Dire Need to Strengthen Our Welfare Body Is Change in Bylaws A Solution?
The much awaited SLRWA elections were held on 28 April 2024 and many were hopeful and optimistic about a newly elected governing body. Out of 1690 members of the SLRWA only 270 votes were casted on the day.
A mixed bag of candidates from different groups got elected to the collegium who plan to decide on the committee posts on 12 May.
But this process seems to have its own problems as some candidates and residents have filed a petition with the District Registrar sighting unfair elections.
In the petition, Virender Nijhawan (C-1032) along with 7 other residents, highlighted certain issues that are not in alignment with the bylaws of the SLRWA. Some of them being the need for at-least 1/4th voting from the members of the SLRWA which in this election was only 12%. The complainants also claim that the members list was not verified and the nomination process was unfair, to name a few. They have asked for a re-election and many believe that the DR will address this complaint.
Resident participation needs to be addressed. Because of the low voter turnout one wonders if residents are disinterested in the electoral process? Or were they not aware of the elections itself? Do some residents feel that the role of SLRWA is redundant because of the MCG takeover?
Every active resident in the colony including the candidates want a strong and functioning SLRWA. While the MCG takes over the colony, RWA would be the foundation of what Sushant Lok will look like years from now.
The complaint brings to light the flaws in the bylaws of the SLRWA’s that need to be addressed first. We need to re-examine the number of active members of the SLRWA, add more members and then work on the bylaws to encourage higher participation from residents and a healthy election which does not face objections later because the most important thing is to have a resident body in office.
Our appeal to residents would again be to empower the resident body and empower those who are standing for elections. Come together and form a strong SLRWA to bring about change for a better future for Sushant Lok.
Until then everyone eagerly awaits for the elected committee to be formed.
