Assembly polls: Pune residents draft charter of demands for transparent, accountable government - Hindustan Times
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Assembly polls: Pune residents draft charter of demands for transparent, accountable government

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByNadeem Inamdar, Pune
Sep 16, 2019 04:26 PM IST

Citizen forums from NIBM, Kondhwa, Aundh, Baner, Pashan and Chakan participated in the discussion.

With a few weeks to go for the assembly polls, a group of 30 residents of the city have drafted a charter that demands a transparent and an accountable government. A detailed discussion of the demands was held at Patrakar Sangha on Sunday. Citizen forums from NIBM, Kondhwa, Aundh, Baner, Pashan and Chakan participated in the discussion.

A detailed discussion of the demands was held at Patrakar Sangha on Sunday.(HT PHOTO)
A detailed discussion of the demands was held at Patrakar Sangha on Sunday.(HT PHOTO)

The citizen forum and activists have demanded effective implementation of Maharashtra Co-op Societies (MCS) Act, Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act (Mofa), apartment law, Maharashtra Regional Town Planning ( MRTP) Act, Municipal Corporation Act, building construction and permissions department, water supply department, Right to Information Act (RTI ) , Consumer Protection Act, Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act ( RERA ), Maharashra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited ( MSEDCL) and consumer rights.

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The charter especially focussed on the demands of homebuyers  who have allegedly been cheated by builders.

The discussion was organised by Yuvraj Pawar, chairman, Dear Society Welfare Association. “In order to empower residents the government must make amendments to a few Acts. The Acts that are aimed at preventing crime and corruption, are often violated, thus causing inconvenience to the residents. With the assembly polls being held in October, we want to elect a new member of legislative assembly (MLA), who can bring changes in the acts so that the residents are not harassed,” said Pawar.

Vivek Velankar, RTI activist; Vijay Sagar president , Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP); Suhas Patwardhan, president,Pune District Cooperative Housing Federation; Sudesh Raje, president ,Pimpri-Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Societies Federation; Yuvraj Pawar, chairman, Dear Society Welfare Association; Ravindra Sinha, ABGP Baner-Pashan and Sudhir Deshmukh, member, legal committee ,Pimpri-Chinchwad Cooperative Housing Societies Federation were present for the discussion.

Some of their demands for a transparent and an accountable government are as follows:

Essential services to societies by govt

-Water supply not provided as per norms of 135 litres per person per day, causing financial distress to housing societies

-The PMC is not making provisions for essential services - water, roads, waste management, street lights, footpaths, pedestrian crossings and signals

-Public roads, footpaths encroached and amenity spaces meant for public use have not been developed

-MSEDCL infrastructure is poor causing frequent outages

Problems of homebuyers emerged as one of the major issues

-The Maharashra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Maha-Rera) has failed to implement orders

-The Maha-Rera has not included the consumer group in its panel

- Arbitration has been working in favour of builders, instead of consumers

Demand to amend Maharashtra Ownership of Flats Act grows

-Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act (Mofa) has failed to discipline builders due to lack of execution by police and housing ministry

-The police have failed to register complaints and homebuyers were made to file civil cases

- Demand of an assurance cell in the police commissioner office, wherein an officer of the rank of deputy commissioner of police should be appointed to ensure FIRs are being filed against builders for Mofa violation

-All affidavits given by builders to the govt authority should be checked for compliance and FIRs should be registered incase of violation

Other demands

-Use litigation, policy advocacy, and awareness to help residents fight builders

-Utilising social media to make governance accountable

-Establishing an accountability bureau to prosecute civic officials for crimes against residents

-The government should make changes in the Consumer Protection Act 2019

- The Maharashtra Co-op Societies (MCS) Act needs improvement, like rules for election process is needed

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