Sunday Special | The New SRA: Where Transparency Meets Dignity

Under CEO Dr. Mahendra Kalyankar, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority has undergone a quiet but sweeping transformation — from digitised records to transparent PAP allotments — bringing clarity, dignity and trust back to citizens.

X: @vivekbhavsar

On a recent weekday morning, 62-year-old Shantabai Jadhav stepped into the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) office with a hesitation she had carried for two decades. Her son needed clarity on their Annexure-II status — a visit she had postponed for weeks out of fear that she would be lost in the system again.

But this time, she found a reception desk that guided her, a Visitor Management System that issued her a digital entry slip, clear signage, a waiting area with seating, and an officer who called her in by name. “It doesn’t feel like the old SRA,” she whispered.

Her experience reflects a quiet transformation underway inside one of Mumbai’s most complicated public bodies — a transformation led by CEO Dr. Mahendra Kalyankar, who has spent the last several months reshaping SRA’s identity through discipline, transparency and technology, under the guidance of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

What was once a maze of files, queues, confusion and complaints is turning into one of the city’s most organised, citizen-friendly institutions.

This change is not loud.
It is not accompanied by slogans or media spectacles.
It is rooted in small, steady, structural decisions that are now touching lakhs of lives.

A Building That Now Reflects the Dignity of Its Citizens

Until recently, the SRA office symbolised the struggle of Mumbai’s poorest — cluttered corridors, heaps of dusty records, confusing counters and uncertain communication. For many slum dwellers, a visit to the office meant taking a day off work and returning home with more questions than answers. Today, the atmosphere inside the building has shifted dramatically.

Clean corridors, a corporate-like layout, clear directional boards and organised cabins indicate a cultural reset. The introduction of a structured Visitor Management System ensures every visitor is registered, guided and heard in a time-bound manner. Elderly citizens and women no longer stand in long queues. Officers know who is waiting, and meetings follow a predictable, humane flow. The physical improvement is not cosmetic — it signals respect.

Record-Keeping Overhauled: The End of the ‘Missing File’ Era

One of the most significant reforms has happened behind the scenes. SRA undertook a massive organisational exercise: 2.72 crore pages digitised, 1.08 lakh files properly classified and indexed, and nearly 22 tons of outdated records destroyed.

File rooms were reorganised into clean, navigable archives. This is more than administrative tidying. In an ecosystem where a single missing document can determine a family’s fate, systematic record management restores trust.

Slum dwellers, historically vulnerable to manipulation by middlemen claiming files were “lost” or “stuck”, now find their documents digitised, traceable and secure. It is the quiet foundation upon which all further reforms stand.

A Digital Revolution Designed for the Poor

If physical reform cleaned the house, the digital transformation opened its doors to everyone.

WhatsApp Chatbot and Channel

The SRA’s WhatsApp chatbot offers instant access to project status, eligibility details, redevelopment updates and document requirements. The official WhatsApp channel broadcasts circulars, allotment notices and scheme updates in real time. For citizens with basic smartphones, this has replaced multiple visits to the office.

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The SRA Mobile App

The newly introduced SRA Brihnamumbai Mobile app has become the backbone of SRA’s digital services. On a single platform, citizens can upload documents, check Annexure-II and eligibility, track redevelopment progress, view building plans, file grievances and access rules, circulars and orders. The interface is available in Marathi, Hindi and English.

This puts official information directly in the hands of slum dwellers — eliminating dependence on agents or unofficial channels.

QR-Based Unified Access

A single QR code now acts as a gateway to PAP allotment details, transfer of tenement services, circulars and GRs, project dashboards, building approvals, document downloads, disaster-related notices and complaint systems. For the first time, slum dwellers can rely on a transparent, structured information source — not rumours.

PAP Allotment Goes Transparent

Project Affected Persons (PAP) — among the most vulnerable in the rehabilitation chain — now benefit from a fully digitised allotment system. Citizens can view available PAP buildings, floor-wise details, location maps, allotment stages, lottery results and their own allotment orders.

This clarity, long missing in PAP processes, has drastically reduced anxiety and confusion for families displaced by major infrastructure projects.

Red Tape Cut: Legal Submissions Go Online

In a landmark administrative reform, all submissions under the Slum Act — including objections, appeals and replies — can now be emailed directly to the designated CEO-level address.

This eliminates lost applications, delays at inward counters, physical travel and uncertainty of acknowledgment.

For many citizens, especially senior citizens and daily-wage earners, this has made the legal process accessible for the first time.

Grievances Resolved — Not Ignored

Perhaps the strongest indicator of cultural change is SRA’s grievance disposal record.

Aaple Sarkar Portal:

322 received | 322 disposed | 100%

Government of India PG Portal:

58 received | 58 disposed | 100%

Lokshahi Din hearings:

17 applications | 17 resolved | 100%

A public institution responding to every grievance — without backlog — is a rare phenomenon in urban governance. It signals discipline within the organisation and sensitivity toward citizens.

Field-Level Surveys and Coordination With Centre

Beyond internal reforms, SRA has strengthened coordination with central agencies. Surveys in Sundar Nagar, Azad Nagar and Geeta Nagar — areas falling under security-sensitive zones — have been conducted with precision, documenting thousands of hutments and regularising data that had remained pending for years. This reduces uncertainty and helps prevent sudden, arbitrary eviction drives — a persistent fear in slum communities.

Leadership Without Noise, Reform Without Delay

One of the striking aspects of the SRA’s transformation is its quiet execution. There were no grand PR campaigns or photo-ops, no mass announcements and no political noise.

The reforms reflect discipline in file movement, transparency in decision-making, a digital-first mindset, focus on citizen dignity, accountability within departments, zero tolerance for pendency and professionalism combined with empathy.

Under CEO Dr. Mahendra Kalyankar, the SRA has evolved from an opaque, complex institution into a functioning, predictable, accessible public body.

What This Means for Mumbai’s Slum Dwellers

For the city’s poorest citizens, the transformation is not abstract. It is deeply personal.

• A senior citizen emailing her Section 33 objection instead of travelling miles.
• A PAP family checking its allotment from a mobile phone.
• A mother scanning a QR code to confirm Annexure-II details.
• A daily-wage worker receiving circulars directly on WhatsApp instead of relying on agents.
• A young resident using the झोपरा app to track the future building he will soon shift to.
• A widow entering a clean, organised SRA corridor without fear.

These small moments add up to something big — a renewed relationship between the State and its most vulnerable citizens.

A New Chapter for SRA — And a Model for Urban Governance

In a city where more than half the population lives in slums, the transformation of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority is more than just an internal success story — it is a signal of what public institutions can become when discipline, technology and empathy work together.

If sustained and expanded, these reforms have the potential to reshape how Mumbai approaches rehabilitation, redevelopment and housing for years to come. And if replicated, they could offer a template for urban governance across India.

Today, one truth stands out with unmistakable clarity:

SRA is no longer a place of confusion.
It has become a place of clarity.
No longer a place of fear.
It has become a place of dignity.
No longer a place of uncertainty.
It has become a place of accessibility and trust.

This transformation is not only about modernising an office building — though the building did change.
It is not only about organising records — though that happened on a historic scale.
It is not only about launching digital services — though those services have empowered lakhs.

It is about something deeper.
Something more lasting.
Something Mumbai’s poorest citizens had almost given up on.

Trust.

Every institution in Mumbai has a story.
Some stories are about power.
Some are about ambition.
A rare few are about rebuilding trust — quietly, steadily, without spectacle.

The SRA’s transformation under CEO Dr. Mahendra Kalyankar belongs to that rare third category.

It told the poorest households in Mumbai:

“तुम्हाला हक्क आहे.
तुम्हाला माहिती हक्काने मिळेल.
तुमची तक्रार ऐकली जाईल.
तुमचे नुकसान होणार नाही.
सरकार तुमच्यासाठी उभे आहे.”

A new SRA has emerged.
A new relationship with citizens has begun.
And in Mumbai’s long, complicated struggle for dignified housing, this may well be the beginning of a new chapter — one built not on fear or confusion, but on transparency, clarity and hope.

Sometimes, in a city as complex as Mumbai, that itself is a quiet revolution.