118 associations registered under Nam Kudiruppu, Nam Poruppu scheme

CHENNAI: Six months after the Nam Kudiyiruppu, Nam Poruppu scheme was launched, the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) helped form 345 resident welfare associations (RWAs), of which 118 have been registered. The board aims to form over 650 residents associations across the State so that they would take over the collection of maintenance fees and carry out minor repairs at resettlement sites. Of the 345 resident welfare associations, 259 have been formed in Chennai and the rest in other districts.

Officials from the board hold meetings with the residents to stress the importance of the forming RWAs to take care of the tenements. Once they agree to form the association and members are chosen, it is registered under the Societies Registration Act. The Rs 5,000 charged for the registration will be reimbursed by the board, said the officials. They added that the drive will be intensified by conducting frequent meetings and distribution of pamphlets soon.

Currently, the board collects a total of Rs 8.25 crore a year in the form of maintenance fee but incurs an maintenance expenditure of Rs 26.62 crore a year. The fee has been fixed at Rs 750 and Rs 250 for tenements with and without lifts respectively. Once the associations start collecting the maintenance fees, the State government will provide a matching grant to them every three months. This is expected to be Rs 20.41 crore for 2021-22 and Rs 40.82 crore each for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
 
"There are various challenges in persuading the residents to form associations. In some blocks, they are from different localities, backgrounds, and political leanings. To bring them together, we hold regular talks. Most meetings are held after 8pm so that all the residents can participate," said Nirmal Raj, Chief Social Development Officer.

Officials added that the residents were also taken to meet members of Rani Anna Nagar Welfare Association, which has been functioning since 1983, to help them understand the importance of having an association themselves. TNUHDB, however, is yet to hand over the responsibility of collecting maintenance fees even to registered associations.

"The aim of the scheme is to bring a broader sense of ownership and it has multi-fold benefits. The associations can help the board collect data for various government schemes and also the residents can share best practices followed by different associations. They can also tell us what type of skill training and other community-level programmes they want. Once the capacity building, including training the RWA members in conducting meetings and maintaining accounts, is done, the collection of maintenance amount will be handed over to them," said M Govinda Rao, MD of TNUHDB.