The power and relevance of citizen-led initiatives in smaller cities has been demonstrated on multiple occasions recently. The residents of the Ansal housing society in Sector 114 in Mohali have been protesting since July 26, 2023, demanding overdue maintenance works. Bhupender Yadav, the president of Ansal Resident Welfare Association (RWA), says, ‘The issues have been raised multiple times but the management has not taken any actions to resolve the issues.’ Similarly, in Chitlapakkam, Tamil Nadu community efforts successfully reinstated minibuses, solving last-mile connectivity issues through persistent protests and complaints in December last year. On March 28, 2023, more than 20 RWAs representing FONRWA (Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Associations) sectors engaged with Noida Authority officials to address pending civic matters, such as drains levelling, encroachment problems, insects on trees, a lack of green belts, the installation of new swings in parks, and so on.

These RWAs, established under the Societies Registration Act, operate within a defined legal framework in line with India’s constitution. They wield substantial influence and potential in city transformation and effectively prompt local governments to prioritize the welfare of residents. Yet, within this framework, the housing societies and RWAs face a multitude of challenges while also creating some themselves. Issues such as bureaucratic hurdles, conflicting interests, lack of resources, and inability to ensure sustained engagement have been some of the issues faced by them. On the other hand, some such entities have been found to be exclusive of marginalized groups, concentrating power on a few individuals and sometimes running into political influences. They tend to also neglect larger citywide issues over their immediate concerns.

However, RWA’s and various other diverse citizen groups such as elected local leaderships, community leaders and ward committees hold the potential to advocate for residents’ well-being, enhanced living conditions and enable good governance in Tier II and Tier III cities. For instance, the ward committees of Mangalore composed of all residents of a ward have been able to discuss micro plans within the wards. Mission Badlav, a citizen-led group in Jharkhand led a signature campaign to alert the local government towards the water woes of residents of Gumla.

Who is representing your voice in your neighbourhood?