety, security, domestic violence, shelter), women (maternity, domestic violence, shelter),
youth ( games & sports), etc.
Your Commitment, in return, to:
Recognise, firstly, that the following commitments are already covered and ensured by the Citizen Charter or the Right to Information Act or the Consumer
Protection Act or the Manual of Code of Conduct of the Public Officials and other statutory and constitutional provisions and,
Acknowledge, secondly, that, under our constitutional law, the Executive is also one of the three separate organs of the State and, as such, must operate
independently and objectively, in upholding the rule of law, its due process and procedures in the implementation of the decisions taken by the legislative wings at local,
State and the Cental levels;
The Administration of the GHMC would strive to:
1) Make accessible, on the request of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) all information of public interest concerning their areas, under the Right to Information Act, Citizens Charter, etc. such as, the decisions of the different bodies of the Corporation like the Council, the Standing committee
and of the departments, particularly, the Town Planning, Engineering, Health and Hygiene, etc.;
2) Make available the Local Fund Audit reports and the remarks of the Comptroller and Auditor- General of India, so far as they carried out;
3) Acknowledge and reply, as much as possible, (a) When the representatives of the RWAs write or e-mail or send faxes to the officials; or to
re-direct them for reply to the concerned department or person,
(b) When they visit the officials, they should be received, on priority, with due respect to their representative character and voluntary nature of their work,
and
(c) Similarly, when the officials visit the area, the local representatives of the RWAs should be informed and consulted, if they have expressed such a
desire, in advance;
4) Organise periodic Dialogue Sessions with the representatives of the RWAs to review the pending problems with various departments or sections or
officers concerned either in the officials’ offices or in the meetings arranged by the RWAs;
5) Assess, periodically, the citizens’ satisfaction levels concerning the functioning of the Citizens Charter and the Grievance Redressal mechanisms put in
place;
6) Seek the cooperation and participation of the RWAs in all activities in which they are concerned, as it is happening in the case of the electoral process
in which the Election commission of India has been expressly mentioning the RWAs as the logistic partners;
7) To provide, in a proactive manner (as under section 4 of RTI Act), information on all Town Planning and Engineering approvals, execution, estimations
and evaluations and to seek the RWAs reactions as stake holders, and
8) Initiate and arrange coordination meetings with other departments which are not under GHMC, such as, the R& B, Police, Electricity, water but
whose cooperation and efficient functioning is needed to fulfill GHMC’s own mission.
United Federation of the Resident Welfare Associations (U-FERWAS), A.P.
Corporation Election Strategies
The following are the options that each area Federation can independently do, covering 2 or 3 wards, along with other civil society organizations like
Forum for Better Hyderabad, VoteIndia, etc,
Option I
a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable candidates, with a threat to compaign against them. A common letter
could be drafted and sent by U-FERWAS.
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in the election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans,
food, police arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) Organising Common Platforms of all the candidates for the benefit of the voters, without neglecting the independent candidates and to seek
commitments, such as,
i) Non-violence in words and acts during the election campaign
ii) Transparency in election expenditure, amount and mode of spending
iii) Pollutions during elections: noise, defacing walls, banners, alchohols
iv) Future co-operation with the Resident Welfare Associations
v) Commitment, once elected, not to take commissions from the contractors on local works undertaken, not to support irregular constructions, encroachments, etc. Any other commitments warranted in the context of the area
vi) Commitment to be the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ Ward Committee, which is, in other words, the Executive Committee of the Area
Federation of the RWAs, as far as that ward is concerned. Note: The Government might statutorily form such Peoples’ Ward Committees soon.
vii) Such a candidate, even if he or she belongs to a Party, once elected, would accept to function in cooperation with all other political parties as
far as the area development is concerned.
d) Selecting some eminent residents of the area to be the independent observers at the polling booths in cooperation with the Election Commission.
e) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: Go out and Vote with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ options.
Option II a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable
candidates with a threat to campaign against them. A common letter could be
drafted and sent..
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in
the election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans, food, police
arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) Organising Common Platforms of all the candidates for the benefit of the voters, without neglecting the independent candidates and to seek commitments,
such as,
i) Non-violence in words and acts in the election campaign
ii) Transparency in election expenditure, amount and mode of spending
iii) Pollutions during elections: noise, defacing walls, banners, alcohols
iv) Future co-operation with the Resident Welfare Associations
v) Commitment, once elected, not to take commissions from the contractors on local works undertaken, not to support irregular constructions, encroachments, etc. Any other commitments warranted in the context of the area
vi) Commitment to be the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ Ward Committee, which is, in other words, the Executive Committee of the Area
Federation of the RWAs, as far as that ward is concerned. Note: Such Peoples’ Ward Committees might be statutorily formed by the Government, after elections.
vii) Such a candidate, even if he or she belongs to a Party, once elected, would accept to function in cooperation with all other political parties
as far as the area development is concerned.
d) At the end of the common platform, the area Federation to hold consultations with each of its member-RWAs and to select one or more
candidates worthy of being supported in each ward, based on a pre-established criteria and their commitments. U-FERWAS can establish such criteria.
e) Such candidates’ election campaign would be run by the Federation of RWAs with no cost to the candidates
f) Selecting some eminent residents of the area to be the independent observers at the polling booths in cooperation with the Election Commission.
g) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: ‘Go out and Vote’with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ optionsOption III
a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable
candidates with a thret to campaign against them. A common letter could be
drafted and sent by U-FERWAS as well.
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in the
election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans, food, police
arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) At the level of each polling station or in each RWA, we will hold an Area
Sabha of all the residents (where there will be about 1,000 voters). They would choose an Area Representative for good governance,
including those who are active in political parties. Later, s/he would be a member of the Peoples’ ward committee.
d) Series of in-camera (private) meetings of all the Area Representatives for good governance would be held, in order to choose one
among them as the RWA’s candidate for each ward covered by the Area Federation.
e) Such a candidate’s campaign would be run by the Area Federation of RWAs with no cost to him or her.
f) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: ‘Go out and Vote’ with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ options
g) He or she becomes the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ ward committee, which would be formed by the Government after the elections.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER & SPECIAL OFFICER
GREATER HYDERABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Present: Dr. C.V.S.K. Sarma, I.A.S.
Commissioner & Special Officer, GHMC
No.2332/AC(H&S)/ GHMC/2007 Dated: 13.08.2007
Sub:- GHMC – Health & Sanitation Dept – Entrustment of Sanitation,
Maintenance of Street Lighting and Maintenance Parks to Resident
Welfare Associations - Certain Instructions issued – reg.
Ref:- Meeting with the Resident Welfare Associations on 11.08.2007
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ORDER:-
During the interaction meeting with the Federation of Resident Welfare Associations on 11.08.2007, certain issues have been raised by the Resident Welfare Associations, which needs immediate attention of the GHMC.
The Resident Welfare Associations mentioned that previously, the officials of GHMC had the practice of having interaction the Resident welfare Associations periodically and majority of the issues were be discussed and resolved. Now the practice has been discontinued and requested to restore the same.
In view of the above, all the Zonal Commissioners, Dy. Commissioners are directed to have a periodical interaction/ dialogue sessions with the Resident Welfare Associations along with all departmental officials as they are one of the main stake holders of the civic body.
This session will be once in a month at Circle level and once in two months at Zonal Commissioner level.
All the Additional Commissioners are also directed to attend the Zonal level interactive/ dialogue sessions to resolve the grievances.
During the meeting, as per the request of the R.W.A’s, it was considered to agree to entrust the work of sanitation, maintenance of street lights, maintenance of parks to the Resident Welfare Association, who come forward to take up the activity experimental basis. It will eliminate the contract system and create a sense of belongingness which will substantially improve the quality of the work and more over reduce the grievances level and improve the satisfaction level.
All the Asst. Medical Officers of Health, Dy. Commissioners, and Zonal Commissioners are requested to bestow their personal interest to interact with the Resident Welfare Associations and entrust the sanitation, maintenance of parks and maintenance of street lights to the Resident Welfare Associations which come forward. Many of the Resident Welfare Associations are showing interest in undertaking the sanitation work.
The Additional Commissioner ( Electrical) and the Additional Commissioner (Parks) will furnish the method of entrustment of works of their respective departments.
All the Zonal Commissioners are requested to submit a report to the undersigned by 20th of this month.
(This has the approval of the Commissioner & Special Officer, GHMC)
// BY ORDER //
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Constitution of UFERWAS
Article no.1
Short title: The name of the organisation shall be Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, UFERWAS.
Article no.2 Location of Office: The location of the Federation shall be within the Hyderabad metropolitain area. Its present office will be:12-13-705/10/AB, Balaji Residency, Gokul Nagar, Tarnaka, Secunderabad- 500 017.
Article no. 3
Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of the Federation, initially, shall cover the total area falling within the Hyderabad Metropolitan and Military Cantonment Board areas, with the possibility of extending it to the entire state of Andhra Pradesh as when the demand for adhesion arises.
Article no.4
Definitions:
¨ FERWAS means Federation of Residents Welfare Associations.
¨ Constituent Units: Means all associations or groups of associations which directly or indirectly deal with the issues relations to the welfare of residents of their respective jurisdiction / area/ locations.
¨ Office Bearers: Means all office bearers of FERWAS including the Executive Council members.
¨ Constitution means the constitution of the FERWAS approved, adopted by the General council and registered.
Article no.5 Structure and Composition: the structure and composition of the Federation shall be
1 General Council: shall comprise of
a) Presidents and Secretaries of all affiliated welfare associations.
b) All office bearers and executive council members who remain elected to the federation.
c) In case of any federation which is a member, at the rate of one member for every ten constituent units.
II Executive Council: shall comprise of all office bearers and executive council members elected and co-opted to the federation.
Article no.6 Aims And Objectives:
I) To endeavor to unite, co ordinate and to bring to one common forum all the resident welfare associations.
II) To strive to preserve, protect the rights obligations, identity etc., of all the constituent welfare associations and its residents.
III) To make representations for the redressal of any grievance put forth by any constituent unit before the MCH, Police, Revenue, RTC, Water works, Electricity etc.,
IV) When required, to take up development works of the zone.
V) To arrange Cultural, Educational, Recreational, Civic and other programmes considering the requirements of Children, Youth, Senior Citizens, Ladies etc.,
VI) To organize mutual benefit schemes, co-operative societies, insurance schemes, etc., to meet needs of the residents.
VII) To arrange inter-state, and international study tours.
VIII) To run and publish Magazines, Journals, News Bulletins, Broachers, Books, Booklets, Souvenirs etc., in the interest of the residents.
IX) To conduct symposiums, work shops, conferences, etc.,
X) To do all that is necessary in the interests of the residents and their welfare associations.
Article no.7 Eligibility for Affiliation: All Resident Welfare associations are eligible for affiliation with the federation. They shall be called as constituent units of the Federation.
Article no.8 Disaffiliation: Any Constituent unit if found indulged in acts prejudicial to the aims, objects of the federation and has done any thing detrimental to the interests of the federation shall be disaffiliated.
Article no.9
Re affiliation: The constituent units disaffiliated under article 8 shall be re affiliated on the specific request made by the units with explanation.
Article 10
Relations with political parties: the federation shall be non – political in nature.
Article no11.
Office Bearers: The following shall be the office bearers of the federation.
1 President II Vice Presidents-5
III General Secretary VI Secretaries-5
V Finance Secretary 1 VI Executive Council Members –7
VII. Co-opted members= 4 VIII Jt. Finance Secretary
Total= 25
Article no 12:
Term of Office: The term of office shall be two years from the date of election of the office bearers. The office bearers and executive council members shall continue to hold office for full term of two years, even if they are not elected as president or secretary in their respective units in the subsequent elections.
Article no 13: Election of office bearers:
a) The general council of the federation shall elect the office bearers, from among the members of the general council. Any mid term vacancy shall however be filled in by co- option by the executive council.
b) The constituent units shall clear off their due subscriptions if any, before filing nominations for any post of office bearers or for casting their votes in election.
Article no.14. Powers and functions of the President:
1) The president shall be the head of the federation.
2) Shall preside over all executive council and general council meetings etc.,
3) Shall exercise casting vote if needed.
4) Shall supervise all developments, functions, problems and issues of the constituent units and also the federation and to initiate, appropriate and timely action.
Article no. 15: Powers and functions of the Vice President:
1) The Vice Presidents shall assist the President in all of his activities. The invited Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President, in his absence.
2) He shall perform special duties if any assigned to him either by the general council, or by the executive council.
Article no.16 Powers and functions of the General Secretary:
I The General Secretary is responsible for preservation and maintenance of all records, registers, stores and all movable and immovable properties of the federation.
II He shall execute all policies, decisions and resolutions taken in the executive council and the General Council.
III. He shall deal with all official correspondence.
IV. Shall issue notices for convening the meetings of executive council and general council, in consultation with the president. Shall also prepare minutes of all meetings.
V. Shall prepare annual and other reports and place before the executive council for its approval, before presenting to the general council.
VI Shall be responsible for proper accounting of the funds of the federation and for submission of up to date account statements jointly with the finance secretary.
VII. Shall incur expenditure up to Rs. 1,000/- subject to ratification by the Executive Council.
Article no. 17:Powers and Functions of the Finance Secretary (Treasurer)
1. Shall prepare detailed account statements quarterly and annually in consultation with the General secretary and the President and present the same to the executive council before presenting it to the General Council for its final Approval.
2. Shall get all expenditures incurred by the federation duly audited by the approved auditor.
3. Shall receive all subscriptions and other moneys of the federation and issue receipts there of.
4. Shall open an account in the name of the federation in any of the nationalized Banks to be jointly operated by any two of the following.
1. Finance Secretary and either
2. General Secretary or
3. President
5.Shall make payments of all bills approved by the President and General Secretary.
6.Shall keep an amount not exceeding Rs. 100/-, as imprest.
Article no 18: Powers and Functions of Secretaries:
1 The General Council shall be supreme policy making organ of the federation.
2.Shall hold not less than three meetings in a year.
1.The executive council shall be the main executive body of the federation.
2. Shall chalk out detailed action plan for all the policies, programmes and decisions taken by the General Council and shall endeavor for their execution and implementation.
3. Shall affiliate new welfare associations to the federation and re affiliate / or de affiliate depending upon the circumstances.
4. Shall fill up the mid term vacancies if any by co- option.
5.Shall appoint special committees or sub committees for specific purposes when warranted.
6. Shall finalize the annual reports, annual and quarterly account statements before presenting to the General Council.
1. Notice period for regular executive council meetings 3 days
2.Notice period for emergency executive council meetings 2 days
3. Notice period for regular general council meetings 15 days
4. Notice period for emergency general Council meetings. 5 days
Article no. 24: Legal Matters: The general Secretary shall sue and be sued for and on behalf of the federation.
Article no.25. Amendments: The articles of the constitution shall be amended by the General Council, convened with clear notice and specific agenda by 2/3 majority of members present and a majority of the members on roll.
Article no. 26: Dissolution: In the event of dissolution by General Council with its 2/3 majority of members on roll, the assets of the federation shall be handed over to another equally distributed among all the constituent units.
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DOCUMENTS TO BE IN THE POSESSION OF A RWA
1. Land – title from the land owner with link documents & Encumbrance Certificate.
2. Soil certificate signed by an engineer.
3. Development charges paid either to the municipality or to HUDA
4. Original Approved Building plan with demarcation of common areas, cellar, terrace.
5. Latest Approved Building plan Amended, if any.
6. Fit for Occupation Certificate by the Municipal authorities.
7. Property Tax Assessment.
8. Water & Sewerage : Permissions, Receipts for Laying charges.
9. Electricity: Transformer ownership, Guarantee document.
10. Lift: Purchase, guarantee documents, maintenance contract.
11. Copy of any Application made under Building Regulation (1998) Scheme (B.R.S).
12. U.L.C. clearance and receipts of payments
13. Parking Plan in the Cellar and copies of any separate registrations of parking to the residents.
14. Certificate from the Fire Services Department.
15. Certificate of pest-control treatment of the building-foundations.
16. Copies of title deeds of all apartment owners with addresses
17. Plan of internal wiring for electricity, cables, telephones, etc.
18. Plan to identify the earthing and lightening arresters for electric shocks, lightning, thunders
19. Plan of internal underground pipes for electricity, drinking water and drainage.
20. Rain Harvesting pit details
21. Any legal precautionary document filed, such as, a caveat against demolition, any temporary construction, etc. filed by the builder.
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GREATER ALWAL ALLIED SERVICE ASSOCIATION (GAASA) ALWAL SUGGESTS
THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE ROLE OF RWA’S
IN RELATIONS WITH GHMC, STATE AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS.
We as a civil society can make a significant contribution to the development process, both on our own and by working in partnership with government. It is time we recognize the value of establishing an environment where civil society can flourish, and the importance of good governance and of an effective dialogue be enriched among the main stakeholders. The framework of activities involved in the development of civil society includes three operational courses of action on which I am centering attention on;
i) Emphasis on our participationin the implementation of the projects. This involvement also promotes "social control" over government programs and the development of participatory democracy. UFERWAS has to enlarge itself to participate in many consultation and decision-making processes at local level - for example ward committees, budget consultations, ward meetings, Integrated Development Planning Forums, etc. If we want to represent people and struggle for their interests, it is very important we do this so as to understand the level of services that are available, the ways services can be delivered and the choices for how best to deliver services for each Municipal circle.
ii) The other course of action I am focusing on is the direct promotion of the autonomous development of our constituent civil society organizations and their ability to generate and carry out UFERWAS initiatives. Our most important task would be to find out the needs of its citizens and how best we can make the local bodies to provide for these needs. This can be achieved by identifying a functional RWA, (which should be an affiliate of UFERWAS), in each Municipality circle and make it the centre point for all other RWA’s within that respective Circle to pool their services in. Such identified RWA within each Circle should be able to shoulder responsibility and collect the requirements of Civic Amenities within that Circle and forward it for redress and follow up action. This action has already been experimented with success at Alwal GHMC by GAASA and GAASA is now identified by GHMC, Water works and other agencies of Government as an umbrella organization of RWA’s within GHMC Alwal Circle.
iii) Further another strategy we envisage is giving scope to involve Women or Mahila Mandalis in UFERWAS activities. This is one area which we could involve with to advance our movement. We from GAASA have found that all Civic Amenity deficiencies are first spotted by Women. Therefore involving them within the UFERWAS framework, we can generate further development of civic action in communities. Women are the prime generators of civic action at the micro level, and as such can make a significant contribution to UFERWAS participation in government projects and to furthering collective action aimed at meeting community objectives.
ROLE OF CONSTITUENT RWA’s OF UFERWAS.
The constituent RWA’s of UFERWAS at first must determine what services its municipality is providing, who is receiving it and what is the quality of the thereof. For example: How often is the garbage collected?
Secondly, the constituent units of UFERWAS must determine what services should be expanded or improved. Are some areas in the community very dirty and poorly maintained?
Thirdly, the priorities for expanding or improving services must be decided which should be area or municipality specific.
Use RTI for all projects undertaken by GHMC / other service providers in their respective Municipal Circle to review quality and procedures. This should be a regular feature which would disclose budgets, tenders, projects, revenues, financial statements, etc.
Seek legal remedy for ineffective or partisan approaches / actions of Service providers.
UFERWAS as a nodal agency for all RWA’s within the City and elsewhere could have a database as to which services needs to be expanded or improved, timeframes and targets be developed for each municipality. Further UFERWAS can decide the best ways to reach the goals by suggesting the same to GHMC and other agencies by arranging or having a fixed scheduled meeting with those officials. UFERWAS must decide what resources - financial, equipment, and skills - it will require to meet its goals.
Further UFERWAS must be ready to shoulder responsibility of taking over a service as and when a municipality discovers that it does not have sufficient resources and may decide that it will phase out the provision of services or only provide it to a section of the community. It will also need to rethink how it will implement the provision of services. In other words, we should provide the service directly. For this we need to be ready with a strategy of having a database of members of RWA’s, their skills and their occupations.
At the State Government level, there is a need for UFERWAS to take up the following strategies;
play in the planning an implementation of programs. Some of these are:
· We need to ascertain for ourself our needs and assist the municipality to accurately decide on those services to be expanded and improved, particularly during the planning stages and insisting that the council consults us, the RWA’s as citizens, during decision-making.
· RWA’s should also work with NGO's and political parties to develop proposals for council to consider.
· UFERWAS can also appeal to the GHMC to appoint a committee of community RWA representatives to monitor processes as well as to advise the municipality on priorities for service extension and improvement.
· RWA’s or their representatives could also play some role in the evaluation of potential service providers, the involvement of communities in service provision and monitoring of the performance of service providers.
In short we should be examples of self regulation for others to emulate us.
I dream that by making UFERWAS stronger we could by the time of next council elections, elect atleast 40 representative RWA’s by citizens of our respective RWA’s to be on the GHMC Council. This kind of involvement from citizens will ensure that municipal planning and decision-making process will reflect their needs and priorities and will lead to the types of decisions that will make for an open, fair and democratic local government.
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CORWA -2014-2016
Col Tejendra Pal Tyagi, Ghaziabad Federation of RWAs, Convener- 09313922889
Dr Rao VBJ Chelikani, U-FERWAS, Hyderabad, President-9849067498
Sharad Kumar, AGNI, Mumbai, Secretary General-09869403721M.
S. Venugopal,Residents’ apex Council of Kerala (RACK), Thiruvanthapuram,Treasurer -09349494933
Sunil Kumar, Khammam, Joint Treasurer- 9989671925
Executive Vice Presidents: N. Muthu Swamy, Chennai RWA-09444040846Sridhar Pabbisetty, BRAS - 9916298421B T Srinivasan, U-FERWAS, in charge, Tarnaka Times -9347378072 Nagarjunan JMS of FOCUSS- Chennai-09841045145Major Shiv Kiran, UFERWAS-9849047827M Nagaraja, Banashankari III Stage, Bengaluru 560 085, 09880719499Secretaries: Nitin Nanaji Gadewar, Nagpur -9423640685Yash Khanagwal, Nabi Karim RWA, New Delhi-09312929502; National RWA DayAshwin Kumar Nallari, SriLakshminagar Colony, Old Alwal- 9849194366 Media &CommunicationsHaseenuddine, Old Delhi-09891433932
GRS Prasad Rao, SCOTRWA, Hyderabad, in charge of the secretariat- 8497960066
Executive Members:I.Founder Members:Bengalore III Phase Welfare Association, Bengaluru, KarnatakaFewderation of RWAs, Ghaziabad, U.P.
Residents’ Apex Council of Kerala RACK), Trivandrum, KeralaAgni, Mumbai, MaharastraCeebros Gardens Owners and Residents Association, Chennai, Tamil NaduUnited Federation of RWAs (UFERWAS) A.P. & Telangana Nabi Karim RWA, New Delhi, NCRPanchadeep nagar RWA, NagpurTara Residency Welfare Association, Sasram, BiharII. Shevata Talwar, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, Coordinator -09897132775P. Sukumaran, Vice-president FRAT, Trivandrum -09400571450Ruparel Marg Residents Asso. Mumbai,Dr. Meenakshi Bharath, Benguluru -09845011757, in charge Swachch BharatMissionAleyamma Jain, USOI, New Delhi-09871773790K.K. Uikey, Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Coordinator-08390727320Shaik Zakeeruddine, Aurangabad, coordinator-09326205556
Regd.No.219/07 # 12-13-705/10/AB, Balaji Residency, Gokul Nagar, Tarnaka, Hyderabad-17
Tel: 040 6450 4993, 6521 4993, Fax: 27154118.e-mail: [email protected] , www.ifhd.org
Vision: Resident Welfare Associations are the finest expression of civil society consensus; an answer to urban problems; a tool for community building and for self-management and direct democracy.
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RWA -GHMC WEBSITE LINK
Applicant agrees that the infromation provided is correct and truthful as per his knowledge. Suppression of information or providing falsifying information would lead to rejection of the application and would attract penal provisions as prescribed Under Section 213 of GHMC Act,1955.
Applicant need to produce original documents at the time of verification.
rwa.ghmc.gov.in/
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Why A Federation of All Resident Welfare Associations?
Vison: Resident Welfare Associations are the finest expression of urban civil society consensus, an answer to many urban social problems, a tool for community-building and for self-management and direct democracy. Let us forge a new mechanism for social transformation and local development.
Political intermediation in the urban local bodies has not proved to be very effective and successful. Decentralised self-governance without self-management has not yielded the expected results in terms of development and quality of life. Hence, there is a need for creating necessary mechanisms for self-management by the communities themselves in the urban areas. The area or colony resident welfare associations and the apartment-building residents welfare associations are emerging, precisely, as the most suitable mechanisms for self-management. Since these bodies are composed of educated, qualified, experienced people who, in general, have some leisure, they are the best people to self-manage and self-govern their areas. A new urban cosmopolitan culture stressing upon improving the quality of life with voluntary efforts is developing in the midst of the complexities of modern life. New communities of sharing and caring are being built.
Now, there is an a merging concept called ‘flat culture’.
The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, the Election Commission of India and other constitutional bodies have started recognizing the RWAs as partners for fair and equitable delivery of services to the public without political and partisan considerations. Since some time, various resident welfare associations in and around the twin cities have been meeting on ‘ad hoc’ basis on some most urgent common issues, like property tax, cable T.V. connections, electoral registrations, drinking water distribution, etc. so as to reduce delays, wastage of resources, insecurity and corruption
Recently, a number of RWAs gathered in Tarnaka have unanimously decided to constitute a formal federation of resident welfare associations (United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, U-FERWAS):
To be Proactive and Constructive; To liaise with the concerned authorities; To mobilize, coordinate and To express Civil Society Consensus in One
Voice in respect of major common issues and concerns, where there is, at present, lack of transparency in the decision making, or neglect of civic amenities.
The main focus is to stimulate awareness on the responsibilities and rights of the residents and to enhance the attention, action and commitment of the Administration towards all-round well-being of the residents and to empower the residents to become active agents of change and to supervise proper
implementation of the powers and responsibilities devoluted to the urban bodies, as per the 174th Amendment and Article 232 of the Constitution.
They would function as ‘de facto’ citizens’ ward councils, till they are formed by the statute by the Government, as recommended by the National urban Renewal Mission.
Therefore, all the flat owners and Residential Welfare Associations in the municipalities and corporations are requested to form Federations
in their respective wards and manage their own affairs and to affiliate themselves to U-FERWAS, Hyderabad.
Revised Model Protocol of Agreement Between GHMC and
U-FERWAS-Our Commitment:
Being the democratically-elected basic unit of local governance, we have the right and the responsibility to represent the resident-citizens
in our localities, before all public service providers who are paid by public funds. Hence, as stakeholders, we offer to:
1) Help in the collection property tax or any other levy;
2) Cooperate in D.P.L. Centers (for ration cards or family cards);
3) Cooperate periodically in voter registration, verification and election process;
4) Collection of census and other information-collection on various beneficiaries;
5) Study and pooling of individual and collective problems, so that the administrative machinery is not disturbed and their time is not
wasted by individual representations and discussions;
6) Ensure authenticity, validity and public-interest nature of the complaints and collective representations;
7) Ensure the general compliance of the official rules and regulations by the residents regarding constructions, public space and public utilities;
8) Identify, inventorise and protect public properties and prevent their misuse and encroachments;
9) Come forward, wherever possible, to self-manage, under contract, the maintenance of essential and proximity services, such as,
cleaning, sweeping and greening activities, parks, street cleaning, lighting, garbage and other solid waste management, drainage de-congestion,
treating mosquito menace,etc.;
10) Come forward, to liaise, similarly, in the case of other services, such as, electricity and water;
11) Provide consumers’ endorsement on the quality and quantity of the services and goods provided by the private contractors and the municipal staff;
12) Maintain general health and hygiene in the area and to act together in case of emergencies like epidemics, floods, fire, heat waves, etc.;
13) Co-plead, along with GHMC, or to go for Public Interest Litigation (PIL), in certain cases, and to make appeals to the Courts, so as
to seek relief and to protect the rights of the Corporation;
14) Ensure the quality and due process of works undertaken, by carrying out ‘social audit’ and third-party evaluations;
15) Cooperate in the implementation of welfare measures undertaken in favour of the slum-dwellers who are a part of the local community;
16) And, in general, to collaborate to implement any economic, social and cultural welfare measures undertaken by the Corporation in favour of the children (vaccinations, child labour), senior citizens (safety, security, domestic violence, shelter), women (maternity, domestic violence, shelter),
youth ( games & sports), etc.
Your Commitment, in return, to:
Recognise, firstly, that the following commitments are already covered and ensured by the Citizen Charter or the Right to Information Act or the Consumer
Protection Act or the Manual of Code of Conduct of the Public Officials and other statutory and constitutional provisions and,
Acknowledge, secondly, that, under our constitutional law, the Executive is also one of the three separate organs of the State and, as such, must operate
independently and objectively, in upholding the rule of law, its due process and procedures in the implementation of the decisions taken by the legislative wings at local,
State and the Cental levels;
The Administration of the GHMC would strive to:
1) Make accessible, on the request of the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) all information of public interest concerning their areas, under the Right to Information Act, Citizens Charter, etc. such as, the decisions of the different bodies of the Corporation like the Council, the Standing committee
and of the departments, particularly, the Town Planning, Engineering, Health and Hygiene, etc.;
2) Make available the Local Fund Audit reports and the remarks of the Comptroller and Auditor- General of India, so far as they carried out;
3) Acknowledge and reply, as much as possible, (a) When the representatives of the RWAs write or e-mail or send faxes to the officials; or to
re-direct them for reply to the concerned department or person,
(b) When they visit the officials, they should be received, on priority, with due respect to their representative character and voluntary nature of their work,
and
(c) Similarly, when the officials visit the area, the local representatives of the RWAs should be informed and consulted, if they have expressed such a
desire, in advance;
4) Organise periodic Dialogue Sessions with the representatives of the RWAs to review the pending problems with various departments or sections or
officers concerned either in the officials’ offices or in the meetings arranged by the RWAs;
5) Assess, periodically, the citizens’ satisfaction levels concerning the functioning of the Citizens Charter and the Grievance Redressal mechanisms put in
place;
6) Seek the cooperation and participation of the RWAs in all activities in which they are concerned, as it is happening in the case of the electoral process
in which the Election commission of India has been expressly mentioning the RWAs as the logistic partners;
7) To provide, in a proactive manner (as under section 4 of RTI Act), information on all Town Planning and Engineering approvals, execution, estimations
and evaluations and to seek the RWAs reactions as stake holders, and
8) Initiate and arrange coordination meetings with other departments which are not under GHMC, such as, the R& B, Police, Electricity, water but
whose cooperation and efficient functioning is needed to fulfill GHMC’s own mission.
United Federation of the Resident Welfare Associations (U-FERWAS), A.P.
Corporation Election Strategies
The following are the options that each area Federation can independently do, covering 2 or 3 wards, along with other civil society organizations like
Forum for Better Hyderabad, VoteIndia, etc,
Option I
a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable candidates, with a threat to compaign against them. A common letter
could be drafted and sent by U-FERWAS.
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in the election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans,
food, police arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) Organising Common Platforms of all the candidates for the benefit of the voters, without neglecting the independent candidates and to seek
commitments, such as,
i) Non-violence in words and acts during the election campaign
ii) Transparency in election expenditure, amount and mode of spending
iii) Pollutions during elections: noise, defacing walls, banners, alchohols
iv) Future co-operation with the Resident Welfare Associations
v) Commitment, once elected, not to take commissions from the contractors on local works undertaken, not to support irregular constructions, encroachments, etc. Any other commitments warranted in the context of the area
vi) Commitment to be the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ Ward Committee, which is, in other words, the Executive Committee of the Area
Federation of the RWAs, as far as that ward is concerned. Note: The Government might statutorily form such Peoples’ Ward Committees soon.
vii) Such a candidate, even if he or she belongs to a Party, once elected, would accept to function in cooperation with all other political parties as
far as the area development is concerned.
d) Selecting some eminent residents of the area to be the independent observers at the polling booths in cooperation with the Election Commission.
e) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: Go out and Vote with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ options.
Option II a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable
candidates with a threat to campaign against them. A common letter could be
drafted and sent..
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in
the election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans, food, police
arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) Organising Common Platforms of all the candidates for the benefit of the voters, without neglecting the independent candidates and to seek commitments,
such as,
i) Non-violence in words and acts in the election campaign
ii) Transparency in election expenditure, amount and mode of spending
iii) Pollutions during elections: noise, defacing walls, banners, alcohols
iv) Future co-operation with the Resident Welfare Associations
v) Commitment, once elected, not to take commissions from the contractors on local works undertaken, not to support irregular constructions, encroachments, etc. Any other commitments warranted in the context of the area
vi) Commitment to be the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ Ward Committee, which is, in other words, the Executive Committee of the Area
Federation of the RWAs, as far as that ward is concerned. Note: Such Peoples’ Ward Committees might be statutorily formed by the Government, after elections.
vii) Such a candidate, even if he or she belongs to a Party, once elected, would accept to function in cooperation with all other political parties
as far as the area development is concerned.
d) At the end of the common platform, the area Federation to hold consultations with each of its member-RWAs and to select one or more
candidates worthy of being supported in each ward, based on a pre-established criteria and their commitments. U-FERWAS can establish such criteria.
e) Such candidates’ election campaign would be run by the Federation of RWAs with no cost to the candidates
f) Selecting some eminent residents of the area to be the independent observers at the polling booths in cooperation with the Election Commission.
g) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: ‘Go out and Vote’with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ optionsOption III
a) Writing to all political parties warning them against nominating undesirable
candidates with a thret to campaign against them. A common letter could be
drafted and sent by U-FERWAS as well.
b) Cooperating with the Corporation staff and the State Election Commission in the
election process, such as, facilities for setting up the booths, fans, food, police
arrangements, etc., where necessary.
c) At the level of each polling station or in each RWA, we will hold an Area
Sabha of all the residents (where there will be about 1,000 voters). They would choose an Area Representative for good governance,
including those who are active in political parties. Later, s/he would be a member of the Peoples’ ward committee.
d) Series of in-camera (private) meetings of all the Area Representatives for good governance would be held, in order to choose one
among them as the RWA’s candidate for each ward covered by the Area Federation.
e) Such a candidate’s campaign would be run by the Area Federation of RWAs with no cost to him or her.
f) Campaigning before the day of election in the area: ‘Go out and Vote’ with Tendered Vote and ‘None of the Above’ options
g) He or she becomes the ex-officio chairperson of the Peoples’ ward committee, which would be formed by the Government after the elections.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER & SPECIAL OFFICER
GREATER HYDERABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Present: Dr. C.V.S.K. Sarma, I.A.S.
Commissioner & Special Officer, GHMC
No.2332/AC(H&S)/ GHMC/2007 Dated: 13.08.2007
Sub:- GHMC – Health & Sanitation Dept – Entrustment of Sanitation,
Maintenance of Street Lighting and Maintenance Parks to Resident
Welfare Associations - Certain Instructions issued – reg.
Ref:- Meeting with the Resident Welfare Associations on 11.08.2007
< > < > < >
ORDER:-
During the interaction meeting with the Federation of Resident Welfare Associations on 11.08.2007, certain issues have been raised by the Resident Welfare Associations, which needs immediate attention of the GHMC.
The Resident Welfare Associations mentioned that previously, the officials of GHMC had the practice of having interaction the Resident welfare Associations periodically and majority of the issues were be discussed and resolved. Now the practice has been discontinued and requested to restore the same.
In view of the above, all the Zonal Commissioners, Dy. Commissioners are directed to have a periodical interaction/ dialogue sessions with the Resident Welfare Associations along with all departmental officials as they are one of the main stake holders of the civic body.
This session will be once in a month at Circle level and once in two months at Zonal Commissioner level.
All the Additional Commissioners are also directed to attend the Zonal level interactive/ dialogue sessions to resolve the grievances.
During the meeting, as per the request of the R.W.A’s, it was considered to agree to entrust the work of sanitation, maintenance of street lights, maintenance of parks to the Resident Welfare Association, who come forward to take up the activity experimental basis. It will eliminate the contract system and create a sense of belongingness which will substantially improve the quality of the work and more over reduce the grievances level and improve the satisfaction level.
All the Asst. Medical Officers of Health, Dy. Commissioners, and Zonal Commissioners are requested to bestow their personal interest to interact with the Resident Welfare Associations and entrust the sanitation, maintenance of parks and maintenance of street lights to the Resident Welfare Associations which come forward. Many of the Resident Welfare Associations are showing interest in undertaking the sanitation work.
The Additional Commissioner ( Electrical) and the Additional Commissioner (Parks) will furnish the method of entrustment of works of their respective departments.
All the Zonal Commissioners are requested to submit a report to the undersigned by 20th of this month.
(This has the approval of the Commissioner & Special Officer, GHMC)
// BY ORDER //
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Constitution of UFERWAS
Article no.1
Short title: The name of the organisation shall be Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, UFERWAS.
Article no.2 Location of Office: The location of the Federation shall be within the Hyderabad metropolitain area. Its present office will be:12-13-705/10/AB, Balaji Residency, Gokul Nagar, Tarnaka, Secunderabad- 500 017.
Article no. 3
Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of the Federation, initially, shall cover the total area falling within the Hyderabad Metropolitan and Military Cantonment Board areas, with the possibility of extending it to the entire state of Andhra Pradesh as when the demand for adhesion arises.
Article no.4
Definitions:
¨ FERWAS means Federation of Residents Welfare Associations.
¨ Constituent Units: Means all associations or groups of associations which directly or indirectly deal with the issues relations to the welfare of residents of their respective jurisdiction / area/ locations.
¨ Office Bearers: Means all office bearers of FERWAS including the Executive Council members.
¨ Constitution means the constitution of the FERWAS approved, adopted by the General council and registered.
Article no.5 Structure and Composition: the structure and composition of the Federation shall be
1 General Council: shall comprise of
a) Presidents and Secretaries of all affiliated welfare associations.
b) All office bearers and executive council members who remain elected to the federation.
c) In case of any federation which is a member, at the rate of one member for every ten constituent units.
II Executive Council: shall comprise of all office bearers and executive council members elected and co-opted to the federation.
Article no.6 Aims And Objectives:
I) To endeavor to unite, co ordinate and to bring to one common forum all the resident welfare associations.
II) To strive to preserve, protect the rights obligations, identity etc., of all the constituent welfare associations and its residents.
III) To make representations for the redressal of any grievance put forth by any constituent unit before the MCH, Police, Revenue, RTC, Water works, Electricity etc.,
IV) When required, to take up development works of the zone.
V) To arrange Cultural, Educational, Recreational, Civic and other programmes considering the requirements of Children, Youth, Senior Citizens, Ladies etc.,
VI) To organize mutual benefit schemes, co-operative societies, insurance schemes, etc., to meet needs of the residents.
VII) To arrange inter-state, and international study tours.
VIII) To run and publish Magazines, Journals, News Bulletins, Broachers, Books, Booklets, Souvenirs etc., in the interest of the residents.
IX) To conduct symposiums, work shops, conferences, etc.,
X) To do all that is necessary in the interests of the residents and their welfare associations.
Article no.7 Eligibility for Affiliation: All Resident Welfare associations are eligible for affiliation with the federation. They shall be called as constituent units of the Federation.
Article no.8 Disaffiliation: Any Constituent unit if found indulged in acts prejudicial to the aims, objects of the federation and has done any thing detrimental to the interests of the federation shall be disaffiliated.
Article no.9
Re affiliation: The constituent units disaffiliated under article 8 shall be re affiliated on the specific request made by the units with explanation.
Article 10
Relations with political parties: the federation shall be non – political in nature.
Article no11.
Office Bearers: The following shall be the office bearers of the federation.
1 President II Vice Presidents-5
III General Secretary VI Secretaries-5
V Finance Secretary 1 VI Executive Council Members –7
VII. Co-opted members= 4 VIII Jt. Finance Secretary
Total= 25
Article no 12:
Term of Office: The term of office shall be two years from the date of election of the office bearers. The office bearers and executive council members shall continue to hold office for full term of two years, even if they are not elected as president or secretary in their respective units in the subsequent elections.
Article no 13: Election of office bearers:
a) The general council of the federation shall elect the office bearers, from among the members of the general council. Any mid term vacancy shall however be filled in by co- option by the executive council.
b) The constituent units shall clear off their due subscriptions if any, before filing nominations for any post of office bearers or for casting their votes in election.
Article no.14. Powers and functions of the President:
1) The president shall be the head of the federation.
2) Shall preside over all executive council and general council meetings etc.,
3) Shall exercise casting vote if needed.
4) Shall supervise all developments, functions, problems and issues of the constituent units and also the federation and to initiate, appropriate and timely action.
Article no. 15: Powers and functions of the Vice President:
1) The Vice Presidents shall assist the President in all of his activities. The invited Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President, in his absence.
2) He shall perform special duties if any assigned to him either by the general council, or by the executive council.
Article no.16 Powers and functions of the General Secretary:
I The General Secretary is responsible for preservation and maintenance of all records, registers, stores and all movable and immovable properties of the federation.
II He shall execute all policies, decisions and resolutions taken in the executive council and the General Council.
III. He shall deal with all official correspondence.
IV. Shall issue notices for convening the meetings of executive council and general council, in consultation with the president. Shall also prepare minutes of all meetings.
V. Shall prepare annual and other reports and place before the executive council for its approval, before presenting to the general council.
VI Shall be responsible for proper accounting of the funds of the federation and for submission of up to date account statements jointly with the finance secretary.
VII. Shall incur expenditure up to Rs. 1,000/- subject to ratification by the Executive Council.
Article no. 17:Powers and Functions of the Finance Secretary (Treasurer)
1. Shall prepare detailed account statements quarterly and annually in consultation with the General secretary and the President and present the same to the executive council before presenting it to the General Council for its final Approval.
2. Shall get all expenditures incurred by the federation duly audited by the approved auditor.
3. Shall receive all subscriptions and other moneys of the federation and issue receipts there of.
4. Shall open an account in the name of the federation in any of the nationalized Banks to be jointly operated by any two of the following.
1. Finance Secretary and either
2. General Secretary or
3. President
5.Shall make payments of all bills approved by the President and General Secretary.
6.Shall keep an amount not exceeding Rs. 100/-, as imprest.
Article no 18: Powers and Functions of Secretaries:
- Shall perform the functions of the General Secretary in his absence.
- Shall attend to the works specially allotted either by the Executive Council or by the General Council.
1 The General Council shall be supreme policy making organ of the federation.
2.Shall hold not less than three meetings in a year.
- Shall discuss and ratify the decisions, policies and programs taken up by the executive council.
- Shall approve the annual accounts and annual reports.
- Shall elect the office bearers and executive council members once in two years, from out of the members of the General Council.
- shall amend any of the articles of the constitution with 2/3 majority of the members present, who, at the same time, form the majority of the members on roll.
1.The executive council shall be the main executive body of the federation.
2. Shall chalk out detailed action plan for all the policies, programmes and decisions taken by the General Council and shall endeavor for their execution and implementation.
3. Shall affiliate new welfare associations to the federation and re affiliate / or de affiliate depending upon the circumstances.
4. Shall fill up the mid term vacancies if any by co- option.
5.Shall appoint special committees or sub committees for specific purposes when warranted.
6. Shall finalize the annual reports, annual and quarterly account statements before presenting to the General Council.
- Shall assign special duties to any of the office bearers specially to the Secretaries.
- Shall meet at least once in a quarter.
- Shall co-opt any talented or experienced persons to the executive council, not exceeding 4 members.
- Shall enjoy all powers, functions identity, and status, which they enjoyed prior to their affiliation to the federation.
- Shall enjoy equal rights and privileges in the federation irrespective of their size.
- Shall seek any help or assistance or co-operation from the federation on any of their local issues.
- Shall scrupulously follow and implement the policies, programmes and decisions of the federation.
- Shall pay a subscription of Rs. 500/-per annum to the Confederation.
1. Notice period for regular executive council meetings 3 days
2.Notice period for emergency executive council meetings 2 days
3. Notice period for regular general council meetings 15 days
4. Notice period for emergency general Council meetings. 5 days
Article no. 24: Legal Matters: The general Secretary shall sue and be sued for and on behalf of the federation.
Article no.25. Amendments: The articles of the constitution shall be amended by the General Council, convened with clear notice and specific agenda by 2/3 majority of members present and a majority of the members on roll.
Article no. 26: Dissolution: In the event of dissolution by General Council with its 2/3 majority of members on roll, the assets of the federation shall be handed over to another equally distributed among all the constituent units.
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DOCUMENTS TO BE IN THE POSESSION OF A RWA
1. Land – title from the land owner with link documents & Encumbrance Certificate.
2. Soil certificate signed by an engineer.
3. Development charges paid either to the municipality or to HUDA
4. Original Approved Building plan with demarcation of common areas, cellar, terrace.
5. Latest Approved Building plan Amended, if any.
6. Fit for Occupation Certificate by the Municipal authorities.
7. Property Tax Assessment.
8. Water & Sewerage : Permissions, Receipts for Laying charges.
9. Electricity: Transformer ownership, Guarantee document.
10. Lift: Purchase, guarantee documents, maintenance contract.
11. Copy of any Application made under Building Regulation (1998) Scheme (B.R.S).
12. U.L.C. clearance and receipts of payments
13. Parking Plan in the Cellar and copies of any separate registrations of parking to the residents.
14. Certificate from the Fire Services Department.
15. Certificate of pest-control treatment of the building-foundations.
16. Copies of title deeds of all apartment owners with addresses
17. Plan of internal wiring for electricity, cables, telephones, etc.
18. Plan to identify the earthing and lightening arresters for electric shocks, lightning, thunders
19. Plan of internal underground pipes for electricity, drinking water and drainage.
20. Rain Harvesting pit details
21. Any legal precautionary document filed, such as, a caveat against demolition, any temporary construction, etc. filed by the builder.
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GREATER ALWAL ALLIED SERVICE ASSOCIATION (GAASA) ALWAL SUGGESTS
THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE ROLE OF RWA’S
IN RELATIONS WITH GHMC, STATE AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS.
We as a civil society can make a significant contribution to the development process, both on our own and by working in partnership with government. It is time we recognize the value of establishing an environment where civil society can flourish, and the importance of good governance and of an effective dialogue be enriched among the main stakeholders. The framework of activities involved in the development of civil society includes three operational courses of action on which I am centering attention on;
i) Emphasis on our participationin the implementation of the projects. This involvement also promotes "social control" over government programs and the development of participatory democracy. UFERWAS has to enlarge itself to participate in many consultation and decision-making processes at local level - for example ward committees, budget consultations, ward meetings, Integrated Development Planning Forums, etc. If we want to represent people and struggle for their interests, it is very important we do this so as to understand the level of services that are available, the ways services can be delivered and the choices for how best to deliver services for each Municipal circle.
ii) The other course of action I am focusing on is the direct promotion of the autonomous development of our constituent civil society organizations and their ability to generate and carry out UFERWAS initiatives. Our most important task would be to find out the needs of its citizens and how best we can make the local bodies to provide for these needs. This can be achieved by identifying a functional RWA, (which should be an affiliate of UFERWAS), in each Municipality circle and make it the centre point for all other RWA’s within that respective Circle to pool their services in. Such identified RWA within each Circle should be able to shoulder responsibility and collect the requirements of Civic Amenities within that Circle and forward it for redress and follow up action. This action has already been experimented with success at Alwal GHMC by GAASA and GAASA is now identified by GHMC, Water works and other agencies of Government as an umbrella organization of RWA’s within GHMC Alwal Circle.
iii) Further another strategy we envisage is giving scope to involve Women or Mahila Mandalis in UFERWAS activities. This is one area which we could involve with to advance our movement. We from GAASA have found that all Civic Amenity deficiencies are first spotted by Women. Therefore involving them within the UFERWAS framework, we can generate further development of civic action in communities. Women are the prime generators of civic action at the micro level, and as such can make a significant contribution to UFERWAS participation in government projects and to furthering collective action aimed at meeting community objectives.
ROLE OF CONSTITUENT RWA’s OF UFERWAS.
The constituent RWA’s of UFERWAS at first must determine what services its municipality is providing, who is receiving it and what is the quality of the thereof. For example: How often is the garbage collected?
Secondly, the constituent units of UFERWAS must determine what services should be expanded or improved. Are some areas in the community very dirty and poorly maintained?
Thirdly, the priorities for expanding or improving services must be decided which should be area or municipality specific.
Use RTI for all projects undertaken by GHMC / other service providers in their respective Municipal Circle to review quality and procedures. This should be a regular feature which would disclose budgets, tenders, projects, revenues, financial statements, etc.
Seek legal remedy for ineffective or partisan approaches / actions of Service providers.
UFERWAS as a nodal agency for all RWA’s within the City and elsewhere could have a database as to which services needs to be expanded or improved, timeframes and targets be developed for each municipality. Further UFERWAS can decide the best ways to reach the goals by suggesting the same to GHMC and other agencies by arranging or having a fixed scheduled meeting with those officials. UFERWAS must decide what resources - financial, equipment, and skills - it will require to meet its goals.
Further UFERWAS must be ready to shoulder responsibility of taking over a service as and when a municipality discovers that it does not have sufficient resources and may decide that it will phase out the provision of services or only provide it to a section of the community. It will also need to rethink how it will implement the provision of services. In other words, we should provide the service directly. For this we need to be ready with a strategy of having a database of members of RWA’s, their skills and their occupations.
At the State Government level, there is a need for UFERWAS to take up the following strategies;
- Implementation of 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA) for early formation of District Planning and Metropolitan Planning Committees.
- A revision of the manner of conducting Elections / nominations to the Area Sabhas / Ward Committees.
- Bring in a dialogue or suggest procedures for effective preparation of electoral rolls.
- UFERWAS could be a catalyst in areas where there is insufficient political consensus at state and municipal levels for the reform agenda, particularly regarding proper pricing of services.
- Monitoring of the Welfare Schemes allocated by the State and Central Government at RWA level on regular basis by interaction with officials.
- Being responsive to Integration of City Planning and Delivery Function with GHMC
- Accounting Reformations and advice on Tax Collection by interactions amongst RWA’s.
- Provide a single authority for common billing for property tax, electricity, water under one bill for best revenue collections and eliminate tax evaders.
- Introduction of audit of all funds being released and spent by Municipalities.
- Preparation of Annual Balance Sheets.
- Property Tax Reforms
- Suggest regulation or law for provision of certain minimum level of services.
- Introduction of Self Assessment System (SAS) for property tax and introduction of compulsory payment of property tax by ECS from Bank accounts of owners.
- Administrative and Structural Reforms
- HRD policy w.r.t Municipal Cadre
- Encouraging Public Private Partnership in provision of Civic Services.
play in the planning an implementation of programs. Some of these are:
· We need to ascertain for ourself our needs and assist the municipality to accurately decide on those services to be expanded and improved, particularly during the planning stages and insisting that the council consults us, the RWA’s as citizens, during decision-making.
· RWA’s should also work with NGO's and political parties to develop proposals for council to consider.
· UFERWAS can also appeal to the GHMC to appoint a committee of community RWA representatives to monitor processes as well as to advise the municipality on priorities for service extension and improvement.
· RWA’s or their representatives could also play some role in the evaluation of potential service providers, the involvement of communities in service provision and monitoring of the performance of service providers.
In short we should be examples of self regulation for others to emulate us.
I dream that by making UFERWAS stronger we could by the time of next council elections, elect atleast 40 representative RWA’s by citizens of our respective RWA’s to be on the GHMC Council. This kind of involvement from citizens will ensure that municipal planning and decision-making process will reflect their needs and priorities and will lead to the types of decisions that will make for an open, fair and democratic local government.
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CORWA -2014-2016
Col Tejendra Pal Tyagi, Ghaziabad Federation of RWAs, Convener- 09313922889
Dr Rao VBJ Chelikani, U-FERWAS, Hyderabad, President-9849067498
Sharad Kumar, AGNI, Mumbai, Secretary General-09869403721M.
S. Venugopal,Residents’ apex Council of Kerala (RACK), Thiruvanthapuram,Treasurer -09349494933
Sunil Kumar, Khammam, Joint Treasurer- 9989671925
Executive Vice Presidents: N. Muthu Swamy, Chennai RWA-09444040846Sridhar Pabbisetty, BRAS - 9916298421B T Srinivasan, U-FERWAS, in charge, Tarnaka Times -9347378072 Nagarjunan JMS of FOCUSS- Chennai-09841045145Major Shiv Kiran, UFERWAS-9849047827M Nagaraja, Banashankari III Stage, Bengaluru 560 085, 09880719499Secretaries: Nitin Nanaji Gadewar, Nagpur -9423640685Yash Khanagwal, Nabi Karim RWA, New Delhi-09312929502; National RWA DayAshwin Kumar Nallari, SriLakshminagar Colony, Old Alwal- 9849194366 Media &CommunicationsHaseenuddine, Old Delhi-09891433932
GRS Prasad Rao, SCOTRWA, Hyderabad, in charge of the secretariat- 8497960066
Executive Members:I.Founder Members:Bengalore III Phase Welfare Association, Bengaluru, KarnatakaFewderation of RWAs, Ghaziabad, U.P.
Residents’ Apex Council of Kerala RACK), Trivandrum, KeralaAgni, Mumbai, MaharastraCeebros Gardens Owners and Residents Association, Chennai, Tamil NaduUnited Federation of RWAs (UFERWAS) A.P. & Telangana Nabi Karim RWA, New Delhi, NCRPanchadeep nagar RWA, NagpurTara Residency Welfare Association, Sasram, BiharII. Shevata Talwar, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, Coordinator -09897132775P. Sukumaran, Vice-president FRAT, Trivandrum -09400571450Ruparel Marg Residents Asso. Mumbai,Dr. Meenakshi Bharath, Benguluru -09845011757, in charge Swachch BharatMissionAleyamma Jain, USOI, New Delhi-09871773790K.K. Uikey, Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Coordinator-08390727320Shaik Zakeeruddine, Aurangabad, coordinator-09326205556