Deccan Chronicle 23.12.2009

First woman Mayor wants man on job

Hyderabad, Dec. 22: Ms Karthika Chandra Reddy, the first woman Mayor of Greater Hyderabad, has raised eyebrows by asking the state government to allow her husband to help her run the city.

Although husbands are known to run the show from behind the curtains when women corporators get elected, this is the first time that someone has sought official permission for such help.

Ms Karthika Reddy, a postgraduate in Sociology, has written a letter to the government literally confessing her incapability to administer the civic body.

According to her missive, the GHMC had several important departments and she was new to all this. Until she learned how to function on her own, she may be allowed to take the assistance of her husband and senior politician, Mr Chandra Reddy, she said.

Legal experts disapproved strongly of the Mayor’s action. “No person, who is not elected or given public mandate, can be allowed to act as a proxy to the Mayor or even a corporator,” said Mr K. Komireddy, a practising advocate of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. “In a way, the Mayor is admitting her incompetence. She can always seek the help and assistance of IAS officers and other senior officials of the GHMC.”

However, the GHMC additional commissioner (legal), Mr K. Sudhakar, said there was no provision in the Municipal Act of 1955 to allow what the Mayor had sought.

The letter has evoked much talk in official circles with many wondering why Mrs Karthika Reddy contested for the post if she was so nervous. The Mayor was not available for comments but her husband, Mr Chandra Reddy, denied having written such a letter to the government. However, the principal secretary (municipal administration), Ms Pushpa Subrahmanyam, confirmed having received such a letter from the Mayor but said no decision had been taken on it as yet.

Meanwhile, women employees in the GHMC and other government departments felt the Mayor should not have made such a request. “Everyone has to learn and start functioning,” said Ms Laxmi Devi (name changed) a senior employee in the GHMC. “Such a request projects women in bad light.”