Residents’ associations to be formed

The Housing and Urban Development Department, in a bid to address the problem of maintenance in apartments of Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, recently introduced an initiative named “Nam Kudiyiruppu, Nam Poruppu (Our homes, our responsibility).”

To bring a sense of ownership among the residents to take care of their buildings, the initiative intends to transfer many maintenance-related responsibilities to the residents through the Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) to be formed.

The Government Order issued in this regard cites the problems in collecting the maintenance charges, now fixed at either ₹750 or ₹250 depending on the buildings, and aims to transfer the responsibility to collect these charges to the RWAs.

According to the order, the government will henceforth provide a matching grant every quarter equivalent to the total maintenance charges collected by the RWAs in the respective quarter and not more than that to fill any gap in the budget needed.

According to the order, while routine maintenance and minor repair works are to be carried out by the funds collected by the residents welfare associations, major repair work and charges towards water supply and electricity for common areas will be met from the contribution of the board.

Any additional infrastructure needed will be provided with equal contribution from the Board and the RWAs.