The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Mumbai, has been honored with the prestigious Skoch Gold Award for its innovative Rent Management System developed to address rent-related concerns of slum dwellers. The award was conferred at a national-level event held in New Delhi. The Maharashtra Government and the Latur District Council have also received Skoch award.
The Rent Management System was introduced to resolve the growing backlog of rent payments that arose due to financial challenges faced by developers, especially following the COVID-19 crisis. These arrears led to a surge in complaints from slum dwellers, who are pursuing by personally visiting the Authority’s office frequently. These visits strains Slum dweller daily routine for livelihood and causes financial loss to him. The increased number of complaints also clogged the administrative resources of the SRA.
In response, the Authority developed an online Rent Management System, which allows slum dwellers to file complaints and address rent-related issues remotely via the SRA website (www.sra.gov.in). This innovative system has significantly reduced the need for slum dwellers to visit the Authority in person for persuasion, resulting in a marked decrease in office crowding and a reduction of approximately 65% in rent-related complaints.
Since the introduction of the online platform, the SRA has successfully recovered ₹300 crores in pending rent arrears, which have been distributed to the concerned slum dwellers. Additionally, the monthly rent and arrears disbursed under various SRA schemes have surged an average monthly distribution of rent from ₹35 crores to ₹75 crores.
To prevent future rent-related issues, the Authority has implemented new policies, including the collection of advance rent for the next two years and post-dated cheques for an additional year from developers before granting any permissions for schemes. These proactive measures are expected to ensure the smooth management of rent distribution and further reduce grievances.
Furthermore, the SRA has appointed authorized auditors to review rent distribution under its schemes and has initiated action under the Maharashtra Slum (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act, 1971, to terminate developers with significant arrears. The remedial actions taken by the Authority have received positive feedback from slum dwellers, who have expressed their satisfaction with the steps taken to resolve pending rent and arrears issues. The SRA’s commitment to improving the lives of slum dwellers has been widely appreciated, and this award highlights the Authority’s ongoing efforts to enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in slum rehabilitation.
