Dear fellow Members
1. The Society has sent letters to members dated 10th January, 2009 asking us to pay a sum of Rs. 12,000/- towards Security Guard Services, supervision, site engineers, Electricity Expenses, administrative expenses, green belt and other utilities and common areas.
2. The letter states that this was approved by the members at the AGM held on 10th February, 2008. To the best of my knowledge this item was not on the agenda for the AGM nor the members ever approved it. If this was approved on 10th February, 2008 how is it that members were asked to pay before that date and society actually collected these amounts?
3. The list does appear to be a longish one and I tried doing some calculations on a simple Excel sheet by taking practical figures and realised that howsoever liberal I may have been, the numbers just do not add up.
4. A copy of the Excel sheet is attached for the members in general and Mr. Amarjit Singh in particular such that he can guide us as to where is the gap? You may do your calculations by changing the cells in white. The results will appear in grey.
The excel sheet is reproduced below
| Particulars | unit Salary/Expense | Nos | Salary per month | Expense per annum |
| Security Guards | 3,500 | 2 | 7,000 | 84,000 |
| Site Engineer | 25,000 | 1 | 25,000 | 3,00,000 |
| Secretary's Salary | 10,000 | 1 | 10,000 | 1,20,000 |
| | ||||
| Green Belt maintenance expense | 5,000 | 1 | 5,000 | 60,000 |
| Electricity Expense | 10,000 | 1 | 10,000 | 1,20,000 |
| Other administrative expenses | 5,000 | 1 | 5,000 | 60,000 |
| | ||||
| | Total | 62,000 | 7,44,000 | |
| | | | | |
| Amount charged by the Society under above heads | 1000 | 12,000 | ||
| No. of members | 95 | |||
| Amount collected from members | | 11,40,000 | ||
| | | | ||
| Excess amount collected from members | | 3,96,000 | ||
| | | | ||
| Excess amount collected from each member | 4,168 | |||
5. Rs. 4000 is certainly not a small amount as is proven by the fact that of the 95 members only 15 are stated to have paid the amount. What needs to be highlighted is that as high as 84% of the members are not enthused to pay, as demanded. The reasons are not unknown but do need to be documented and discussed since I believe that for expenses like these we should work on the principle of Zero based budgeting, more so in recession hit times. What worries me more is that this is not a one time expense but a recurring one.
6. As you may notice, the principal head is the salary that we pay to Site Engineer. It adds up to Rs. 3.00 Lacs per annum. I have nothing personal against the Site Engineer but the question is do we really need him or so to say should we be paying for his salary? The site Engineer was recruited to oversee the site development which concerned all members. After the site development has been completed, he is supervising the construction of houses built by some of the members. It is the stated position of the Society that the houses are being built by the members and the Society has merely suggested the names of the contractors. Either his salary should be paid by the contractors concerned or by the members whose construction is being supervised by the site Engineer.
In ABC analysis, this is an ‘A’ ticket item and needs specific attention. Per member expense on this head alone is Rs. 3158/-
7. On secretary’s salary my observation is that since we are paying to him, he should be accountable to us as a whole rather than a specific individual. A number of members have observed that he is rude and rough with them. There are mails from members to that effect. I have also personally experienced that. There are a number of documents that he has signed knowing well that they are false. I have copies of all of them and can provide to any member wishing to have them.
Additionally, a number of members have complained that the secretary does not observe fixed hours for attending the office. My observation is that the secretary must be available in the office during specified hours which should be notified to the members.
8. The heads “other utilities and common areas” appear to have been added merely to make the list a longish one. The utilities are supposed to be Electricity which has already been accounted for. Water is the other utility which is extracted from the ground using tubewell, already paid for by us. My Contractor has paid an unheard of rate of Rs. 9.00 per unit to the society for consumption of Electricity since I am constructing on our own. As I have said before, it is the claim of the society that all members are constructing on their own, whether through society nominated contractors or otherwise. I think all of us would wish to know whether all members have paid at the same rate or this rate is applied only to members who are constructing on their own. In any event I hope this earning is duly accounted for in the books of the society.
9. It is the stated position of the society that the sum is being demanded from the members for meeting the expenses, which are incurred on monthly basis rather than at the beginning of the year itself.
My suggestion is that we should pay these expenses on quarterly basis rather than on annual basis on the pattern of advance Taxes. The society should forward a statement of expenses actually incurred at the close of the quarter. This would not put burden on the members and also ensure accountability.
10. In response to a discussion I had with Mr. Amarjit Singh as to non receipt of a mail from the society, Mr. Singh clarified that the Society does not have its own telephone and internet connection. He followed this up with his Letter dated 15th March, 2009 which stated that “ I have requested our secretary to immediately apply for a telephone connection and internet connection and this will add to the monthly outflow” With due respect I find that outrageous. I had merely asked for my copy of the circular letter which was sent to all members except me.
Even a 24 x 7internet connection with unlimited downloads costs Rs. 649 per month say Rs. 700 per month. That would mean Rs. 8400 per annum. I really wonder how with addition of Rs. 8400 per annum, an annual collection of Rs. 11.40 Lacs would fall short.
It is only then I realised how to make mountain out of a mole hill.
I welcome views of the members on this such that we could arrive at a consensus figure to be paid by the members. Alternately, I would request Mr. Singh to let this be part of the Agenda for the AGM.
Regards
Sandeep Khurana
