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
