Chandigarh Administration adopting Double standards for Cooperative Housing Sectors

Chandigarh Administration adopting Double standards for Cooperative Housing Sectors

(Residents in Cooperative House Building Societies are facing discrimination from the administration in terms of provision of basic and estate service, are being made to shell out more (by way of contribution to Society Charges ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000 per month) for the services which are provided by the Chandigarh Administration in the rest of the city.)

Chandigarh Administration adopting Double standards for Cooperative Housing Sectors

The third phase sectors of Chandigarh that are spread over sector 48.49.50 and 51 have largely developed as cooperative housing societies sectors. Chandigarh Administration allotted land on "chunk" basis to cooperative housing societies for further allotment of constructed flats to its members. The scheme ran into difficult waters for a long time delaying allotment of land and related infrastructural development by the administration. The delay so caused irked the members and they resorted to surrender their membership of the societies which led to financial crunch in each of these cooperative societies.

Cooperative House Building Societies got alarmed at this development and the managements themselves managed to sell the shares held by reluctant members on the instrument of the power of attorney. The process started with zero premiums on amount paid which grew manifolds with time. The managing committees found the way to finance their projects, as GPA holders began making payments on behalf of the allottee members, and this acted as a take off point for most of the societies.

Allegation of corruption in the affairs of the committees of the cooperative house building societies notwithstanding, the construction work commenced and as it progressed, the premiums began rising and by the time the projects were completed and allotments of constructed flat was to be made, the rules required the allottee member to come forward for the same and GPA holder felt the first sting of fleecing by the allottees as he was made to shell out money to obtain possession through him.

GPA holder in societies, despite contributing the finances in to societies' coffer was made to suffer on various counts. He was shabbily treated by the committees. The Allottee member despite dispensing his right in the property was free to play the shots in the affairs of the society's management and the GPA holder was a mute spectator. Neither could a GPA claim for amenities and services and was made a scapegoat for extortion of moneys from him.

Wisdom finally prevailed and the GPA holders formed a front, and I had the honour of leading this movement as general secretary of the Chandigarh Social Welfare Council, an NGO dedicated to the cause of housing in the city. My efforts culminated in the regularization of the GPA and a policy of transfer of share/flat was notified by the Chandigarh Administration on M arch 2, 2009. At the last juncture of the policy notification, many more joined for the cause, which I welcomed.

While all was going well, and a transfer on the name of the GPA holders was being affected in most of the societies, complaints of non compliance of the transfer policy by certain managing committees were reported. This happened in societies that were habitual defaulter of the Chandigarh Housing Board. To intervene in the matter the Registrar Cooperative Societies appointed administrators' in such societies. Indian Express Society was one such one.

Indian Express Society approached the Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking stay on transfer of share/flat in pursuance of the Transfer Policy enunciated by the Administration. The Court in its interim order ordered that the administrator shall not transfer share /flat on the name of the GPAs and shall not extend the area of operation of the society. This order of the Hon'ble High-court was misinterpreted by the Administration causing immense injury to the GPA holders of other societies that were complying provisions of the transfer policy,

Chandigarh Administration took cognizance of the misinterpretation after about ten months of imposing a suspension of the transfer policy and people heaved a sigh of relief. Yet even now in many cases the societies are still not able to effect transfers on the name of the GPA holders and are guilty of non performance of their obligations. It is reported that certain managing committees have/had collected dues against land from the members but failed to deposit the same with Chandigarh Housing Board.

Unrest is brewing in the minds of the members of affected cooperative house building societies. Certain other such societies that have/ had collected all dues from the members are embroiled in frivolous court cases on technical issues. One Society I know is in litigation with the administration on the issue of interest payment and is in court to get adjudication on whether the interest should be levied from the date of allotment or from the date of possession of the chunk of land. There may be many other frivolous issues which I may not be aware of but that need to be addressed by the administrations

The residents of the cooperative house building societies sectors are being discriminated by the Chandigarh Administration is not news, it is a reality. The fact of South- North divide set by Chandigarh Administration has brought to the fore the step motherly treatment being meted to the southern sectors in the city. The large number of the population residing in the southern sectors is bearing the cost of the amenities and service being provided to the northern part of the Chandigarh. Reason the top officials of the administration live in the northern sectors.

The Administration in Chandigarh is providing all the civic and estate services in the northern sectors on its own. It takes responsibility to provide water supply to the residents of the northern sectors upto the overhead tanks. AS far as the street lighting is concerned, it is responsible directly or through the MCC to provide electric pole erection and its maintenance. No consumption charges are raised when street lights are provided on V-6 roads. Likewise, the public health services are provided by the administration/MCC. Infrastructural development in the city's sectors too comes as a right.

But this is not to be for the cooperative housing society sectors of the City. The clauses incorporated in the allotment letters while allotting the chunk of land to the societies states that the societies are allotted chunk of land and that the administration shall provide basic and estate service upto peripheral road. Erecting infrastructure and its maintenance shall be borne by the societies themselves. It is child's guess that these come at a price, payment of which shall be shelled out by the residents themselves. Unique kind of callousness is directed to these residents,

When voices are raised against this discrimination, rules are cited as reasons for non provision of basic and estate services on par with other residents of the city. I only wonder if the situation shall be allowed to go on like this by the administration. Concept of Flats in Cooperatives were designed to put the available land to optimum use, but the provision of the basic/estate services, by the administration/MCC, restricted to society's periphery has killed the soul of the concept.

It is time for the administration to ponder over the plight of the managing committees who have been vested with responsibilities of erecting, and maintaining the infrastructure, to provide water to the overhead tanks of the flats without making provision of funding of these services. On the contrary, the administration charges commercial rates for electricity that is consumed on the provision of street lighting and running the sump houses in the societies. While the question of providing the services is concerned, society is considered a single unit; but while charges are collected, then the flat owners are treated as individual consumers. While every flat owner pays sewerage cess to the MCC, the cleaning of the sewers in societies is society's responsibility, which at times needs hydraulic machinery available only with the authorities. For Water supply individual meters are sanctioned for which meter rent is charged by the MCC, yet MCC shirks in providing water upto the overhead tank of the consumer while it is doing so in the rest of the city.

The moot question is why the cooperative sector is shown the apathy it does not deserve. Residents in cooperative house building societies as good citizens of the city as are residents of the CHB sectors.

Satish Chandra Sharma

President, Progressive Cooperative House Building First Society,

Sector 50-B, Chandigarh

Cell: 9888255128

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