Delhi: RWAs come up with people’s manifesto for MCD elections
The umbrella body of Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Delhi have issued a charter of demands seeking a more ‘liveable, breathable and commutable’ city.
The umbrella body of Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in Delhi have come up with a ‘People’s Manifesto’ for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, issuing a charter of demands seeking a more “liveable, breathable and commutable” city.
The manifesto issued by United RWAs Joint Action (URJA) has demanded that monitoring groups at ward level in the form of Nagrik Safayi Nigrani Samitis (NSNS) should be constituted with participation of local councillors, RWAs, market associations to monitor the waste management and sanitation services at ward level.
The manifesto proposes that newly constituted MCD must improve local area planning at ward level and coordinate with RWAs under Public-Private Partnership mode to constitute Residents Ward Committee within 3-6 months in order to increase transparency and citizen participation. It covers seven key demands, outlines 12 goals related civic woes faced by the residents of Delhi on themes of sanitation, air pollution, drainage, civic governance, public mobility and green spaces.
In wake of the financial crisis plaguing the MCD over the last decade, URJA has demanded a clear blueprint of the budgetary requirement for each municipal department along with available funds and way forward to fill the gap. “Parties should provide a mechanism to involve citizens and RWAs while presenting a mechanism of accountability and a review process for MCD,” the manifesto said. “Ring-fencing of sources of revenue should be carried out for utilisation for pre-designated expenses, for example tax collection from vehicles should only be utilised for improving public transport,” it added.
URJA president Atul Goyal said that the corporation should publish a road map in the first 100 days of new councillors assuming office with measurable, time bound and ward-specific goals to achieve citizen demands over the next five years. “This helps to give a sense of direction for each department, the residents and other agencies in Delhi to accordingly evaluate the soundness of the plan and align themselves with it. The road map must be followed by publishing regular reports on progress of the road map, budget allocated and expenditure, as well as conduct a publicly available performance audit by the CAG,” Goyal said.
MCD 2022 elections have seen a lot of focus on Delhi’s sanitation crisis and its oversaturated landfill sites. Among the goals for MCD, the manifesto calls for joint monitoring committees for sanitation, a road map for annual reduction in landfill size and waste destined for landfills, ward-level centres for the collection and processing of different fractions of waste.
Shailja Chandra, the former chief secretary of Delhi, said that the municipal corporation’s sanitary and veterinary staff have maximum interface with RWAs and residents but they are mostly invisible. “There is need for a fixed monthly meeting in every colony between the supervisors along with ground level cleaning, veterinary and horticulture staff with the colony RWA and residents where local issues can be brought up. RWAs should be asked to rate the responsiveness of the staff each month. More accountability is needed,” Chandra added. URJA will present the manifesto to all three major political parties seeking signed pledges from ward-level candidates, Goel said.
Dr. H. C. Gupta, president of the federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs, said that the movement of stray cattle on busy roads is a traffic hazard and hampers public mobility. “There must be strict monitoring and control mechanism in cooperation with community leaders to bring desired results and make Delhi more walkable and liveable for its citizens.” Jasbir Chadda, general secretary of URJA, said that the pollution action plans need to take bottom-up approach to tackle ward-level pollution sources instead of a generic, one-size-fits-all approach and solutions.