Residents warn of poll boycott over RWA ‘fund misuse’

Gurgaon: Residents of Park View Residency have decided to boycott the ongoing Lok Sabha elections to register their protest against alleged financial irregularities, power grab and mismanagement by their RWA.
“We have been demanding RWA elections for the past three years but various departments of the government have ignored the same. So, we will boycott the elections to register our protest,” said Amit Malik, a resident.
Similar allegations have been levelled by residents of The Villas in DLF 2 and Mahindra Aura in Sector 110 A against their respective RWAs.
For instance, residents of Mahindra Aura claimed that the RWA elected in 2016 was arbitrarily dissolved and an ad-hoc committee conducted fresh elections just for show as returning officer Devdutt Sharma refused to accept several nominations on flimsy grounds.

Residents have accused their RWAs of holding on to power though “unfair means” and misappropriating society funds.
Ajit Gupta, a resident of Mahindra Aura, claimed that in September 2018, over 200 residents passed a no-confidence motion against their RWA after an RTI reply obtained by them revealed financial inconsistencies such as “a forged bill of Rs 90,000 towards water connection” (the society received a water connection much later than the date mentioned in the bill) and an arbitrary raise in the tender for installing CCTV cameras from Rs 12-13 lakh to Rs 70 lakh.
Similarly, Ashok Prehar of The Villas claimed that residents had been demanding fresh elections for the past three years, but the RWA members refused to let go of their seats. Another resident, Atul Bansal, also accused the RWA of arbitrarily withdrawing Rs 7.5 lakh from the society funds, without giving any clarification on the move.
“Four years ago, around Rs 10 crore was deposited by all 327 homeowners so that the interest on it, coupled with the monthly maintenance of Rs 40 lakh, would be more than sufficient to run the society. Now, the RWA is claiming we are in a Rs 2.7 crore deficit. When asked to give details, members refuse or make excuses,” said Atul Bansal, a resident of The Villas.
A resident of Park View residency, who requested anonymity, claimed that the ad-hoc committee that conducted the 2014 RWA elections forcefully grabbed power. “This RWA wants to be in power to misuse society funds. Residents have been paying maintenance fee that adds up to Rs 40-50 lakh per month but it has now demanded Rs 90 lakh for road maintenance. Even after everyone refused to give the same, signatures were forged and the resolution was passed,” he said.
While the president of Mahindra Aura denied all charges, presidents of RWAs in The Villas and Park View Residency remained unavailable for comments.
“All these are false charges. We are running, according to the mandate and bye-laws of the society. Our tenure is three years and there’s no provision of mid-term elections. Everyone in our body is democratically elected, and decisions regarding society funds and management are taken during the meeting of the governing body, members of which represent the society,” claimed Yashees Yadav, the president of Mahindra Aura RWA.

Apart from accusing RWAs of mismanagement, residents claimed that the district registrar’s office was failing to address their issues. It was accused of siding with “corrupt” RWA bodies.
“The district court refused to accept its (RWA) case, challenging the order for fresh elections, stating it didn’t come with clean hands. However, the registrar stayed the elections,” said Mahindra Aura’s Ajit.
However, district registrar Ishwar Singh Yadav said, “We follow the law and do whatever is in our power. Residents wanted fresh elections and we went with the majority. But, when the matter is subjudice, we can’t take the risk of contempt of court.”
Residents claimed that the district court, in most of the cases, refused to accept petitions, challenging fresh elections, or asked for replies to its queries, which were then delayed. Moreover, cases that were moved to the high court are yet to be taken up or heard.
They added that “baseless” court cases and intimidation by bouncers were the modus operandi of RWAs to silence dissent.