Mumbai: 'If polls can be held in Bihar, why not in hsg societies?'

If Bihar assembly and MLC elections can be held amid the COVID19 pandemic in which over one lakh people have been killed then why cant the cooperative societies in the state conduct the elections for fewer than 250 members ask housing activistsElections in more than 83000 cooperative societies have been on hold since the past two years In September a government resolution GR was issued stating that the election has been postponed till December 2020 It added that the delay can be extended for another six months till June 2021 And this has become a matter of concern as major decisions on redevelopment repair change of security guards filling up vacant posts due to death or resignation have gone for a tossMaharashtra Societies Welfare Association MahaSeWa on October 3 wrote a letter to Cooperation Minister Balasaheb Patil requesting to publish final election rules for Cooperative Housing SocietiesAdvocate Vinod Sampat founderpresident of Cooperative Societies Residents AssociationCA Ramesh Prabhu founderchairman of MahaSeWa said The elections in Bihar are being conducted In fact Parliament and assembly are also functioning It is unfortunate that the small grass root democratic set up are unable to hold the election without going out of their premises We fail to understand the stepmotherly treatment to the small cooperative housing societies in the stateThere are over 83000 societies where buildings need major repairs or redevelopment They are becoming dilapidated and dangerous to live in but the societies are not able to make policy decisions Now the disputes between the society and few aggrieved members have reached before the registrar Prabhu saidThe registrar has issued showcause notices to societies to appoint administrators or authorised officersFile photo of Veena Santoor Society Borivli Representation picPrabhu said As per the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960 election cannot be postponed for more than one year under any circumstances However elections havent happened for two years now The difficulties of more than 3 crore residents in the 83000 cooperative housing societies must not be ignoredOn an average each society conducts maintenance works worth R2 lakh per year So works worth R5 lakh for 25 years are pending taking the total for 50 per cent of the societies to R2100 crore Since redevelopment on an average involves works worth R25 crore per society the value of total redevelopment works that are stuck comes to R210 lakh crore he addedPrabhu further added In societies administrators are appointed to handle the society affairs for a period of six months In some cases administrators have got extensions due to nonelection With the death and resignation of committee members several posts are also vacant The government should seriously consider the issues and formulate the rules in larger public interest at the earliestHow the confusion beganAccording to Prabhu the state government replaced the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies MCS Act 1960 with Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Amendment Act 2019 which came into force on March 9 2019 It introduced a separate chapter after Section 154A of the Principal Act However new rules under the chapter have not been prepared yet hence the constant delay in electionsThe government had considered the challenges faced by small cooperative housing societies to conduct the election through Maharashtra State Cooperative Election Authority Accordingly an expert committee was formed in February 2017 to suggest the amendments by way of a separate chapter for the registration and management of Cooperative Housing SocietyThe government after considering the suggestions made by the expert committee notified the first ordinance on October 30 2018 As per this Cooperative Housing Societies CHS up to 200 members could hold their elections without involving a registrar Accordingly the smaller societies started holding elections themselves in the general body The confusion increased when the ordinance was not approved in the House to the status of CHS whose elections were dueThereafter a second ordinance was notified on March 9 2019 as per which CHS up to 250 members could hold the elections themselves The second ordinance in the form of a bill to amend MCS Act 1960 was placed before the Assembly and was approvedThe amendment to MCS Act 1960 was signed and published online on July 23 2019 Still the confusion continued as to how the election by CHS can be held without proper rulesTo reduce the confusion a GR was issued just before the Assembly elections to postpone the CHS election till December 31 2019 and thereafter draft election rules were notified on inviting suggestions and objections It is learned that nearly 160 suggestions have come However till December 31 2019 no final rules were published On January 14 2020 a second GR was issued to further postpone the elections till February 29 2020 as the officers are busy in providing loan waiver to farmersThe final rules are not published yet but a GR for holiday on all Saturdays came It seems the government is not serious about giving relief to middle class citizens who are staying in the CHS Prabhu saidThe delay in allowing elections to be conducted in cooperative societies is also damaging the image of ruling the state government as the absence of formulating election rules are leading to corrupt practices The major repairs and redevelopment decisions could not be taken This is also leading to unemployment of the skilled and unskilled workers as they are not getting repair or construction worksExpert speaksAdvocate Vinod Sampat founderpresident of Cooperative Societies Residents Association registered said In my view under no circumstances the elections of cooperative housing societies should be delayed With a large number of outlets and public places being opened during Unlock 5 I feel that elections within societies with less than 250 members can be easily allowed The issue of physical distance is important and the same can be sorted out while conducting elections in cooperative housing societies with less than 250 members as no external retaining officer from the cooperative department needs to be called in to oversee the election which is needed for over 250plus membersSampat added Election is a democratic process of conducting a free and fair poll in the larger interest of the housing society and a delay in conducting cooperative society elections would only give further room for making allegations and counter allegations against the committee members by those with vested interest Moreover it is unclear as to why the government is keen to postpone the elections in the societies time and again which is uncalled forSampat concluded saying It is also a fact that some cooperative societies managing committee with vested interest are using this delay tactics of conducting elections under the ambit of highlighting the government GR directing postponement of elections amid COVID19 pandemic and such practice is uncalled for and creates room for ambiguity in minds of residentsCHS representatives reactMangal Kamble founderpresident of Swach Kharghar Foundation which has around 260 residential societies in Kharghar as its members said They government are getting reasons to delay the society elections and it is over two years that no elections could be held in cooperative housing societies across the stateIt was first delayed due to the amendments to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960 then came the elections and by the time the changes were to be introduced in the Cooperative Act we had to face COVID19 lockdown we can understand the apprehension during the initial stages of the lockdown and COVID19 pandemic but now with lockdowns being lifted elections in society should also be allowed as I am of the view that any further delay in conducting the elections in cooperative society would only widen the already existing rift and grudges between the managing committee and residents said KambleBalakrishnan Nair secretary of Sanghvi Garden CHS Ltd in Dombivli said Ours is a 116member cooperative society and the election was due in December 2019 but due to the government GR we postponed it Later the COVID19 lockdown delayed it I am of the view that the election should be conducted within the due course of time without further delay for smooth functioning of the societyFlash back1 GR dated 10022017 for the constitution of committee to Amend MCS Act 1960 for CHS2 Ordinance dated 30102018 to amend MCS Act 19603 2nd Ordinance dated 090320194 Amendment Act 230720195 Draft Rules dated 241020196 First Order dated 07092019 to postpone election upto 311220197 Second Order dated 14th January 2020 to postpone election Up to 29th February 20198 Third Order dated 31st January 2020 to postpone election upto three months from the date of the order9 Fourth order in March 2020 to extend election upto June 202010 Fifth order in June to extend upto September 202011 Sixth Order in September 2020 to extend upto 31st December2020Keep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news