After Gurgaon civic body forms area sabhas’ for accountability, RWAs rue ‘exclusion’ from process
Each Sabha comprises all registered voters in its area as members, with a municipal corporation employee appointed as Member Secretary to coordinate activities.
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on January 20 constituted 117 ‘Area Sabhas’ across its 36 wards under the Haryana Municipal Citizens’ Participation Act to enhance public involvement in local governance and service delivery.
In an official order, the MCG divided each ward into 3-4 Area Sabhas (4 if the population exceeded 35,000) based on polling booths from the latest electoral rolls and voter numbers.
Each Sabha comprises all registered voters in its area as members, with a municipal corporation employee appointed as Member Secretary to coordinate activities.
Residents welfare associations (RWAs), however, said excluding them from the process will be detrimental and should have been avoided.
“Who is representing residents at grassroots? Us. The area sabhas under MCG should simply also include the rwa presidents, as long as proper audit are done and ready like with The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority’s (GMDA) Residents Advisory Council. If any tom dick harry is chosen, how will they represent issues facing so many people”, Chaitali Mandhotra, co-convener of United Gurugram RWAs, an umbrella forum of over 60 RWAs, said.
She added that the MCG was totally ignoring the lowest level of governance with such a move.
“Every ward in Gurgaon is huge. There are more than 10 RWAs in most of them. We are openly raising issues, which they perhaps don’t want, they want tick boxes to show citizens’ participation. Having every voter as member is such a big joke – the Act does not call for it. The policy and act should change to include RWAs otherwise Gurgaon will be in an even worse disaster. Right now, they do not want to find solutions when we have been working on them for years”, she said.
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“Decentralisation is most welcome, but it should be done properly. RWAs knowing about their areas can micromanage, so they cannot be excluded. There isn’t any much clarity on the role of councillors. How will the sabhas understand the issues of citizens? RWA will know specific issues, without them they cannot be fixed”, said Kusum Sharma, chairperson of Suncity RWA.
When contacted, MCG Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said the move is purely for accountability, and the area sabhas are in line with statutory and constitutional mandates for decentralisation.
“The State government had asked us to form them for identifying and finalising beneficiaries of different schemes, apart from their other functions. No RWA needs to feel threatened. Every citizen can contribute including RWA members, their powers and autonomy are not being taken away in any manner.”
As per the Act, Area Sabhas are tasked with generating development proposals and prioritising schemes, verifying eligible beneficiaries for government programs, suggesting locations for civic amenities like streetlights and sanitation units, identifying service deficiencies and remedial measures, assisting public health initiatives, including epidemic reporting, mobilizing voluntary labor and contributions for projects, and supporting tax mapping while reminding residents of payment obligations.
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“The formation of area sabhas will increase citizens’ participation in identifying local problems, finding solutions, and monitoring development works. This will strengthen transparency, accountability, and better urban governance. Citizens should actively cooperate in city development through area sabhas”, an MCG spokesperson stated.
Abhimanyu Hazarika is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Gurgaon. He covers southern Haryana.
Education
- Post-Graduate Diploma in Print Media, Asian College of Journalism (Class of 2020)
- B.A. (Hons) Liberal Arts with a major in Political Science, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (Class of 2019)
Professional Experience
Before joining The Indian Express, he worked with Bar & Bench (legal journalism) and Frontline magazine, where he developed experience in court reporting, legal analysis, and long-form investigative features.
Reporting Interests
His work centres on civic accountability, environmental policy, urban infrastructure and culture, crime and law enforcement, and their intersections with politics and governance in and around Gurgaon.
Recent Coverage (2025)
- Crime: Reported on the recovery of 350 kg of explosives and an AK-47 from a rented house in Faridabad, linked to the 2025 Red Fort car explosion case (November 11, 2025).
- Environmental policy: Covered protests outside a Haryana minister’s residence against a Supreme Court order that environmentalists argue could allow mining and real estate development on large parts of the Aravalli hills (December 21, 2025).
- Pollution control measures: Co-authored coverage of the Rekha Gupta government’s enforcement of vehicle restrictions at Delhi-NCR borders (December 21, 2025).
- Road safety and infrastructure: Examined response lapses in the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway hit-and-run case and ongoing investigations into high-speed road crimes in Gurugram.
- Animal welfare policy: Reported on concerns regarding the low budget allocated for stray dog sterilization by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (November 30, 2025).
- Urban culture: Featured the social media-driven popularity of a new Magnolia Bakery outlet in Gurugram (December 15, 2025).
Contact
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