CHENNAI: A total of 85 out of the 200 wards in the city do not have a woman in the ward committees, according to a gender and caste-based analysis of nominated members by an NGO. The councillors, of whom more than half are women, recently completed nominations to the ward committees. Each councillor makes 10 nominations-one from each area- to the ward committee.
In Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Teynampet and Alandur zones, there were 10 wards each without any women representation. Thiruvottiyur, Anna Nagar and Valasaravakkam had nine wards each without women in its ward committees, according to the report by the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC). In another 36 wards, only one of the 10 ward committee members was a woman.
Of the 1,449 members of the total of 2,000 members for whom gender and caste-based data are available, 1,352 were men and only 97 were women. The highest representation for women where four out of the 10 members were women, was found in wards 15, 75, 159 and 188. Five others had three women each and another 15 wards had two women on the committee.
As for caste, while 390 ward committee members (20%) belonged to scheduled castes and 527 from BC and 323 from MBC, there was only one person belonging to the ST category on the list. Similarly, only three of the 1,285 members for whom caste-based data were available, were BC (Muslims).
A woman councillor on conditions of anonymity said nominations were made based on those who showed willingness and were confident of attending meetings without fail. “The Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (Ward Committee and Area Sabha ) Rules, issued on 24th June 2022 by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department should incorporate reservation for women, persons with disabilities, trans persons and other vulnerable groups in rules notified,” said Vanessa Peter of IRCDUC.