There is a need for mutual collaboration between city's elite RWAs and their neighboring informal settlements in urban planning. This Occasional Paper presents ideas based on a survey of 17 middle class RWAs undertaken by PRIA in seven Indian cities.

1. Resident Welfare Associations in India:
A Promise Belied?
Participatory Research in Asia
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3. 3Resident Welfare Associations in India: A Promise Belied?
Many municipalities in India try to involve Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in ward committees in
order to promote inclusive urban development. Involvement of urban poor residents in such initiatives is
seen to bridge the gap between different socio-economic classes/colonies and to promote community
participation in the delivery of urban services at the local level. However, despite the prevalence of RWAs
in slums and unauthorized colonies, these initiatives aimed at involving RWAs in strategic governance
decisions often include only RWAs based in planned neighbourhoods. Such ‘elite’ RWAs tend to regulate
and discipline the urban poor rather than supporting their struggles over issues of housing, livelihood
and protection. Usually there is pronounced discomfort among the middle class RWA members about
including lower class groups of their neighbourhood, especially slum dwellers, in their struggles, even
where stakes are common. This paper presents the need for mutual collaboration between elite RWAs
and neighbouring informal settlements, and the roles RWAs can play in raising voice for the urban poor.
The ideas presented in the paper are based on a survey of 17 middle class RWAs undertaken by PRIA
in seven Indian cities.
Introduction
The 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA) of India provides guidelines for devolution of powers
through increased citizen participation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The 74th CAA envisages a gradual
withdrawal of the state and increased people’s participation in capital investment and operation and
maintenance of public services. It proposes area sabhas (consisting of all registered voters of a polling
booth) and ward committees. The ward committee is entrusted with raising development concerns in
the ward and getting funds from the urban local body to help implement chosen projects.
India’s flagship urban development programme, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JnNURM), provided funds for fast track planned development of urban infrastructure and service
delivery mechanisms. JnNURM mandated that states enact the Community Participation Law (CPL)
and implement it in order to be able to access funds under the scheme. CPL involves amending the
municipality act and creation of ward committees and area sabhas, thereby increasing community
participation in decision making.
Abstract
Every home in urban areas is entitled to services like
piped water, electricity, sanitation, security, street
lights, etc. Continued provision of these services is
the lifeline of every home. Overcoming disruption
or irregular supply of these services becomes an
important reason for urban residents to organize
themselves and come together to demand efficient
and affordable service delivery that benefits all.
Housing cooperative societies are one of the
earliest forms of such organization by urban citizens
to achieve common aims. The first co-operative
society act in India was introduced in 1904 by the
British primarily to aid small-scale farmers and
to improve access to rural credit. The act was
subsequently amended and expanded to include
non-credit co-operatives, including housing and its
administration. Bangalore Building Co-operative
Society, the first housing co-operative in India,
was founded in 1909. In 1913, the Bombay Co-
operative Housing Association was established
and was a pioneer in propagating co-operative
housing. Among many milestones, the association
Resident Welfare Associations: A Socio-Legal
Framework For Community Participation

4. 4 OP/2015/004E
elaborated the model by-laws which are used in
setting up and organizing housing co-operatives.
Over the decades, the co-operative housing
movement in India has grown from strength to
strength. It is estimated that there were nearly
100,000 housing cooperative societies in India in
2011, compared to a mere 5,564 in early 1960.
The biggest housing co-operative is Vidarbha
Premier Co-operative Housing Society in Nagpur,
Maharashtra. It was founded in 1930 by 12
members. By March 2008, its membership had
reached 40,000 members.
Since the early 2000s, Indian cities have seen the
growth of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs),
a voluntary civic association that represents
the interests of the residents of a specific urban
neighbourhood. They are typically registered as
co-operative societies. Membership is voluntary,
and the leadership is usually elected by fee-paying
members. Planned neighbourhoods, slums and
illegal housing localities are all entitled to form
RWAs.
RWAs can get involved in ward committees and
area sabhas. The involvement of the urban poor
and RWAs in ward committees is seen to be a
bridge between different socio-economic classes/
colonies to promote inclusive development of
wards. However, various studies indicate that
implementation of the Community Participation
Law has not taken off satisfactorily, the decision
making process remains with the government
agency and despite the prevalence of RWAs in
slumsandunauthorizedcolonies,oftengovernment
programmes aimed at involving RWAs in strategic
governance decisions include only RWAs based in
planned neighbourhoods.
Most RWAs struggle to retain their activism and
tend to become inactive very soon. They have
also increasingly become political. Local political
parties want to use the power of the residents’
associations for their benefits, as RWAs play a
vital role in activities such as voter registration and
enrolment campaigns. Nearly 75 per cent of RWAs
are approached by political candidates for support
during elections, and RWAs try their best to get
the local councillor and legislative member elected
from their neighbourhood (Karen Coelho, 2009).
The legal framework of an RWA includes an
Executive Committee which governs the affairs
of the Association. The Executive Committee
normally comprises the President, Vice-President,
Secretary and Treasurer. Additional members may
be inducted depending on needs. Elections are
normally held every year.
Role of Resident Welfare Associations
Resident Welfare Associations are not official
organs of government. They act as mediators
between official governance institutions and
private citizens to address local problems of roads,
water, drainage, electricity, land and housing
rights, etc. Urban local bodies (ULBs) in many
Indian cities work closely with RWAs to promote
participatory urban governance and maintenance
of public services (for example, waste collection
from households).
RWAs can get involved in maintenance of the
neighbourhood, operation and management of
civic services, capital investment in infrastructure
projects, and planning and participatory budgeting.
Typically, most RWAs, particularly those formed in
planned neighbourhoods, focus on civic amenities
in their colonies. They interact with government
agencies in local development projects. Some
may promote community development. Before
RWAs were active, funds earmarked for local
development were spent at the discretion of the
municipal corporator. Municipal authorities are
increasingly beginning to seek the opinion of RWAs
on drafting special powers to ward committees
under revised municipal acts.
Newspapers regularly report the proactive role
played by RWAs to improve service delivery to
their homes. RWAs in Delhi have taken up the

5. 5Resident Welfare Associations in India: A Promise Belied?
issue of provision of community toilets in market
places. The South Delhi municipality will build
the toilets, and members of the RWA and market
traders associations will take care of maintenance
and cleanliness. In Gurgaon, Haryana Urban
Development Authority (HUDA) has allowed
the RWA of Sector 21 to manage its sanitation
services as the residents were not satisfied with
the municipal service. Started on a three-month
trial basis, the partnership arrangement between
HUDA and the RWA involves HUDA paying money
to the RWA to maintain the service. The RWAs of
Mayfield Gardens, an upper-middle class colony
of Gurgaon, found illegal construction on land
within the colony earmarked for the colony’s power
infrastructure. A police complaint was lodged by
the RWA and the builder. An elite RWA in Bengaluru
successfully runs a community garbage collection
and composting scheme. Once a system of waste
segregation was in place, the RWA requested
the corporation to provide land for the compost
facility. The compost generated is sold back to the
residents. Decentralized waste management has
been taken up in many parts of Bengaluru. Hennur
Road Pillanna Garden RWA in Bengaluru engages
in public health issues, coordination with police and
ensures ID cards for all residents. It helps in traffic
coordination during peak hours and is involved in
participatory budgeting with the municipality for
which it has been collecting data through focused
group discussions. Vazhuthakkad Residents
Association in Thiruvananthapuram supports
composting and a biogas plant, and provides seeds
for vegetable cultivation. It also conducts quiz
programmes, yoga classes, coaching classes for
competitive examinations, awareness generation
camps for association members on health, hygiene
and communicable diseases, etc. Some RWAs in
Tamil Nadu are not only active partners in capital
investment but also act as intermediary agents.
The Delhi Bhagidari system is an interesting
example of how government can connect
with citizens and improve service delivery. The
programme was decentralized at the district
level and has been able to implement nearly 200
projects through people’s participation. Under this
scheme, RWAs have joined hands with municipal
authorities for prevention of encroachment, and
maintenance of community parks, common areas
and parking facilities inside the colony. Many
RWAs also get involved in regulating traffic within
colonies, water conservation and harvesting,
anti-plastic and anti-littering campaigns, etc. The
government has tried to involve RWAs in higher
level participation such as budget formulation and
local-level resource allocation. A survey by Journal
of Civil Society found 96 per cent of residents
thought the Bhagidari system was useful and 74
per cent said that the initiative had improved their
quality of life. Bhagidari has been successful in
bridging the citizen–government gap in spite of
lack of devolution to the municipal corporations
of Delhi. In 2005, the scheme won the UN Public
Service Award for citizen–government partnership
model.
The effectiveness of RWAs varies significantly
depending on the status of its residents. Elite RWAs
typically consist of retired or older bureaucrats, and
publicandprivatecorporatesectoremployees.They
focus their collective efforts on cultural and religious
programmes, in addition to coordinating with local
administration and civic agencies. As they tend
to have considerable influence, they receive high
quality of service. Unauthorized settlements and
slums on public lands have shown little interest in
forming RWAs or registering them as societies, even
though tenurial rights is not a formal requirement
for registering such associations. The absence of
registered associations creates barriers in seeking
services. The urban poor thus tend to rely heavily
on politicians, elected representatives (councillors
and legislative members), ward members, resident
neighbours, community leaders, caste leaders and
religious leaders to negotiate and avail municipal
urban services. Where citizens’ organizations in
slums do exist, such as youth associations, credit
associations, religious groups, etc, they often need
to collaborate with non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) to establish relations with the municipality
to enable them to access services.

6. 6 OP/2015/004E
RWAs and Neighbouring Informal Settlements:
The Relationship Bridge
The general perception was that informal settle-
mentsareprimarilyaburdenonthecity’secosystem.
In PRIA’s study on Contribution of the Urban Poor
Economic 2013, the most common phrase used by
residents in formal colonies to describe adjoining
slums was “dirty and unclean”. Their perception of
Contemporary Experiences of RWAs with
Neighbouring Informal Settlements
PRIA conducted a study in 2014 across 17
RWAs in seven cities in India – Bengaluru,
Thiruvananthapuram, Indore, Patna, Jaipur, Raipur
and Bilaspur – about the activities of RWAs and
their level of interaction with poor communities in
their close neighbourhood. The objectives of the
study were two-fold:
• To understand the cooperation between RWAs
and their neighbourhood poor
• To find possible ways to strengthen linkages
between the poor and non-poor
All the RWAs surveyed followed the structure
of an executive committee (comprising the
president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer)
governing the affairs of the association. Additional
members to the executive committee are inducted
depending on needs. Elections are normally held
every year.
Most of the surveyed RWAs undertake activities to
aid member convenience, for example, maintaining
lists of telephone numbers of various service
providers in the vicinity, conducting monthly
meetings regarding issues faced by residents,
lodging complaints (often in association with other
RWAs) for redressal of civic problems, etc.
Ingeneral,allthesurveyedRWAsacceptedthatthey
do not have any meaningful linkages with the poor
areas and residents in their locality, even though
the level of dependence on neighbourhood slums
for day-to-day convenience was high. Residents of
neighbourhood slums work in middle class homes
as maids, gardeners, cleaners, drivers, etc; in the
neighbourhood market as vendors; and even in
neighbourhood hospitals as support staff.
Donation of books, clothes, medicines, etc, was
the primary relationship between elite RWAs and
the urban poor neighbours. About a third of the
respondents said they do have linkages beyond
such charitable activities, including going together
to ULBs for redressal of complaints. They felt the
need to be empathetic towards the problems of the
urban poor, and agreed that not much had been
done by the RWA. Provision of scholarships, help
in getting ration cards and old age pensions, and
public health awareness were some of the areas
where they felt the urban poor could benefit from
their support. Most of them though had not thought
of collaborating with the poor to improve their civic
and built environments for mutual benefit.

7. 7Resident Welfare Associations in India: A Promise Belied?
the role of informal settlement residents was that
they had a negative impact on the cities.
In the study among RWAs, some RWAs believed that
the men in slum households were least interested
in employment, and the burden falls on the women
to work as maids to keep the home fires burning.
Others expressed considerable lack of trust, for
example, when there is a theft in their colonies, they
are suspicious of the direct or indirect involvement
of the neighbouring slum dwellers. Yet, many more
acknowledged the role of slums and their importance.
They felt the urban poor did play a positive role in
the functioning of a city by being a source of ‘cheap
labour’. Their lives are highly dependent on such
labour – at least three-fourths of the households
agreed they would be directly affected if the slums in
theirneighbourhoodswereremoved.Theyagreedthat
the support system they receive is cost effective only
because the informal workers and service providers
they depend on live in the slums in close proximity.
The relationship between urban formal settlements
and informal settlements thus tends to be primarily
one of service-clientage and occasionally one
based on cultural interactions. There is limited co-
partnering for common goals.
Service–Clientage Relationship
Middle and upper-middle class residents rely
on the residents of slums and unauthorized
settlements, often physically adjacent to their
own colonies, for essential support services like
maids, dhobis, car cleaners, gardeners, hawkers,
garbage collection, etc. Yet, while the bulk of
affordable household services is provided by the
poor residing in neighbouring settlements, the
relationship between the two classes of residents
tends to be a problematic one due to various
reasons. RWAs in planned neighbourhoods are
inclined to regulate and discipline the urban poor
rather than supporting their struggles over issues
of housing, livelihood and protection. Usually there
is pronounced discomfort among the middle class
RWA members about including groups of lower
classes, especially slum dwellers, in their struggles,
even where stakes are common.
Relationship Based on Security
Negative perceptions are often based on safety
concerns. Yet, some residents in formal colonies
went on record to say that the slums in their
neighbourhood indirectly gave them a sense of
security due to the generally high level of activity
there. Such RWAs had a higher level of trust with
slum dwellers.
When the residents of Professor’s Colony learnt of
a proposed demolition, it was this perceived feeling
of safety for their families and children, because of
the constant activity in the adjacent slum, which
promptedthemtocomeoutinsupportofthevendors
near Bharwarkua Square in Indore. The residents
appealed to Indore Municipal Corporation, who had
given notice to the shopkeepers to remove their
shops within seven days as they had encroached
on municipal land. Their appeal prevented the
municipal corporation from demolishing the shops,
and saved the livelihoods of fruit and other vendors
in the square.
Relationship of Support
Many RWAs showed a lot of interest in supporting
their neighbourhood slums not only for the colony
members but also to help the slum dwellers, as
they acknowledged their presence as mutually
beneficial. An RWA in Jaipur was of the view that
such support in the form of awareness camps in
slums on various issues and government schemes
would help improve their access to services, and
promotion of income generating activities within
the slums would enable the residents earn more.
Saddu Housing Board Colony Development Samiti
in Raipur organizes 12 programmes annually in their
colony, one each month, for help in getting Aadhar
cards and voter ID cards, health check-up camps,
and to celebrate festivals. The RWA has strong
linkages with a neighbouring village and involves
the manas mandalis (associations) from the village
in cultural activities. They organize celebrations
for religious festivals jointly. The villagers help in
preparing the food and catering, singing bhajans,
and setting up the puja pandal and stage.

8. 8 OP/2015/004E
Nagwara RWA in Bengaluru takes up common
complaints and grievances with concerned
officials,facilitatesexecutionofseveralgovernment
programmes in their neigbhourhood slums for
water supply, issue of voter ID cards, Aadhar
cards, providing application forms for various
benefits, etc. The RWA also provides training to
the slum dwellers in computer skills. The RWA has
established an office which works for three hours a
day; two volunteers are in charge of this office.
Hennur Road Pillanna Garden RWA in Bengaluru
helps in development of neighbouring slums by
bringing up common complaints to the authorities.
Nehru Nagar Vikas Samiti in Jaipur provides
guidance to its neighbourhood slum dwellers on
construction of roads, water, electricity, land rights
and sanitation.
Collaborative Relationships
PRIA promoted the beginnings of a collaborative
relationship between the Slum Improvement
Committee (SIC) of Bandhu Camp, a slum
adjacent to Sector B5, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
and the B6 RWA of Vasant Kunj. Services such as
maids, drivers, servants, cooks, babysitters, gate
keepers, sweepers, etc, are provided by residents
of Bandhu Camp for the middle class households
in Sector B6.
During the meeting, various issues faced by the
slum residents with respect to education, health,
sanitation, water and accessing welfare schemes
were highlighted. The RWA members were made
aware of corruption in the local police, who ask for
bribes from small shop owners in Bandhu Camp
on a monthly basis. Suggestions to resolve issues
were discussed in the meeting and the RWA agreed
to undertake several initiatives.
• Primary education: A list of all slum children
of primary school age would be made and
necessary steps with respect to their admission
at nearby government/private schools would be
taken.

9. 9Resident Welfare Associations in India: A Promise Belied?
• Pensions: The RWA had earlier helped a person
with disability from Bandhu Camp avail his
disability pension. He suggested making a list of
all aged, disabled and widowed residents of the
slum in order to help them avail their pensions.
• Sanitation: A sanitation sensitization drive was
to be held for the residents of the colony and for
the residents of Bandhu Camp.
• Employment: A database with contact details
of specialist workers, such as electricians,
plumbers, mobile repair technicians, etc, could
be made, which would help the residents in
using their services, thereby ensuring more
regular work for these service providers.
• Water supply: Water is a major problem in the
slum. Though tankers of the Delhi Jal Board
do supply water, it was not sufficient for all
households in the slum. The RWA agreed to
make an effort to ensure adequate water was
provided to the slum dwellers by the water
board.
As the RWA has good linkages with the municipal
authorities, the RWA president assured SIC
members he would bring up their issues to the
municipal councillor along with those of the colony.
With approaching elections to the state legislative
assembly, the RWA was ready to make use of the
opportunity to raise common concerns with the
candidates seeking re-election.
Conclusion
Beyond acknowledging the role of informal sector
workers in their lives, middle class members of
RWAs can build alliances with their neighbouring
slum dwellers, putting aside perceived problems in
jointassociation.Theycanworktogethertoaddress
the issues of alcoholism, domestic violence,
unemployment, lack of water and sanitation, poor
housing and road conditions, which many middle
class RWAs view are the primary problems in
poor settlements. Awareness camps on various
government schemes, equipping the urban poor
with the minimum documentary requirements to
access such schemes, and legal guidance are
some activities through which RWAs can build a
higher level of collaboration and help improve the
built environment of urban informal settlements
and the quality of life of its residents.
RWAs can also play an active role in urban
governance by participating in planning, prioritizing
implementation and monitoring of development
projects in their localities. PRIA’s survey across
seven cities shows that majority of RWAs already
have working relationships with ULBs and line
departments. These linkages with ULBs can
be leveraged. Expanding their role to promote
development that includes the welfare of the urban
poor living in proximity unleashes the potential of
RWAs to become the voice of the voiceless, and
will help realize the policy intention of increased
community participation in urban governance.
AUTHOR: Swathi Subramaniam, Programme Officer, Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), New Delhi.

10. 10 OP/2015/004E
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11. 11Resident Welfare Associations in India: A Promise Belied?
Annexure
Non-Poor Habitations In The Neighbourhoods Of Urban Poor:
Questionnaire for Perception Study Cooperation Between Poor And Non-Poor
1. What is the name of your association
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. When was the association formed
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Profile of Association
• Number of members
• Number of office Bearers
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the organizational structure of your association (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Auditor etc.)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. How are the office bearers chosen
 Selected/Nominated  Elected
6. What are the functions of your association performs
• Ensure civic amenities
o Water
o Sewage
o Street lights
o Parking
o Playgrounds
o Boundary wall
o Others
• Ensure id cards for all residents
• Protect property rights
• Others
7. Has your association worked with neighbouring associations/groups
• Neighbouring slum
• Neighbouring school
• Neighbouring market
• Neighbouring government hospitals
• Neighbouring parks
• Neighbouring roads
• Others
8. What are the sources of funds/revenue for the activities your association undertakes
Subscriptions
Membership Fees
Other sources (please mention)

12. 12 OP/2015/004E
9. What are the services your locality gets from your municipality/ULB
Municipal services Non Municipal Services
Lighting/ Water/ Parking/ Street Lights/ Sewage/
Sweepers/ Watchmen
10. Do you often interact with municipal officials?
Official Purpose If problem not solved
Why not?
Mayor
CEO of ULB
Municipal Commissioner
Elected Representatives
Departments Head
Private Builder
11. What kind of relationship exists with urban poor
Maid
Watchman
Dhobi
Car cleaner
Street vendors
Shop keepers
Sweepers
Gardeners
Newspaper Hawker
Etc.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. From your point of view what are the problems which the neighbourhood slums feel.
Issues Urban Poor
Illiterate
Crime
Sanitation
Dirt
Poverty
13. How could they cooperate/collaborate – possible ways
__________________________________________________________________________________________

13. NAMES OF RESPONDENTS
S.No. Name of RWA City
1 ARRWA(AshokaRatan Resident Welfare Association) Raipur
2 Saddu Housing Board Colony Development Samiti Raipur
3 KushbhauThakreAwasiyaParisar Group-1 maintenance committee Raipur
4 Pooja Park R.W.As Bilaspur
5 Patliputra Co-Operative, House Construction Society Ltd. Patna
6 The People’s Co-Operative Housing Construction Society Ltd. Kankarbagh Patna
7 Kaveri Apartment VikasSamity Jaipur
8 Nehru Nagar VikasSamity, PaniPench, Jaipur Jaipur
9 Suryadev Nagar NavYuvakVikasMandal Indore
10 Nagawara Residential Welfare Association Bangalore
11 Ramamurthynagara welfare association Bangalore
12 Hennur Road Pillanna Garden Residential Welfare Association Bangalore
13 Vaduvathunagar RWA Trivandrum
14 KaraliEnchakkal RWA Trivandrum
15 Vazhuthakkud RWA Trivandrum
16 KunnukuzhySangam RWA Trivandrum
17 Payattukuppam RWA Trivandrum

14. 14 OP/2015/004E
42, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110062, India
Tel: + 91 – 11 – 2996 0931/32/33; Fax: + 91 – 11 – 2995 5183; Email: info@pria.org; Web: www.pria.org
PRIA is a global participatory research and training centre
About PRIA
Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) is a global participatory research and training centre. PRIA’s
professional expertise and practical insights are utilised by other civil society groups, NGOs, governments,
donors, trade unions, private business and academic institutions around the world.
Since its inception in 1982, PRIA has embarked on a set of initiatives focusing on empowerment
of the poor and excluded. PRIA has consistently worked on issues of citizens’ access to rights
and entitlements, such as basic services in health, education and water in rural and urban areas;
women’s literacy and livelihood; forest rights of tribals; prevention of land alienation and displacement;
and workers’ occupational health and safety. In all its interventions, PRIA emphasises gender
mainstreaming institutionally and programmatically. Its perspectives on participatory research generate
innovative participatory methodologies.
The intensive field programmes of PRIA are currently located in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and Rajasthan. In addition, through its network of partners, these interventions extend
throughout India. PRIA is also involved in programmes in countries like Afghanistan, Indonesia,
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Philippines and Sri Lanka.