R K Misra, a successful entrepreneur-turned-politician, recognised the participants as leaders in their communities and encouraged them to be active in ward-level politics.
Residents and representatives of many apartment communities understood the technicalities and exchanged ideas at the workshop. Pic: Krishanu Mukherjee
A workshop on ‘Managing Public Money’ was conducted for Treasurers of Apartment and Villa Complexes in Bangalore on October 5, Saturday. The Workshop conducted by ApartmentADDA – the Online Software for Society Accounting, attracted participation from over 40 Apartment & Villa Complexes, who utilised this platform to share challenges and best practices used by treasurers who manage funds to the tune of multiple crores in modern apartment complexes.
The workshop keynote was an inspiring speech from R K Misra, a successful entrepreneur-turned-active-civic-leader and politician. Misra recognised the participants as leaders in their communities and encouraged them to be active leaders beyond their gates as well, by not only voting but also contesting ward elections.
He shared information on the BCLIP (BPAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program). The workshop topics covered Maintenance Budget Structuring, Financial Governance, Vendor Management, Transparency to Residents etc.
It also covered ambiguities in Service Tax for residential communities. Clarities were arrived at related to TDS, Income Tax etc. Interesting case studies were presented by management committee members.
Arathi Manay of Brigade Millennium, an apartment community in JP Nagar, outlined how they said NO to ‘facilitation money’ paid to Electrical Inspectors, instead took his fault report seriously and ensured those faults were fixed even though it meant substantial supervision effort on the part of the MC members. This led to establishment of sound electrical maintenance and supervision discipline that is beneficial in the long term for the Building.
Anil Danti and Anil Agarwal of Brigade Metropolis, a 1600-unit Complex in Whitefield, shared the best practices utilising which the community has been able to hold the maintenance contribution at Rs 2/sqft/month, relatively low for comparable facilities, without impacting the reserve funds or corpus fund.
The workshop was highly interactive with very interesting question and answers keeping it lively throughout the 4 hours. A question from a participant asking if any builder has ever returned the corpus fund back to the owners association along with interest received a resounding Yes from two MC members – one from a Brigade property and one from a Sobha property.
Ward 51 Councillor takes the initiative to provide alternative housing for families in TNUHDB's reconstruction project in Chennai.
An IT professional turned ward councillor, Niranjana Jagadeesan says, "Improving facilities for education in Ward 51 in Chennai is my priority as I firmly believe that only education can give confidence to individuals, especially girls." Her journey into politics is akin to many first-time women councillors of Chennai. Niranjana's husband is active in politics. "I used to work in an IT company. Since Ward 51 was reserved for women candidates, my husband asked if I would contest the polls. I was managing a team in the IT company, and here I will be managing a ward. At the end of…
Other news: New greening initiative by Kochi Corporation; one million unsold housing units in top Indian cities in the third quarter of 2024.
More rains expected in Chennai The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the formation of a new low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, bringing heavy rain to Tamil Nadu from December 9th to 12th. Just over a week ago, Cyclone Fengal ravaged Puducherry, northern Tamil Nadu, parts of Karnataka and Kerala causing extensive damage. The Centre has promised ₹944.80 crore relief as two instalments from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), for the people affected by Cyclone Fengal in Tamil Nadu, against the state's plea for ₹2,000 crore. The state government has announced ₹2,000 for every family affected in…
You and every citizen frustrated by potholed roads, air pollution, garbage—in short our broken cities.
Citizen Matters is India’s leading Civic Media Platform. We dig into the “why” and “how” behind issues plaguing our cities and neighbourhoods—and spotlight solutions. But we go further. We focus on citizens driving change and their strategies and bring you a playbook for better cities.
Through Citizen Matters, Open City and other initiatives, we centre the demand for better cities and empower citizens to drive change.
We need your support to continue this work. Your contribution is critical for our survival. Donate now
