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Ebate
March 05, 2000
Cooperation needed from society
The Mumbai Suburban District Co-operative Housing Federation has unanimously opposed recent amendments to the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 which : deny new members the right to vote on society affairs, mandate that managing committee members sign a bond making them severally and jointly responsible for decisions taken by the committee and absolves those members of responsibility for decisions taken at meetings where they have not been present and the proceedings of which they have not confirmed.
The proposed amendments betray a serious disregard for the way many societies actually operate and I am relieved to read news reports that they may not come into effect after all.
The furore they have caused however do focus on a subject that tends to receive little or not attention in general which is the role of the co-operative society in our lives. Unlike in other cities, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and so on where mixed housing is the norm, a large number of people in Mumbai live cheek by jowl in housing societies the running of which is expected to be a joint endeavour.
Owners of flats are actually owners of shares in a society and as such, the running and maintenance of the whole society not just their individual homes is their responsibility.
Unfortunately
in most cases this is not how it works.
In my experience a large number of members consider any activity for the
society be it even attending a meeting, an imposition, unless, of course,
they perceive some wrong doing or a benefit that affects them personally.
This creates a situation where the management of the society falls into the hands of either the more conscientious of members or the more unscrupulous who hope to gain something from their position. If it is the former then the proposed amendments - if they were to come into effect - would end up penalizing the ones who voluntarily take up responsibility. And even otherwise what the proposed changes really do is encourage the notion that the least involvement is the best option.
Hopefully
these changes will not go through. There is however a serious need to
address the issue of members’ involvement in a co-operative society.
Policing by a state or civic authority is of course, not a happy option.
Apart from the anti-democratic overtones and the familiar invitation to
corruption there would be a serious problem of manpower. And why, in any
case, should urban, educated citizens in the world’s largest democracy
shy away from governing themselves in a matter that concerns them so closely
: the place where they live?
Laziness? Indifference? Selfishness? Whatever. To change perceptions,
to make people understand that democracy is not just a matter of voting
for a government every few years might perhaps be a difficult and long
process. In the meanwhile perhaps some measures could be considered. One
: that every member while entering a society purchases and reads the bye-laws
by which it is governed. Two : attendance at meetings is made compulsory
and that members can be penalised for non-attendance unless valid reasons
and notice is provided. Three: Office bearers and Managing Committee members
are not elected but elevated by rotation. In this way every single member
serves a term of responsibility thereby gaining not only an understanding
of procedures and so on but also the difficulties inherent in performing
the role.
Societies are not run by remote control. Nor should they be. These days I meet several people, many of whom have recently married and bought apartments, who claim proudly that they don’t know a thing about what goes in their societies.
This should be a matter of dismay, not joy. The other growing trend that will be detrimental to the democratic running of societies is the increase in sub letting of flats and sales to banks and other institutions that frequently change the occupants according to their needs. The trend cannot be arrested but some thought needs to be given as to how to involve the absent owner in the governance of the society.
Updated Fortnightly
The writer is former editor of Elle.
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