Delhi finds a new power centre in RWAs

NEW DELHI: Hearth and home - words that inspire images of tranquillity and rest - have become the unlikely space for spawning a civic revolution in Delhi.
Increasingly political parties are being forced to acknowledge the power of the people, or at least, those who have organised themselves into Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs).
Until four years ago, RWAs were considered a motley group of regular pensioners who took to looking after their housing societies to keep themselves engaged.
A combination of a government-led "partnership" programme on civic issues, Bhagidari and the realisation that they could be influential, has made them a powerful pressure group in the city.
So powerful that RWAs'' demand for Bhagidari to be given the status of a statutory body with financial powers has sent the government into hiding.
"We have suggested that we be given more powers, but the government seems reluctant to let go of its control," said M K Mohanty, convenor of the apex Bhagidari association.
While Bhagidari swelled from the ranks of just 20 RWAs in January 2000 to 1300 in 2004, RWAs have discovered the power of collective bargaining.
They successfully raised their voices to black out the conditional access system (CAS) from south Delhi, insisted on attending innumerable hearings for the implementation of property tax, and played a pivotal role in getting private power distribution company BSES admit there was a problem with their billing software.
"Every citizen has a civic responsibility. It is easier to solve our day-to-day problems ourselves," explains Arun Sharma, a Hauz Khas resident.