Newsletter dated 23rd December, 2008 : for distribution to all Delhi RWA Chiefs

The annual URJA Convention of 2008: The Annual Convention of URJA was organized on 18th September 2008 at the Constitution Club lawns. This was by far the biggest gathering of RWAs that we have ever had and over 500 RWA members attended to full day event. It was particularly creditable due to the fact that attendees paid a Delegate Fee of Rs 100 to attend and it also signifies the seriousness with which this event is now being taken. The evnt flow was already distributed among yourselves but to recap, the morning session was attended by Mayor Arti Mehra and Chairman of the Standing Committee Vijendra Gupta who were both questioned repeatedly on various issues of civic concern by members. The idea of formation of Resident Ward Committees was forcefully argued for by Dr. H.C. Gupta of North Zone and supported unanimously by RWA members present. This session was followed by a brief address and session with J.P. Agarwal, President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee after which the lunch break took over.

The post lunch session was attended by Prof. Jagdish Mukhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and then. Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Information Commissioner [CIC] was queried keenly by members of the house. Activists Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan spoke on the issue of the constructions on Yamuna River bed: Anil Mittal spoke on the problems regarding the Cooperative Housing Societies in Delhi, Udayan Namboodiri of Green Forum spoke on the threats of plastic bags and the new laws banning their use and the possibility of introducing organic bags and finally Vinod Jain of Tapas spoke about the flaws in the power sector which are resulting in fast running meters and high electricity tariffs. This meeting also scored a first for URJA in that we invited a number of newly formed RWAs from the unauthorised colonies of Delhi to understand their concerns and find a common way out for the city. A special mention was made of this year’s Times of India’s Lead India campaign whose six of eight finalists are now associated with People’s Action and who were presented to the audience on this occasion. The Lead India finalists who are now working with us are Dr. Nimmi Rastogi, Prahant Dogra, Satyam Darmora, Rachna Bisht and Prateek Rajvanshi.

We would like to express out thanks to all URJA Zonal Committee Members who worked hard to make this event a success and also those who contributed with donations and time to work with us. Particular mention may be made of the East Zone leadership whose members were represented in the largest numbers at the event.

Yamuna issue: High Court observations and Supreme Court intervention: The case in the Hight Court on the issue of constructions on the river bed of Yamuna   found a split verdict from the two-member bench of Justice Sikri and Justice Rekha Sharma with both finally agreeing to the setting of a special committee under the charge of Dr. R.K. Pachauri to evaluate if the ongoing constructions were going to affect the ecology of the river. However, in a speedy response the Government moved an application in the Supreme Court through the various organs of the Government including the construction company MGF Emaar and which fast tracked the ruling and held that a stay would not be provided. The petitioners in this case were Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh, INTACH, Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan and Sanjay Kaul, President, People’s Action. Our case was fought by Sanjay Parikh and his team. The Solicitor General of India appeared for the Government, while Arun Jaitley appeared for MGF Emaar, the construction company. This is just another example of failed governance where an 11-day event will have primacy over a river of national importance and heritage.

Court upholds our petition for Blueline Victims compensation: The High Court held that in the case of Blueline victims the fines collected from Bus operators whose buses killed people should be distributed among victims families. This brought to a close a hard fought battle which found the current administration headed by Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf negligent towards such deaths which occurred with shameful regularity. This petition which was filed as an association of victims was created by People’s Action with the help of URJA members who demonstrated vigorously against the government on this issue although last year. We also thank Advocate Jasbir Sahwney for his contribution towards this cause although finally the issue was settled through the amicus curiae on a suo moto action by the Court.

Delhi Elections results and our role in future: The results of the Delhi elections came as a surprise of most people as it was expected that the sharp anti-incumbency against the Congress Government would result in their defeat. Without going into the merits of the case, for URJA it only means that we will have to continue to battle an increasingly arrogant regime which refuses to accept its shortcomings with brazen incompetence. Our campaigns of the last few years have consistently proved us as winners: we won when we protested the power tariff hike: we won when we protested the illogical MYT regime: we won when we argued that RWAs and Traders are not different communities but parts of the same process and that encroachment on another’s property or demarcated areas cannot be tolerated in a law abiding society: we won when we protested the Blueline deaths and the BRT - in each case we fought a wrong policy of the government and that continues to be our guiding mantra.

BRT: Pause and delete: The BRT madness claimed two more lives since we last discussed the issue and it has become increasingly clear that nobody wants it. In a sample survey undertaken by us among all RWA group heads in the vicinity of the BRT track we found a 85% rejection of the idea. Even those who said that it was a conceptually good idea said that they would not want it in their areas when this question was put to them. It remains to be seen if the current administration, now back in power, would continue their arrogant programme or will better sense prevail. Our view remains the same: if the majority of RWAs have rejected it, it must go.
 
Meters and related issues: A number of RWAs and individual members have been calling us frantically asking for a response to the tactics of BSES and NDPL as regards meter change. While we had advised many members to hold out and delay the DISCOMS until the election results are out expecting that a change in regime would allow for a more people friendly policy, it is clear that there can be no relief as of now. Consequently, we have advised residents that there is no hope of stalling the meter change since the DISCOMS would be doubly strengthened now. Our counsel remains the same: the meters were changed without due diligence and as such did not meet the specifications required under the Central Electricity Authority rules. However, since the Govt. and the DISCOMS

Formation of Resident Ward Committees [RWC] : After the unanimous decision of RWAs at the URJA Convention in favour of the Resident ward Committees, we have developed  a modified set of rules of association which is being presented to the MCD leadership to consider and initiate implementation of the scheme in right earnest. We have been assured by the current leadership of the MCD that the scheme would be put into practice and it could be started in wards where RWCs have been formed and/or where the Councillor has been involved in the process. It is our estimation that at least 25 wards are ready for such a formation and we request all RWAs to immediately take this up at the local ward level and formalize Ward Committees.

Development of URJA Committees at Assembly Level: The months of June, July and August were spent by URJA functionaries in mobilising members to form URJA Committees at Assembly level which would further devolve into Ward level Committees. This concept has been explained at various forums by Mr. Sanjay Kaul and it is being repeated here once again for clarity of members : The Resident Ward Committee [RWC] is meant to be an official body that would be registered with the MCD and its functions would be to prioritize ward level development. It would have a compulsory meeting every month involving the Councillor and there would be a statement of accounts read out after each financial year. This would enhance cooperation, improve efficiency and generate transparency in the MCD’s functioning. The URJA Committees on the other hand would act as activist pressure groups which would work to invoke people power to demand greater accountability and action on issues of importance to residents. URJA Committees have been specifically designed to mimic the political constituency because we believe that democracy answers only to electoral pressures. Our aim is to develop URJA Committees at the Assembly Constituency level and then at Ward and Lok Sabha Constituency levels. You are urged to continue to work as before in the formation of URJA Committees because in our collective strength lies the seed of development for our city. For your records, URJA AC Committees have been formed in 30 assembly segments so far and we have to do the same in the balance 40 constituencies until next March end.

Formation of URJA Senate: To take on the functioning of URJA in a more organsied and broad based manner, it has been decided to constitute a State level URJA Senate which would take on the responsibilities of expanding the URJA group. As first members of this senate, one each long standing associate of the group has been nominated with immediate effect. The Nominees are: North Delhi: Dr. H.C. Gupta; South Delhi: Wing Commander J.S. Chadda; East Delhi: Varinder Arora; West Delhi: Naresh Ummat; Central Delhi, Atul Goyal; Dwarka: Sushil Kumar; Rohini: R.C. Kamboj. Consequently a new set of Area Coordinators is being developed and some of them whose names have been forwarded are listed below, pending formal approval.

“Wishing all URJA members a happy a prosperous new year ahead.”