The New Indian Express 12.12.2019
Women get the upper hand in corporations
As per the panchayat and municipal laws amended on February 20, 2016, not less than 50 per cent of the posts in rural and urban local bodies should be reserved.
As per the panchayat and municipal laws amended on February 20, 2016, not less than 50 per cent of the posts in rural and urban local bodies should be reserved. As such, seven corporations — Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Dindigul, Madurai, Coimbatore and Erode have been reserved for women general) category.
Besides, Vellore corporation has been reserved for SC (women) and Thoothukudi corporation has been reserved for SC (general). If the political parties wish, they can field as many number of women candidates in the rest of the corporations too.
Already, States including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana have 50 per cent reservation in urban local bodies.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu government issued an ordinance to revert to indirect elections to heads of urban local bodies — municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats. The move was criticised strongly by opposition parties.