Dear Residents,
Salutations to Pradyot for the effort he has put in to begin this blog. For me, personally, this is a totally new experience - blogging - but if my views will help in taking us forward in our attempt to put back all the pieces together, to achieve our objective of integrating our complex into one (not merely on paper), to live in harmony, respect and regard for one and all, it will be worthwhile.
RETREAT is a unique complex, and while the developers did not intend it, by giving the 3 buildings different names - Rakshak, Heights and Ivory Tower, they created a divide. All the residents are highly intelligent, well-placed, and we should look for an opportunity. Thus, unlike being given numbers, as in other condominiums, we have names. Let us use this diversity as an advantage and unite to achieve a common objective.
Mr Banga has very clearly, once again, explained the philosphy that went into the framing of the current bye-laws of RAOA. Mr Parminder Singh has expressed his views on how the future administration of the complex should be carried out. In fact, it follows the clauses laid down in the bye-laws. Understandably, the bye-laws cannot detail all actions that a Governing Body must follow: certain activities, e.g issue of Notices for Meetings (Governing Body, GBMs, etc) and/or Minutes. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to do so, but implicit in this is the fact that the Secretary cannot, and should not issue Notices for meetings without consultation of the President. Similarly, Secretary is required to record decisions taken at meetings. Such Minutes should be recorded by the Secretary and should be signed both by the President and Secretary. However, it is equally important that the draft of such Minutes is first circulated amongst the Governing Body Members to elicit their views, before these are displayed. This is only an example, and therefore detailed actions cannot be part of any bye-laws.
Conduct of the Governing Body Members:
Use of uncivil language and profainities is a total no-no. There has to be transparency in their actions because they are elected to carry out the administration of the complex and to improve/upgrade the living standards. The bye-laws have clearly spelt out the manner in which the Governing Body must conduct their business at the AGMs. This was not done at the first AGM held after the elections. Limited budget copies were distributed to those who attended the meeting. However, as per the bye-laws, these should have been circulated in advance to enable the residents to give their view-point. Similarly, no budget was presented for the Common Areas. It is important and mandatory for the Governing Body Members to adhere to the clauses laid down in the Bye-Laws: these cannot be interpreted to suit any one, not until these are amended. The Bye-Laws also state that both Maintenance Committees will have one Member from the other Maintenance Committee. This clause has been flouted by the Governing Body. What I am trying to say is that we should sincerely adhere to the Bye-Laws, which contain the seeds of integration. That we have moved away from observing certain clauses, has perhaps led to this peculiar situation.
The Bye-Laws should be up-dated constantly, to cater to the changing needs of the people. If it is now felt that these need more clarity, a sub-committee must be set up. Until that is done, the Members must observe the Bye-Laws as they are.
Common Areas and its funding:
The Bye-Laws are very clear on the funding of the third account. Mr Banga has clearly explained this in his note and there is no ambiguity. All expenses in the Common Areas, such as water, electricity, repair of roads, horticulture, security,etc., have to be paid out of the Common Area Account. The Governing Body has to fix an amount payable by each flat-owner to the Common Area Fund, and inform the residents. This amount will be common to all owners, regardless of the size of the flat or building. All owners are required to send their payment directly into this Account. The Bye-Laws clearly lay down the persons who will operate this account. In the present scenario, the Governing Body should hasten to do this and intimate to all owners the amount so fixed. Payment can be made by both the Maintenance Committees from their respective accounts as bills have already been raised for Maintenance charges and paid by the owners to the respective Maintenance Committees.
The Governing Body must hasten to put up a Note for the benefit of the residents, detailing projects they intend to take up in the current year (in the common areas), with estimated expenditure, time to execute the projects, etc.
Since the first quarterly AGM broke up, the meeting could not be held and issues concerning the complex were not taken up. It is imperative that, as a special case, the meeting is convened once again, giving sufficient notice to the residents, so that we can move forward. However, before the meeting is convened, all Members of the Governing Body must meet along with some senior members of all the 3 buildings, and I repeat, all the 3 buildings, to resolve the issues. I wish to add that in most meetings of this nature,
women are excluded. It is important to remember that women constitute at least 50% of the population in the Complex and their views matter equally. Their representation should be equal, therefore, for more than one reason.
I hope we are able to meet sooner than later.
With my best wishes
Mrs I S Bhandari
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Mr O.P. Banga's Views about Communications - Sept 08
05.09.08
Dear Friends,It is nice to see the revival of communications among the residents of Retreatvia emails. Efforts should be made, specially by the Governing Body member tobring in more people in the net.I agree with Pradyot that communications must go on and that the civility bemaintained at all times and arbitrariness must be eliminated. Personal Ego killsthe cordiality and spoils the whole atmosphere. In the Note attached to his mail, Pradyot has given examples of how thediscordant meetings have caused embarrassment. I was privy to the developmentsin 2006 but do not recollect of any general body meeting in which Mr.Mukherjee was humiliated. In fact, no general meeting of RAOA was held duringhis tenure. He might be referring to a general meeting of the H & Rresidents. In any case, if you look at the history, there is one common factorin the referred to happenings in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.We have only one alternative and that is to integrate, cooperate and livetogether. I agree with the ‘answers’ given by him and hereby repeat themmutatis mutandis:- Present Management has failed to work together and therefore the GoverningBody be disbanded.- A young team willing to devote time be elected and given time till May 2009by suitably amending the Byelaws temporarily and for one time only.- An advisory body consisting of 5-6 ‘experienced’ persons from among themembers of the 3 buildings be formed by the members.- To start with, frequent meetings between the elected team and the advisorygroup be held and approach of consensus be adopted.- Civility must be maintained at all levels.I was really pained to note in the last meeting that even most of the membersof the Governing Body had no inkling of the Byelaws and were guided by theinterpretations fed to them. For the information of all, I am attaching a noteon the Byelaws quoting clauses clarifying the questions raised in the lastmeeting. As regards Road Map for Integration, it was delineated in the Preamble to theDraft Byelaws circulated by the then President in December 2007. Best wishes,OPBanga1111/Ivory
Dear Friends,It is nice to see the revival of communications among the residents of Retreatvia emails. Efforts should be made, specially by the Governing Body member tobring in more people in the net.I agree with Pradyot that communications must go on and that the civility bemaintained at all times and arbitrariness must be eliminated. Personal Ego killsthe cordiality and spoils the whole atmosphere. In the Note attached to his mail, Pradyot has given examples of how thediscordant meetings have caused embarrassment. I was privy to the developmentsin 2006 but do not recollect of any general body meeting in which Mr.Mukherjee was humiliated. In fact, no general meeting of RAOA was held duringhis tenure. He might be referring to a general meeting of the H & Rresidents. In any case, if you look at the history, there is one common factorin the referred to happenings in the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.We have only one alternative and that is to integrate, cooperate and livetogether. I agree with the ‘answers’ given by him and hereby repeat themmutatis mutandis:- Present Management has failed to work together and therefore the GoverningBody be disbanded.- A young team willing to devote time be elected and given time till May 2009by suitably amending the Byelaws temporarily and for one time only.- An advisory body consisting of 5-6 ‘experienced’ persons from among themembers of the 3 buildings be formed by the members.- To start with, frequent meetings between the elected team and the advisorygroup be held and approach of consensus be adopted.- Civility must be maintained at all levels.I was really pained to note in the last meeting that even most of the membersof the Governing Body had no inkling of the Byelaws and were guided by theinterpretations fed to them. For the information of all, I am attaching a noteon the Byelaws quoting clauses clarifying the questions raised in the lastmeeting. As regards Road Map for Integration, it was delineated in the Preamble to theDraft Byelaws circulated by the then President in December 2007. Best wishes,OPBanga1111/Ivory
Mr OP Banga's viewpoint about RAOA Byelaws on Sept 08
RAOA BYE-LAWS
Byelaws aim at strengthening the process of integration. The Road Map for integration was described in the Preamble to the then draft ‘Amended Byelaws’ circulated by then President, RAOA, in Dec. 07. It had following points:
a) No. of members to be elected building-wise for the Governing Body was fixed but all members of the Complex to be involved in voting for all candidate.
b) Maintenance Committee for each building to have 3 members – 2 from the same building, including the Coordinator, and 1 from the other building – involvement, better understanding & transparency - third member not authorised to sign cheques.
c) To adopt a common system of management of maintenance, to be recommended by the Governing Body and adopted by the members in a general meeting, after ascertaining the efficiency and economy of the methods being followed at present.
d) To bring the facilities for each building at part as much as possible but since difference would still remain, to fix single maintenance charges and adding thereto a surcharge based on the facilities available.
The first two were incorporated in the Byelaws and the other two were proposed to be acted upon by further amending the Byelaws after a year or so after the levels of understanding and confidence among each other increased.
The Vice President, Ivory Committee, circulated the draft among the Ivory residents but his counterpart in Heights & Rakshak did not give this privilege to the residents there, rather wrong picture was presented.
The Byelaws were discussed in the General Body meeting on the 16th March 2008 and were adopted with a few amendments.
Questions were raised in the Meeting on the 31st August 08 that the Byelaws were confusing and did not give enough clarity on certain matters. Let all of us understand that Byelaws are not untouchable but are always open to amendments as & when required. I, being a member and coordinator of the Byelaws Committee, would, however, like to detail hereunder a few clauses which answer to the points raised in the said meeting.
1.The power of governance is vested with the Governing Body. The office-bears – President, Secretary and Treasurer – are product of the Governing Body and have no authority to bypass any decision of the parent (Cl. 4.e.i and 19).
2. The Maintenance Committees for each building to be nominated by the Governing Body from among the members of the Governing Body (Clause 20.a).
3. The President is the Chief Executive Officer and will preside over the meetings of the Governing Body and the General Body. He can appoint committees from among the members of the Association to assist in the conduct of the affairs (Clause 35).
4. Those entitled to vote in the election of Members of Governing Body have been described in Cl. 10. It needs no further clarification that those who can vote can also attend meetings of the general body.
5. AGM is held only once in a year. The day for holding AGM has been specified in Cl. 13, as also the agenda. Order of business for the annual general meetings has also been specified (Cl. 17).
6. As to when the Special Meetings of the members be held has also been specified – 1st meeting to be held at 10 A.M. on the last Sunday of May for delineating the plan for the year and presenting budget by the President (C. 14.1). The order of business for the annual general meetings has also been specified.
7. Subsequent Special Meetings of the members to be held on the 1st Sunday of each quarter at 10.30 A.M. to apprise the members of the actions/inactions during the quarter and plan for the next quarter (Cl. 14.b).
8. Notice, including agenda, to be issued by the Secretary giving 7 days’ time (Cl. 15). This Clause also specified as to when the AGMs and Special Meetings ought to be held.
9. When to hold Special Meetings? Point was raised by the President in the last Special Meeting held on 31.08.08 that such meetings should be held once in 3 months as per the Byelaws. I would like to clarify, with whatever knowledge I have, as under:
9.a) A year consists of 12 month or 4 quarters of 3 months each. For the 1st Special Meeting, the month May is mentioned but for subsequent months the mention is ‘1st Sunday of the quarter’. A quarter of a year is understood as a period of 3 months ending March, June, September and December in all circles – government, corporate or social. Reading of the last sentence of Cl. 15 confirms – ‘Notice of the Meeting’ further confirms above: “……..Annual Meeting shall be held on the first Sunday of May and special meetings will be held on the last Sunday of May (for presentation of the budget) and First Sunday of every quarter. Additional Special Meetings may be held from time to time as required”.
9.b) That the quarter means 3 months ending June, September, December etc. is further confirmed in Cl. 50.b which reads:
“The Board shall notify the quarterly financial statements the quarters ending June, September and December by the 15th of the following month.”
If doubt still persists, the clarification can be sought from the members in a general body or even the Byelaws can be amended, if required.
10. Holding of Special Meetings of the members on 1st Sunday of every quarter has not been left to the sweet will and convenience or discretion of the Governing Body but has been made a directive of the members of the Association through Byelaws keeping in view the happenings in the last 2 years when the general body meetings were not held because of differences among the members of the Governing Body at the cost of the Complex. The members are supposed to know as to when the above meetings are to be held so that they can be present even without a notice. The members present have even been empowered to remove any member of the Governing Body or the entire Governing Body for failing to hold the Special Meeting on due date (Cl. 14.c).
11. The Byelaws clearly provide for the Quorum for each meetings (Cl. 9), for adjournment of the meetings due to lack of quorum and holding of adjourned meetings (Cl. 16).
12. Chapter III (Clauses 11 to 17) is titled Administration and deals with the powers and duties of the Association and of general meetings.
13. Chapter IV (Clauses 18 to 31) deals with The Board of Managers, its working, meetings, election of its office-bearers, etc. and Chapter V (Clauses 32 to 38) with the Office Bearers.
14. A question is normally asked as to the formula for sharing of the Common Area expenses. The Haryana Apartment Owners Act and the Declaration filed by the original owner, i.e. Unitech, under the Act, provide that the Voting rights for each apartment in the Complex are based on the percentage of value of each apartment, as conveyed in the original Conveyance Deed between Unitech and the original buyer, vis-à-vis the total value of the building(s). A detailed statement is given in the Declaration on the basis of the provisions in the Act. The owner-ship of the common areas is also in the percentage. Therefore, the cost of maintenance of the common areas also has to be in the same percentage. The rate is no doubt to be fixed by the Association but the percentage remains the same.
In our Byelaws, now in vogue, the voting rights are as one vote per apartment. Therefore, the ownership should also be in the same ratio and so also the share in the common area expenses.
15. Another point normally raised whether a member of RAOA can be appointed to any office of the Association on payment of remuneration/fee. Clause 26 prohibits only the members of the Board of Managers.
- o -
Byelaws aim at strengthening the process of integration. The Road Map for integration was described in the Preamble to the then draft ‘Amended Byelaws’ circulated by then President, RAOA, in Dec. 07. It had following points:
a) No. of members to be elected building-wise for the Governing Body was fixed but all members of the Complex to be involved in voting for all candidate.
b) Maintenance Committee for each building to have 3 members – 2 from the same building, including the Coordinator, and 1 from the other building – involvement, better understanding & transparency - third member not authorised to sign cheques.
c) To adopt a common system of management of maintenance, to be recommended by the Governing Body and adopted by the members in a general meeting, after ascertaining the efficiency and economy of the methods being followed at present.
d) To bring the facilities for each building at part as much as possible but since difference would still remain, to fix single maintenance charges and adding thereto a surcharge based on the facilities available.
The first two were incorporated in the Byelaws and the other two were proposed to be acted upon by further amending the Byelaws after a year or so after the levels of understanding and confidence among each other increased.
The Vice President, Ivory Committee, circulated the draft among the Ivory residents but his counterpart in Heights & Rakshak did not give this privilege to the residents there, rather wrong picture was presented.
The Byelaws were discussed in the General Body meeting on the 16th March 2008 and were adopted with a few amendments.
Questions were raised in the Meeting on the 31st August 08 that the Byelaws were confusing and did not give enough clarity on certain matters. Let all of us understand that Byelaws are not untouchable but are always open to amendments as & when required. I, being a member and coordinator of the Byelaws Committee, would, however, like to detail hereunder a few clauses which answer to the points raised in the said meeting.
1.The power of governance is vested with the Governing Body. The office-bears – President, Secretary and Treasurer – are product of the Governing Body and have no authority to bypass any decision of the parent (Cl. 4.e.i and 19).
2. The Maintenance Committees for each building to be nominated by the Governing Body from among the members of the Governing Body (Clause 20.a).
3. The President is the Chief Executive Officer and will preside over the meetings of the Governing Body and the General Body. He can appoint committees from among the members of the Association to assist in the conduct of the affairs (Clause 35).
4. Those entitled to vote in the election of Members of Governing Body have been described in Cl. 10. It needs no further clarification that those who can vote can also attend meetings of the general body.
5. AGM is held only once in a year. The day for holding AGM has been specified in Cl. 13, as also the agenda. Order of business for the annual general meetings has also been specified (Cl. 17).
6. As to when the Special Meetings of the members be held has also been specified – 1st meeting to be held at 10 A.M. on the last Sunday of May for delineating the plan for the year and presenting budget by the President (C. 14.1). The order of business for the annual general meetings has also been specified.
7. Subsequent Special Meetings of the members to be held on the 1st Sunday of each quarter at 10.30 A.M. to apprise the members of the actions/inactions during the quarter and plan for the next quarter (Cl. 14.b).
8. Notice, including agenda, to be issued by the Secretary giving 7 days’ time (Cl. 15). This Clause also specified as to when the AGMs and Special Meetings ought to be held.
9. When to hold Special Meetings? Point was raised by the President in the last Special Meeting held on 31.08.08 that such meetings should be held once in 3 months as per the Byelaws. I would like to clarify, with whatever knowledge I have, as under:
9.a) A year consists of 12 month or 4 quarters of 3 months each. For the 1st Special Meeting, the month May is mentioned but for subsequent months the mention is ‘1st Sunday of the quarter’. A quarter of a year is understood as a period of 3 months ending March, June, September and December in all circles – government, corporate or social. Reading of the last sentence of Cl. 15 confirms – ‘Notice of the Meeting’ further confirms above: “……..Annual Meeting shall be held on the first Sunday of May and special meetings will be held on the last Sunday of May (for presentation of the budget) and First Sunday of every quarter. Additional Special Meetings may be held from time to time as required”.
9.b) That the quarter means 3 months ending June, September, December etc. is further confirmed in Cl. 50.b which reads:
“The Board shall notify the quarterly financial statements the quarters ending June, September and December by the 15th of the following month.”
If doubt still persists, the clarification can be sought from the members in a general body or even the Byelaws can be amended, if required.
10. Holding of Special Meetings of the members on 1st Sunday of every quarter has not been left to the sweet will and convenience or discretion of the Governing Body but has been made a directive of the members of the Association through Byelaws keeping in view the happenings in the last 2 years when the general body meetings were not held because of differences among the members of the Governing Body at the cost of the Complex. The members are supposed to know as to when the above meetings are to be held so that they can be present even without a notice. The members present have even been empowered to remove any member of the Governing Body or the entire Governing Body for failing to hold the Special Meeting on due date (Cl. 14.c).
11. The Byelaws clearly provide for the Quorum for each meetings (Cl. 9), for adjournment of the meetings due to lack of quorum and holding of adjourned meetings (Cl. 16).
12. Chapter III (Clauses 11 to 17) is titled Administration and deals with the powers and duties of the Association and of general meetings.
13. Chapter IV (Clauses 18 to 31) deals with The Board of Managers, its working, meetings, election of its office-bearers, etc. and Chapter V (Clauses 32 to 38) with the Office Bearers.
14. A question is normally asked as to the formula for sharing of the Common Area expenses. The Haryana Apartment Owners Act and the Declaration filed by the original owner, i.e. Unitech, under the Act, provide that the Voting rights for each apartment in the Complex are based on the percentage of value of each apartment, as conveyed in the original Conveyance Deed between Unitech and the original buyer, vis-à-vis the total value of the building(s). A detailed statement is given in the Declaration on the basis of the provisions in the Act. The owner-ship of the common areas is also in the percentage. Therefore, the cost of maintenance of the common areas also has to be in the same percentage. The rate is no doubt to be fixed by the Association but the percentage remains the same.
In our Byelaws, now in vogue, the voting rights are as one vote per apartment. Therefore, the ownership should also be in the same ratio and so also the share in the common area expenses.
15. Another point normally raised whether a member of RAOA can be appointed to any office of the Association on payment of remuneration/fee. Clause 26 prohibits only the members of the Board of Managers.
- o -
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
PARMINDER's RESPONSE
Dear Pradyot,
I am adding a few more residents to this email chain. For their benefit have attached the document referenced in your email below.
I strongly feel that the situation that we are currently in is due to the lack of respect shown to the laid down Bye Laws of the association. The members and office bearers have chosen at will to disrespect them.
The second reason is that there has been no formal documentation available which can guide to the solution / resolution of various contentious issues like formula for sharing water charges, formula for sharing the ratio of common expenses between towers, like electricity charges for club, etc etc... None have been documented and hence have been unresolved for years. This, to my mind, is the poison that prevents the harmony & peace to prevail!!!
To offer the resolution, here is what I think as the secretary of the RAOA.
AT EACH BUILDING LEVEL
1. Hold scheduled meetings for residents of towers. Declare one day in a month (H&R on 1st Sunday and Ivory on 3rd Sunday)... and let the residents come and informally discuss their problems. Unresolved Matters and matters emanating from these meetings which requiring general body endorsement should be taken up in the next GBM, which should be held once every three months (see details below).
2. IMPORTANT - these meetings need to be held separately for each tower to allow for local (building level) issues to be discussed. However the entire GOVERNING BODY (all 7 elected members of RAOA) should be invited to attend these meetings and should attend.
3. Try hard to improve resident attendance at these meetings. The fact that people do not come forward can be viewed as:
1) they are satisfied and hence do not want to participate
2) they are so fed up that they do not see a reason / need to participate.
In my opinion (2) seem to be the reason!!!
AT COMPLEX LEVEL
4. Hold Quarterly General Body Meetings. Governing body should present their plan for next 3 months in these meetings besides updating the residents on the issues from previous meetings.
5. Re-hash the current Bylaws. The current bylaws have gaps in terms on clarifications on GBM meetings. We need to plug those gaps.
6. Constitute a sub-committee to review the current bylaws and make them stronger so that the overall and final control is restored back to the people.
7. There is no public update on how we dove-tail into other RWAs in south city or Gurgaon… we have been so inward looking all these years that its time to change it now. We need to participate in larger social issues and should make contribution s - however small it may be - to give it back to the back what we get from them. They say "Give it back to the society that you live in…"
8. Governing body should create a ROADMAP on "Total Amalgamation of the Retreat Complex". This is the toughest nut to crack but a humble beginning can be made now. The end state will look something like:
a. Common maintenance office for all three towers. Significant savings can be generated by merging the maintenance offices & staff.
b. common service providers - security , maintenance, etc
c. One common maintenance charge for all three buildings… if Heights and Rakhshak could converge on a common price then why cant Ivory be included. It is tough and may involve complex calculations but it is not impossible.
And most importantly the communication must flow - not through a register but through the resident meetings which are attended by many more residents.
Warm regards
Parminder
Secretary - RAOA
9899846688
I am adding a few more residents to this email chain. For their benefit have attached the document referenced in your email below.
I strongly feel that the situation that we are currently in is due to the lack of respect shown to the laid down Bye Laws of the association. The members and office bearers have chosen at will to disrespect them.
The second reason is that there has been no formal documentation available which can guide to the solution / resolution of various contentious issues like formula for sharing water charges, formula for sharing the ratio of common expenses between towers, like electricity charges for club, etc etc... None have been documented and hence have been unresolved for years. This, to my mind, is the poison that prevents the harmony & peace to prevail!!!
To offer the resolution, here is what I think as the secretary of the RAOA.
AT EACH BUILDING LEVEL
1. Hold scheduled meetings for residents of towers. Declare one day in a month (H&R on 1st Sunday and Ivory on 3rd Sunday)... and let the residents come and informally discuss their problems. Unresolved Matters and matters emanating from these meetings which requiring general body endorsement should be taken up in the next GBM, which should be held once every three months (see details below).
2. IMPORTANT - these meetings need to be held separately for each tower to allow for local (building level) issues to be discussed. However the entire GOVERNING BODY (all 7 elected members of RAOA) should be invited to attend these meetings and should attend.
3. Try hard to improve resident attendance at these meetings. The fact that people do not come forward can be viewed as:
1) they are satisfied and hence do not want to participate
2) they are so fed up that they do not see a reason / need to participate.
In my opinion (2) seem to be the reason!!!
AT COMPLEX LEVEL
4. Hold Quarterly General Body Meetings. Governing body should present their plan for next 3 months in these meetings besides updating the residents on the issues from previous meetings.
5. Re-hash the current Bylaws. The current bylaws have gaps in terms on clarifications on GBM meetings. We need to plug those gaps.
6. Constitute a sub-committee to review the current bylaws and make them stronger so that the overall and final control is restored back to the people.
7. There is no public update on how we dove-tail into other RWAs in south city or Gurgaon… we have been so inward looking all these years that its time to change it now. We need to participate in larger social issues and should make contribution s - however small it may be - to give it back to the back what we get from them. They say "Give it back to the society that you live in…"
8. Governing body should create a ROADMAP on "Total Amalgamation of the Retreat Complex". This is the toughest nut to crack but a humble beginning can be made now. The end state will look something like:
a. Common maintenance office for all three towers. Significant savings can be generated by merging the maintenance offices & staff.
b. common service providers - security , maintenance, etc
c. One common maintenance charge for all three buildings… if Heights and Rakhshak could converge on a common price then why cant Ivory be included. It is tough and may involve complex calculations but it is not impossible.
And most importantly the communication must flow - not through a register but through the resident meetings which are attended by many more residents.
Warm regards
Parminder
Secretary - RAOA
9899846688
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ego's and Communications -- Problem and Answer
31st august 2008
Ego’s and communication – time to change.
History
The meltdown in this morning’s General body meeting was just the latest albeit most shameful episode of a form of getting together to communicate that has just not worked. For the record let me recount the results that this has achieved in the past –
1999 or thereabout - Mr Swaran Singh’s being embarrassed in a residents meet by an irate resident. That was an unprecedented lowering of civil threshold in the complex, but thankfully it did not recur for 6 years.
2005 -Wing Commander Bali’s and Rear Admiral Sharma —two very wise and civil gentlemen – unceremoniously resigning from the original governing body.
2006 – Mr Mukherjee’s being humiliated in a general body meeting and an actual physical altercation taking place in that.
2007 - Mr Jain and Mr Lal’s resignations from the Heights and Rakshak governing body last year, when faced with completely uncivil standards of language and behaviour.
2007 - Major Usman’s resignation in disgust from the President ship of the association when faced with uncivil behaviour.
2007-2008 – a continuously confrontational relationship between the governing bodies of the buildings and the club committee, and the resignation of Mr Bhashyam in disgust from all association work when he was faced with the colossal wastes of his energy, effort and good intentions. There was stalemate in all work by the club committee , and finally whatever work did get done is still facing questions on the lack of procedural propriety.
Isn’t it time to change?
------------------------------
I was not present at the time of the meltdown of today’s GBM – reaching there a few minutes late.
Some of the reactions that I got from shocked residents after the disrupted meeting were .
All senior residents should resign from executive association work, and remain in advisory capacity.
This governing body has failed -- time to nominate new governing body members.
Let the associations be separated.
There is no question of working together in this atmosphere.
------------------------------
That the governing body had failed was true.
Instead of developing internal communications so that a united front could be forged to tackle our problems jointly – there has been a total breakdown of communications. Workers are drifting without direction.
The good work – monies that had been collected to start the common areas work – has now all been put in suspense.
Lets proceed with the good work anyway, Lets not stop that is one refrain. But in the absence of any decorum and consensus of approach – those cheques are now not going to be deposited into the Common Account.
-------
Yet the need to communicate will not stop. Whether we amalgamate into one association or break up into 2 or 3 pieces ---- the problems of administration of the club and the common areas will remain. Whether we like it or not the club and the common areas will remain where they are.
Whether we like it or not we will have to communicate and co-ordinate.
-----------------------
ANSWER --
A WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS FORUM ESPECIALLY BETWEEN ALL SENIOR RESIDENTS AND ALL CONCERNED RESIDENTS WHO FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT ANY ISSUE.(This will involve thought , so remove emotions and ego’s).
THIS WOULD BE IN THE FORM OF A REGISTER KEPT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE COMMON AREA’S CO-ORDINATOR AND TREASURER , USUALLY IN THE CLUB.
AND THIS WOULD BE CONFIDENTIAL TO ONLY THE RESIDENTS.
I AS A MEMBER WILL GUARANTEE THAT EACH ISSUE OF CONCERN THAT IS MENTIONED BY ANY OF THE RESIDENTS WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE ADDRESSED --- CALMLY AND THOUGHTFULLY -- BY THE CONCERNED COMMON AREAS OFFICE BEARER , OR BY THE GOVERNING BODY AS A WHOLE.
IT IS REQUESTED THAT YOU PLEASE MAKE USE OF IT TO PEN DOWN EACH ONE OF YOUR CONCERNS, THOUGHTS AND POINTS OF VIEW ON ANY MATTER OR ISSUE OF COMMON INTEREST.
IT WOULD HELP IF ONLY CIVIL LANGUAGE IS USED SO AS TO ARRIVE AT A POSITIVE SOLUTION.
ALL OUR RESIDENTS ARE RESPECTABLE AND IT IS REQUESTED THAT RESPECT BE MAINTAINED FOR ALL OTHER RESIDENTS IN THOUGHT AND SPEECH AND ALL COMMUNICATIONS.
IT IS REQUESTED THAT YOU MAKE FREQUENT USE OF THIS FORUM TO REGISTER YOUR THOUGHTS TO ELIMINATE THE FORMATION OF SEPARATE GROUPS WITH DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS WHICH DON’T EVER MEET EXCEPT IN SUCH EMOTION RIDDEN AND EXPLOSIVE MEETINGS.
------------------
FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE INTERNET – I WILL START A BLOG AND REQUEST YOURSELVES TO PARTICIPATE IN IT AS FREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
-----------
OUR ASSOCIATIONS ARE ELECTED BODIES – AND NEITHER A MILITARISTIC NOR A CORPORATE KIND OF AUTOCRACY CAN HAVE ANY CHANCE OF SUCCESS. THE APPROACH HAS TO BE ONE OF ARRIVING AT A CONSENSUS.
THE AIM WILL NEED TO BE TO CONSULT AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE TAKING A DECISION . TO EVOLVE A CONSENSUS ON ALL ISSUES AND ELIMINATE ALL FORMS OF ARBITRARINESS IN DECISION MAKING.
-----------
STARTING WITH THIS ISSUE PLEASE PEN DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE LEFT SIDE PAGES OF THE BOOK. THE RIGHT SIDE IS FOR OFFICE BEARERS RECORDED RESPONSE.
---------------
Many thanks, Sincerely
Pradyot Joshi
Member GBM , RAOA
Ego’s and communication – time to change.
History
The meltdown in this morning’s General body meeting was just the latest albeit most shameful episode of a form of getting together to communicate that has just not worked. For the record let me recount the results that this has achieved in the past –
1999 or thereabout - Mr Swaran Singh’s being embarrassed in a residents meet by an irate resident. That was an unprecedented lowering of civil threshold in the complex, but thankfully it did not recur for 6 years.
2005 -Wing Commander Bali’s and Rear Admiral Sharma —two very wise and civil gentlemen – unceremoniously resigning from the original governing body.
2006 – Mr Mukherjee’s being humiliated in a general body meeting and an actual physical altercation taking place in that.
2007 - Mr Jain and Mr Lal’s resignations from the Heights and Rakshak governing body last year, when faced with completely uncivil standards of language and behaviour.
2007 - Major Usman’s resignation in disgust from the President ship of the association when faced with uncivil behaviour.
2007-2008 – a continuously confrontational relationship between the governing bodies of the buildings and the club committee, and the resignation of Mr Bhashyam in disgust from all association work when he was faced with the colossal wastes of his energy, effort and good intentions. There was stalemate in all work by the club committee , and finally whatever work did get done is still facing questions on the lack of procedural propriety.
Isn’t it time to change?
------------------------------
I was not present at the time of the meltdown of today’s GBM – reaching there a few minutes late.
Some of the reactions that I got from shocked residents after the disrupted meeting were .
All senior residents should resign from executive association work, and remain in advisory capacity.
This governing body has failed -- time to nominate new governing body members.
Let the associations be separated.
There is no question of working together in this atmosphere.
------------------------------
That the governing body had failed was true.
Instead of developing internal communications so that a united front could be forged to tackle our problems jointly – there has been a total breakdown of communications. Workers are drifting without direction.
The good work – monies that had been collected to start the common areas work – has now all been put in suspense.
Lets proceed with the good work anyway, Lets not stop that is one refrain. But in the absence of any decorum and consensus of approach – those cheques are now not going to be deposited into the Common Account.
-------
Yet the need to communicate will not stop. Whether we amalgamate into one association or break up into 2 or 3 pieces ---- the problems of administration of the club and the common areas will remain. Whether we like it or not the club and the common areas will remain where they are.
Whether we like it or not we will have to communicate and co-ordinate.
-----------------------
ANSWER --
A WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS FORUM ESPECIALLY BETWEEN ALL SENIOR RESIDENTS AND ALL CONCERNED RESIDENTS WHO FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT ANY ISSUE.(This will involve thought , so remove emotions and ego’s).
THIS WOULD BE IN THE FORM OF A REGISTER KEPT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE COMMON AREA’S CO-ORDINATOR AND TREASURER , USUALLY IN THE CLUB.
AND THIS WOULD BE CONFIDENTIAL TO ONLY THE RESIDENTS.
I AS A MEMBER WILL GUARANTEE THAT EACH ISSUE OF CONCERN THAT IS MENTIONED BY ANY OF THE RESIDENTS WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE ADDRESSED --- CALMLY AND THOUGHTFULLY -- BY THE CONCERNED COMMON AREAS OFFICE BEARER , OR BY THE GOVERNING BODY AS A WHOLE.
IT IS REQUESTED THAT YOU PLEASE MAKE USE OF IT TO PEN DOWN EACH ONE OF YOUR CONCERNS, THOUGHTS AND POINTS OF VIEW ON ANY MATTER OR ISSUE OF COMMON INTEREST.
IT WOULD HELP IF ONLY CIVIL LANGUAGE IS USED SO AS TO ARRIVE AT A POSITIVE SOLUTION.
ALL OUR RESIDENTS ARE RESPECTABLE AND IT IS REQUESTED THAT RESPECT BE MAINTAINED FOR ALL OTHER RESIDENTS IN THOUGHT AND SPEECH AND ALL COMMUNICATIONS.
IT IS REQUESTED THAT YOU MAKE FREQUENT USE OF THIS FORUM TO REGISTER YOUR THOUGHTS TO ELIMINATE THE FORMATION OF SEPARATE GROUPS WITH DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS WHICH DON’T EVER MEET EXCEPT IN SUCH EMOTION RIDDEN AND EXPLOSIVE MEETINGS.
------------------
FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE INTERNET – I WILL START A BLOG AND REQUEST YOURSELVES TO PARTICIPATE IN IT AS FREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
-----------
OUR ASSOCIATIONS ARE ELECTED BODIES – AND NEITHER A MILITARISTIC NOR A CORPORATE KIND OF AUTOCRACY CAN HAVE ANY CHANCE OF SUCCESS. THE APPROACH HAS TO BE ONE OF ARRIVING AT A CONSENSUS.
THE AIM WILL NEED TO BE TO CONSULT AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE BEFORE TAKING A DECISION . TO EVOLVE A CONSENSUS ON ALL ISSUES AND ELIMINATE ALL FORMS OF ARBITRARINESS IN DECISION MAKING.
-----------
STARTING WITH THIS ISSUE PLEASE PEN DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE LEFT SIDE PAGES OF THE BOOK. THE RIGHT SIDE IS FOR OFFICE BEARERS RECORDED RESPONSE.
---------------
Many thanks, Sincerely
Pradyot Joshi
Member GBM , RAOA
Egos and Communications -- time to change
Picking up the pieces
Dear Concerned Folks,
After the storm comes the job of picking up the pieces.And each such problem is also an opportunity.
Attached herewith is a proposed solution that I have thought of. Although I copy this mail also to the RARO address I do not think any of our senior members is likely to check their mail --- so tomorrow or in a few days I will take this proposal to them and ask for their concurrence.
The main assistance needed would be the services of one of the club attendents to take the register around to opinion making residents --- especially senior people who are not net savvy -- whenever a contentious issue comes up, so that one can get an all round view and small private cliques do not develop.
Communications must go on. Civility must be maintained.
Arbitrariness must be eliminated. In the press of egos constructive facts must not die.
Regrds
Pradyot
Dear Concerned Folks,
After the storm comes the job of picking up the pieces.And each such problem is also an opportunity.
Attached herewith is a proposed solution that I have thought of. Although I copy this mail also to the RARO address I do not think any of our senior members is likely to check their mail --- so tomorrow or in a few days I will take this proposal to them and ask for their concurrence.
The main assistance needed would be the services of one of the club attendents to take the register around to opinion making residents --- especially senior people who are not net savvy -- whenever a contentious issue comes up, so that one can get an all round view and small private cliques do not develop.
Communications must go on. Civility must be maintained.
Arbitrariness must be eliminated. In the press of egos constructive facts must not die.
Regrds
Pradyot
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