New Delhi: At the start of 2021, the second wave of coronavirus had hit all of us. It changed the way we used to live our lives. We were again stuck at our homes and had no other choice. The technology came to the rescue as schools and colleges were functioning with the help of online classes.
In this situation, everyone was worried about their work. The societies also faced difficulties in functioning properly. They faced problems in conducting meetings. Gathering of people was also not allowed.
CitySpidey talked to many RWAs and asked them how they managed their activities in such a scenario.
General Secretary of Express Zenith, Sector 77, Noida, Devendar said, “Last year, when Covid had hit all of us and section-144 was imposed, we started Zoom meetings. We also have our social media page on Facebook, where we share all the important things related to society. A few months later, we also organised an online drawing competition for the children to raise awareness on coronavirus.”
“I think the online mode is very helpful for all of us for taking meetings and discussing the issues. But we faced problems initially because we were new. Now as we are used to this, we do not face problems. However, the offline mode is still better because it is difficult to discuss all the issues through online medium.”
Puneet, President of Aditya Celebrity Homes in Sector 76, Noida said, “I think the day-to-day service issues can be handled without doing online meetings because there are so many social media platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram where you can form a group of residents. The residents have the number of help desk for their concerns. So you don’t have to be physically present to address your concerns.”
He added, “The idea is to publish the society’s updates regularly. Then you are always available to take calls from the people who are facing any issues.”
Alok Kumar, Founder of FedAOA said, “Zoom meeting is very easy but face to face coordination is still better. Zoom works best in taking a meeting in this time period as we are not allowed to gather at one place. Even now we are also taking few meetings with our 7 to 8 members through the WhatsApp video call.”
He added, “We gathered only once in the whole one year and I think taking meetings through online mode is beneficial for all of us.”
Manoo Jee Tickoo, Vice President of Saral CGHS, Sector 10, Dwarka said, “There were some minor issues as residents were not aware of the ways to raise their problems. I think organising a Zoom meeting is always good as we are not allowed to gather at one place. We discuss all the issues and the concerns by the residents one by one, but yes it is difficult to discuss through video call.”
He added, “There are many platforms through which we are conducting the online meetings like on Zoom and google meet. There are many issues which have to be discussed to solve them. Initially, we were facing problems but now we are all used to this.”
Rajeev, President of Patel Apartments, Rohini, Sector 13 said, “Initially, we were facing many problems when we used to organise Zoom meetings and interaction level was good but physical interventions are also required sometimes. We have to take some urgent decisions which is not possible on Zoom or on WhatsApp."
President and Secretary of the Hil Apartments, Sector 13, Rohini, Renu Jha said, “Last year when the pandemic hit all of us, everyone was in shock and we all were stuck at home. There were many problems that were faced by many families like availing medical care or access to food. We were not allowed to gather. So at that time, we conducted Zoom meetings where we all discussed the issues faced by the residents.”
She added, “The second wave was disastrous. There were many issues which were not solved through online meetings. But through social media, we raised all our issues and we helped a lot of people. We provided many oxygen cylinders to the needy. I think social media has the power in allowing people to raise their voices.”
