CONCERNED CITIZEN: Secretary of the Marredpally Welfare Association N. Ramanathan at a park in East Marredpally. — Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

HYDERABAD: Imagine you having a say in when roads in your colony should be repaired. Imagine you deciding on the money spent for your colony. And imagine officials coming to you for suggestions to improve your life. That's what we will call people power.

With all existing public grievance-redressing systems coming to a literal nought and "public representatives" failing to add any meat to that term, residents in the twin cities are gradually trying to take matters into their hands. In fact, resident power seems all set for a big boost with resident welfare associations now getting together under a single umbrella in an obvious toast to the adage of `Together We Can'.

No more dependence

More importantly, the federation formed by these associations recently is charting out a protocol agreement that will set the tone for interaction between officials and residents across the city. The federation has been prompted by the idea that if residents have a proper say in governing themselves, provision of civic amenities could fare much better. This, they feel, would yield more results than just electing a corporator and then waiting for him or her to get things done for them, which does not happen on most occasions.

"From monitoring and ensuring civic works on time, sanitation/garbage collection, tax/bill assessments, collection and payments, health campaigns, community policing/local security affairs, supervising water supply, handling cable operators and getting officials to act quickly, residents can play a major role," says Rao V.B.J. Chelikani, an active campaigner of the concept.

And why not, if examples set by residents in Tarnaka and a few associations in Kukatpally, Mehdipatnam and other areas are anything to go by. Mostly run by senior citizens with loads of experience, associations in these localities have managed to improve their colonies to a certain extent. Retired academicians, retired and serving civil service/Defence service personnel, working professionals and people from all walks of life add that multi-faceted talent factor to this concept. In fact, retired engineers in Tarnaka have formed a quality control committee, who suggest to officials when roads in their locality have to be repaired and also monitor the quality and standard of work done. This in turn, has reduced corrupt practices and commission extractions by both contractors and officials to a great extent, they say. With residents keeping an eye on them, it would be literally impossible for officials to ignore dug-up roads, and illegal constructions or forget clearing garbage and overflowing drains. And with corporators more keen on pampering their own vote banks, it seems people power could be the much-awaited panacea for the beleaguered twin cities.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail