RWAs should be given Legal Status – National Conference of RWAs in association with Min. of Dev, Govt, of India
24/25 Mar 2015 , Gandhi shanti Pratisthan, deen dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi: The National Conference of Resident Welfare Associations on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan organised by Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations (CoRWA), Confederation Of NCR Resident Welfare Associations(CONRWA), RWA & AOA Federation Ghaziabad, supported by Ministry Of Urban Development, Government Of India was held at Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi on 24th/25th March 2015.
Honourable Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister for Civil aviation, culture and Tourism inaugurated the conference and in his opening remarks he expressed his happiness about the conference and assured best deal involving RWAs in Urban development activities and appreciated the RWA’s efforts in taking up civic issues. He said that the whole process of social work is like “RAMA”. R stands for Romeo i.e a social activist is taken as a person aspiring for some personal gains; A stands for Acquisition i.e there appear internal struggles within the set up; M stands for maintenance i.e the continuity of the work of a social activist is judged for a long time and finally comes A i.e acceptance, “said Dr Mahesh”. He further added that he is personally watching the efforts of the representatives present today since last 20 years and the acceptance limit is well crossed.
Shri Ch Malla Reddy, MP and Member standing Defence Committee of the Government of India, Shri Aasim Khan, Civil supplies Minister, MLA and Ex Minister Delhi Govt. Honourable Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj, Parliamentary Secy Honourable Anil Vajpayee, MLA, were the Guests of Honour.
The National Conference of RWAs highlighted the work carried out by various Resident Welfare Associations from major cities of India. Detailed sessions on topics such as Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan, 74th Amendment to legally Empowering RWAs, NCR issues, Water & Air Pollution were held. Around 300 delegates from New Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bangaluru , Chennai, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Kerala, U.P, Hyderabad and other places shared their RWA experiences in building communities of solidarity and urban development. The assembly of delegates decided to forge a new mechanism for social transformation and ideas for colony development.
The thrust of this conference was on a new urban mixed culture stressing upon improving the quality of life with voluntary efforts in the midst of the complexities of modern life.
A document on National Policy of RWA’s and their role in Urban Management and participation was discussed at the end of the conference and a comprehensive document is being prepared and the same will be presented to Ministry of Urban Development and different state governments to bring about some changes to sustainable Urban development. Some of the resolutions passed in the executive meeting after the National Conference of the RWAs are as under :
Civil Society : There is a vacuum after the Civil Society of Anna’s movement took a political turn. Therefore, Dr VBJ Chelikani(Hyderabad),Shri B T Srinivasan(Hyderabad), Shri Sharad Kumar(Mumbai), Advocate P S Jain(Noida), Shri Chetan Sharma (Delhi), Shri Pankaj Agrawal(Delhi), Shri A S Gulathi (Faridabad) and Col Tejandra Pal Tyagi(Ghaziabad) will henceforth represent the Civil Society of India.
Policy Matters : RWAs should be consulted on all policy matters relating to the Residents without financial powers. At least they should have a say in deciding the priorities. MOHALLA SABHAS are not acceptable since they are proposed to be headed by Political Representative.
Legal Status : Registered RWAs should be given legal status and only one RWA should be registered in an area specific.
At the end Shri Pramod Dhanked, Shri Deepak Yadav, Smt Anuranjana, Shri R K Arya, Shri Pankaj Agarwal, Shri Chandrashekhar, Smt Meenakshi, Smt Sandhya, Shri K P Tyagi, Shri Dinesh Chandra, Shri R S Rathi, Shri Mukesh Agarwal were felicitated from all over the country for doing exceptional work in their respected RWAs/AOAs.
