Delay in registration irks housing society members

By Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI, OCT. 7. Nearly three years after the Cantonment Board Employees Union submitted an application to register their cooperative housing society, clearance is still pending, in violation of standard procedure.

The regular procedure for registration under the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Societies Act - granting approval or rejection within a time span of 120 days - has clearly been violated in this case. Enquiries with the Registrar of Housing Cooperative Societies indicate that the application was cleared and forwarded by the Registrar's office but is pending clearance from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Around 400 employees of the Cantonment Board, operating as civilians, in the Cantonment areas of St. Thomas Mount and Pallavaram areas, will benefit from the scheme. They decided to form the Society headed by a chief promoter and six directors, in order to benefit from a direction from the Ministry of Defence, 1982, advising allocation of vacant land. So far, around 170 persons have paid share capital and entrance fee to enroll themselves in the Society.

Cantonment laws say that vacant land in civil areas, surplus to Defence requirements, may be allotted to Housing Societies of Cantonment Board employees belonging to weaker sections and those of serving and retired personnel of the Defence Services.

The allotment will be subject to the condition that no member of the Society owns a house or a residential plot at the station or the adjoining municipality. Normal rent and premium will be charged for allotment of land to such societies.

``Most of the workers in Cantonment Board who will benefit from forming the Society are in the category of `safai karamcharis'. Others are involved in tasks such as maintenance of street lights, water, taxation and other municipal activities.

``The majority of us live in impoverished circumstances and hope that this scheme would give us a decent place to live in'', says Mr. P. Peter Durairaj, secretary of the Union. The members complain, ``we were asked for a few clarifications by the Registrar's office, which we furnished immediately. However, there has been no other response. They have not even rejected the application''.

Vexed by the long delay in granting registration, the Union members reiterated their demand at meetings with Government and Ministry officials. Following up repeated reminders, they conducted a dharna on October 12 last year. Faced with continuous lack of response, the members also included their grievance in a batch of petitions submitted to the Chief Minister's cell in January.

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