Eighth National Conference of RWAs Held Successfully

 

Hon'ble Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurating the meet virtually

 The eighth national conference of RWAs was organized at Ghaziabad UP from 23rd to 24th November 2021, at Krishna Engineering College by the Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations (CoRWA):  the National Apex Body of RWAs and Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations-Uttar Pradesh (CoRWA-UP) -an Apex body of RWAs at state level of Uttar Pradesh. The focal theme of this conference was “Drinking Water”. The 8th NCRWA was endorsed and supported by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Jal Shakti Ministry of the Government of India.

Establish a Link between Government and RWAs, Minister Urges

Cabinet Minister of the Union Govt. for Jal Shakti, Honourable Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ji inaugurated the 8^th NCRWA and said that rain water harvesting and making use of the grey water are the main remedies to tackle the water scarcity problem. He said that 2000 laboratories have been established in the country to test the quality of water and pipe line water supply has been accomplished for 5 crore houses in the country and the aim is to join every house with piped water by 2024. He categorically invited a delegation of CoRWA to frame modalities of establishing a regular link between the Government and the RWAs for Rainwater Harvesting and use of Grey Water.

The Chief Guest for the inaugural session Honourable Shri Anil Agrawal ji, MP Rajya Sabha from Ghaziabad, said that it is a matter of great pride for all of us that a National Conference of RWAs is being organised in Ghaziabad. Regional Pollution Control Board officer, Shri Utsav Sharma informed the house that he has started a Van which would collect used electronic goods like computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, UPS, televisions, inverter, etc. from house to house so that their indiscreet dismantling and burning could be stopped to reduce air pollution.  A logo design and a flag as prepared by Shri Nageshwara Rao were released on this occasion. 

Shri VV Rao from Telengana pointed out that storm water management of rain water has to be integrated with recharge and disposal facilities. Dr KSR Murthy from Visakhapatnam presented a white paper on water pollution and water conservation. Mrs. Madhuri Subbarao from Bangalore played a video on PHENKO MAT and brought out that water is finite and hence water saved is water generated. Shri B Iyarappan from Chennai supported the concept of Interlinking of Rivers in
phases. Shri Ramesh Prabhu from Mumbai presented a plan to loop in RWAs from different corners of the Country. Shri TV Nageshwara Rao from Gajuwaka brought out the crying need of making the Footpaths encroachment-free in every city. Shri Venu Gopal from Trivandrum emphasized on the need of developing QRT (Quick Reaction Team) culture in all Nagar Nigams.

Shri Atul Goel from URJA Delhi said that accountable relationship between local authorities and the RWAs is the key to mitigate all woes. Former Director of the Institute of Science and Technology Shri B. Venketeshwara Rao called for disciplining the RO installers to set the TDS of treated water to at least 150 milligram per litre. Shri Pankaj Agarwal from DRJF & Ms Naveena Sridhar from Malleswaram Swabhiman Initiative, spoke on methods of recharging the water bodies. The kind of
questions asked and the replies given in this session have been highly educative.

Day Two:

The second day of the Conference was joined by Health Minister of the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh Honourable Shri Atul Garg, MLA Honourable Shri Sunil Sharma, Chairman of DERC Justice Shabihul Hasnain, Vice Chairman of NDMC Honourable Shri Satish Upadhyay, Member of UP RERA Shri Balvinder Kumar, City Commissioner Shri Mahendra Singh Tanwar, IAS, Member of the Central Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India Shri Abhay Upadhyay from Kolkota, besides many other distinguished intelligentsia from National Capital Region. RERA authorities were urged in no uncertain terms that they should take suo motu cognizance of the erring builders, unethical practices and the on-going projects to reduce the load on mediation cells in the total interest of the home buyers. Municipal authorities were told to specify the service level bench marks before claiming the performance grants sanctioned to them as per the 14^th Finance commission. Service level bench marks should be publicised in a big way and the satisfaction level should be vindicated by the local RWAs. There should be no beating around the bush. Every minute of the Conference was transacting business.

A Souvenir was published to commemorate this event bringing out the details of the steps which can be taken at the Govt. level, RWA level and Individual level to check water pollution and increase water conservation and to deliver municipal services with efficiency.

The Chief Convener of the National Conference of RWAs Col Tejendra Pal Tyagi brought out that National President and Founder of CoRWA Dr Rao VBJ Chelikani is the fountain-head of the National Conferences of RWAs which he started in Hyderabad, way back in 2012. His birth day and the beginning of this legacy – 23rd NOV has been taken as the RWA day. Col Tyagi said that RWAs are mini- municipalities, while still being much bigger than many village Panchayats that are given the status of a separate local government. It is for this reason that no office-bearer of RWA can afford to be in favour of a political party or caste or religion, as the urban community is very diverse, unlike in the rural communities. Every RWA is a primary school of Democracy. RWA are the grass root level of democracy. The contact of RWAs with its people is direct, effective, instant and intimate. Therefore, no social audit is required for the works done by RWAs since the office bearers are beneficiaries themselves. 

A demand was raised, loudly and clearly, in this Conference that RWAs should be given constitutional status and empowered, and they should be treated as the fourth tier of the Governance. Earlier, the national conferences of RWAs were organized at Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Delhi, Trivandrum, Bangalore and Mumbai which were inaugurated by the then Minister of Housing Honourable Shri Venkaiah Naidu Ji, Honourable Shri Hardeep Singh Puri Ji , Honourable Shri Sashi Tharoor ji, Honourable Shri Mahesh Sharma ji in the august presence of many other constitutional authorities.

Resolutions Passed: 

In order to strengthen the RWAs, 11 proposals were made during the current Conference which were subsequently passed as Resolutions unanimously by the house:
1. We are at this Conference are releasing a Vision Statement of the RWAs – a manifesto to participate in the governance, as the 4th tier.
2. To take RWA-Specific Commitments for the Mitigation and to Adapt to Climate Change as a follow up to our PM's Commitments at the Glasgow Conference.
3. To re-issue an updated "Practical Guide on Water Management for RWAs" released at the 7th NCRWA, with particular emphasis on "Drinking Water"
4. To continue to participate in 'Clean & Green India' mission by following domestic plantation

5. Launching an appeal to RERA authorities in States to provide representation to RWAs in their Mediation Cells.

6. To work for the Preparation of a National Directory of RWAs
7. RWA Federations to form Panels of Election Observers to conduct elections in RWAs & AOAs
8. Special attention to the "80+ among the Elderly" in cooperation with All India Senior Citizens Confederation (AISCCON) and All India Retired Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRRF).
9. Campaign for extensive utilization of digital and IT technology for the management of the RWAs.
10. Campaign to set up Ward committees, as mentioned in the 74th Amendment to the Constitution with RWAs in the center stage.

General Body Meeting of CoRWA Conducted
A General Body Meeting of CoRWA-Nation and CoRWA-UP was also conducted wherein the following main decisions were taken:

1. South Zone of CoRWA will be looked after by Shri K. Raghvendra Rao of Hyderabad as Convener and Shri Balgurunathan Iyerappan as Additional Convener.
2. A National Core Team comprising Shri Harshul Kaushik, Shri Shivam Jindal, Shri Ishan Tyagi is constituted to develop the youth wing of RWAs all across the Country. It is supposed to act as the cutting edge of the sword.
3. The next National Conference will be held at Chennai, other things remaining the same.
4. The present Team of CoRWA will continue to work for one more year before elections are held.
5. The Executive Committee of CoRWA-UP may be redesigned or reconstituted through a core committee comprising Col TP Tyagi, DR R K Arya, Pawan Kaushik, Jay Dixit, Kailash Chandra and MK Sharma. The whole programme was organized by the Team CoRWA-UP and every member of the team displayed not only exceptional sincerity and decency in welcoming the guests, but also raised funds on their own unlike the last 7th  NCRWA when we got financial support from the Government of India.

Col Tejendra Pal Tyagi

Chief Convener, National Conference and CoRWA