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.
upper hand in the elections to municipal corporations that are to be
held in the coming months. The State government has notified 50 per cent
reservation for women for Mayoral post in municipal corporations in the
State. According to an extraordinary notification issued on December 4,
in eight out of the 15 corporations, Mayoral post has been reserved for
women.
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.