Newsletter dated 27th August 2006 : for distribution to all Delhi RWA Chiefs
Annual All-Delhi RWA Convention of 14th July 2006: The Annual Convention of RWAs of Delhi to celebrate one year of the work started by People’s Action in Delhi was a grand success in more ways than one. First, it was a jam packed audience that participated: over 100 RWAs participated from every corner of Delhi. Second: it was for the frist time that political leaders of different parties came together on the same platform on the issue of power privatisation in Delhi and the problems faced by people. Third: it was the overwhelming consensus to seek a CBI enquiry by the members of the house that made waves: the resolution that was passed was even seconded by the Congress MLA, Dr. S.C. Vats. All speakers in the first session pointed out to grave irregularities that only confirmed corruption in the DVB privatisation deal. Dr. S.C. Vats offered his committee’s findings to the entire audience and clearly stated that he was under great pressure for having spoken the truth on the issue. Mr. Abani Roy [M.P. Rajya Sabha] of the Revolutionary Socialist Party also indicated that people were sufferers under the private regime whereas they should have been the masters.
Resolution on creating a larger alliance: One of the key decisions taken at the Convention was in the second half where members of the house debated in the presence of key NGOs and activists the issues of poor governance. Mr Bibhu Mohapatra of ADR, Mr Bejon Misra of Consumer Voice and Mr. Anil Sood of Chetna only underlined the same issue – that of growing inefficiency and poor governance. Overall, it was proposed and passed by a full house to mandate People’s Action to reach out to other civil society groups and create a larger body of middle class interests like they did with RWAs through URJA. Work on this is continuing and members will be apprised of developments on this score through press and other mediums.
Delhi Govt’s reaction to the All-Delhi RWA Convention: It was fascinating to see that the Government of Delhi reacted with panic to the Annual RWA Convention called by People’s Action by calling a hurried programme by itself the next day. Expectedly, the CM and members of the Delhi cabinet were appropriately upbraided by residents from different parts of Delhi for the blatant support the CM provides private DISCOMS at the expense of the residents. Water and demolitions, where the CM actually lobbied against RWAs to have a bill passed also have become major issues for Delhiites in the last one year. However, it was disheartening to see that the CMO roped in a few specific RWAs to organise the function for them and who acted like Public Relation Officers for the CM. It is a sad reflection of the Bhagidari scheme that things have come to such a pass. URJA once again reiterates that RWAs must be completely independent of Governmental influence or they will be used for political gain by the state. Sanjay Kaul, President of People’s Action had said earlier at one of the meetings, “The relationship of RWAs and the Government must be that of a seller and a buyer and we must never forget our status as customers. We deserve to be treated with respect and with dignity. We are not the servants, but they. We are not the subjects, but the masters of this dispensation.” URJA maintains that we must be wary of politically aligned groups and guard our independence at all costs. URJA represents that spirit of independence and celebrates it.
Supreme Court response to Govt’s Bill and related issues: The constant tussle between the judiciary and the legislature bodes ill for the future of the city. It is clearly showing that in the friction, the real issue of planning for the city and its residents is being compromised. The chaos has again been deepened with the new order by the SC to re-seal properties released by the Government earlier. It is clear that the government of Delhi’s pressure on the central government has only deepened the crisis. This is clearly a case of ad-hocism and short sighted policies of the state that are coming back to haunt us all.
Meter replacement drive: Due to the defence of private power companies by the Government of Delhi, they have gained enough courage to once again restart meter replacement drives. They are using a new ploy: they first send an inflated bill. Then residents protest. Then they send a meter testing team which promptly pronounces your old meter faulty [ being faster!] and immediately suggest a meter replacement. Our lawyers have argued that the meter companies have no real mandate to replace meters in absence of a clear direction from the DERC on the new specifications of meters. People’s Action has written to the DERC to make their stand public so that unsuspecting consumers do not have to pay through their nose for the lacunae caused by the DERC’s inaction.
Delhi Government’s Petitions Committee: Dr. S.C.Vats, Congress MLA, has now taken over chairmanship of the Petitions Committee of the Delhi Government. The Petitions Committee is a powerful committee that can direct issues to the attention of the Speaker in the assembly and seek answers to the settlement of such petitions. RWAs are advised to draw up petitions on any issues of concern such as power or water and submit it through the local MLA [ petitions must be submitted only through MLAs ] Once that is done, the Petitions committee is empowered to take the issue up at the state level. [ for help on this, attend the event below]
United Students: DUSU Elections intervention : People’s Action has developed a group of active student volunteers who have worked on the reservation issue, the Jessica Lal cases as well as the Priyadarshini Mattoo cases. These students are now carrying out a voter registration drive in colleges of Delhi with a view to educating students of their right to vote. Some members of United Students were called on stage on the 14th July convention to a thunderous applause for the good work they have been doing on various issues. With a view to improve the quality of student leadership within the delhi university, US members have decided o contest the coming polls to DUSU. Their main plank will be reservations, the group has also produced a list of concrete improvements that the campus requires. All URJA members are requested to kindly support the students in any which way they can. To contact them please call Aaditya Dar on 9810215675.
Role of RWAs in the context of city planning: There has been a lot of debate on the role of RWAs recently due to the inclusion of the same in the Tejinder Khanna committee recommendations. While local self government is our constitutional structure of governance, it must not be confused with the role of RWAs which are basically consumer welfare groups in essence. Col. Shivraj Kumar has put it very well in a Letter to the Editor he wrote recently: he has asked that if RWAs are now going to be intervening on civic issues, what will the Councillors and MLAs be required for? This issue needs to be understood more clearly or else some attention seekers may subvert the entire RWA movement to the advantage of a few political groups.
RWAs in electoral domain: The debate sparked off first by Mr. Ramphal of Inderpuri was taken forward recently by Mr Narang of Rajendra Nagar who was reported in the Hindustan Times to have said that they would enter the electoral fray in the absence of any concrete contribution of the local councillor and MLA. Once again, this issue must be thought through intelligently and neither proposed or rejected lightly. Knee jerk reactions can kill good proposals as well as encourage non-serious and flippant candidates to use RWA influence to their benefit. URJA recommends a deeper study of the issue.
URJA Zonal meets: On September 2nd, URJA zonal coordinators have been requested to convene simultaneous meetings in all six zones of Delhi. Consequently, meetings will be held in West, North, East and South Delhi along with Dwarka and Rohini. Please contact the undersigned for your respective zones. The agenda for the meeting will be the issues related to the 14th Convention, issue of prospective tariff hike, meter changes, overbilling, poor service, shortage of power, frequent power cuts and the question of whether the commonwealth games are a priority or power and water for deljhi residents. The important issue of a CBI enquiry inot the DVB privatisation is on top of the agenda. Also to be discussed will be the preparations for the following programme, for which you are cordially invited along with affected consumers of your areas.
Invitation to Delhi’s First People’s Bijli Adalat: Saturday, 9th September at Jantar Mantar :
2.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. People’s Action in association with URJA members is organising the first All-Delhi People’s Bijli Adalat to collect large scale evidence against the current power situation in Delhi.