Panchkula: In a promising shift towards community-driven governance, citizen-led ‘Sahyog’ groups are emerging as active and effective area-resident bodies, transforming how local issues are identified and resolved.Moving beyond traditional Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), these groups are taking a more hands-on, data-driven approach to bridge the gap between residents and administration.Residents report that nearly 50 percent of long-pending issues have already been addressed through coordinated efforts. The initiative has gained momentum with the formation of four Sahyog groups across key sectors—Sector 25, Sectors 16–18, Sectors 2 and 4, and Sector 20. A proposal for more sectors is currently underway.A notable example is Sahyog 25, a self-help group of 89 active members, formed just a month ago by residents of Sector 25. Within a short span, the group has not only identified pressing civic concerns but has also documented its monthly performance and laid out a clear roadmap for future action. This structured and transparent approach is being seen as a model for other sectors to follow.Unlike traditional bodies, Sahyog groups emphasise collective participation, data compilation, and actionable planning. They actively track complaints, monitor resolutions, and present consolidated reports, ensuring accountability and efficiency. By doing so, they are fostering a culture of collaboration and trust between citizens and local authorities. Each sector’s Sahyog shares the number of area sanitary inspectors, junior engineers, beat police officials, and other officials of various departments to follow up with them to ensure the local area complaints are resolved at the grassroots level. If the issues are not worked out at the ground official’s level, then the Sahyog group takes it up with senior officials.“We have a group of active residents called Solution Box. But residents had a lot of small local issues, and it was not possible to tackle all of them on this platform. Now, we have formed sector-wise Sahyog groups. Small local issues, which otherwise matter a lot to the area residents, like garbage collectors not turning up, sweeping not being done, tree pruning not happening, or some other issues of water or power, are being locally taken up and addressed in the area Sahyog. It is also a way to empower people and to make this realisation that merely complaining that things do not work would not help. They are now themselves bringing the change,” said Mohit Gupta, who is the driving force behind the group.“It was the feeling among residents that works are being done only in VIP sectors like 6, 7, or 8, but see, this week our Sector 25 was able to get a sweeping schedule, which was not there in trans-Ghaggar sectors. This is the work of this resident-centric group,” added the Sector 25 resident.
