Navi Mumbai: Women candidates seek bigger roles in NMMC after draw for women's reservation held

Women will have the majority in the next corporation of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) as half of the seats have been reserved for them. The civic body held the draw for reservation of seats in the category of Schedule caste (women), Scheduled Tribes (women), and women from the general category on Tuesday in Vishnudas Bhave auditorium in Vashi.

Soon after the draw, political parties claimed to win the upcoming civic election. They also appreciated the way the draw was held transparently by the civic administration.

Following the direction from the state election commission, the civic body has reserved 61 out of a total of 122 seats for women. In such a scenario, apart from 61 fixed seats for women, the open category will have a few women candidates in the election. And, the overall number of women representatives may be more than half of the total number of seats.

Divya Vaibhaw Gaikwad, a former corporator from Vashi and representing panel number 27 said that she is happy with the way the draw was conducted. “Just increasing the number of women representatives will not serve the purpose. Involvement of women representatives in the decision-making process is also important,” said Gaikwad. There are various committees including the Mayor's post at NMMC, and women representatives will demand a bigger role in the corporation after the election. The post of mayor at NMMC has also been reserved for women.

This is the first general of NMMC when a three members panel has been formed. Under the panel system, there will be 40 wards, and each ward consists of 3 members from NMMC general election 2022. So, out of 122 seats, there will be 40 panels of 3 members and one panel of two members. Each panel has at least one woman representative.

Abhijit Bangar said that the draw for Schedule caste (women), Scheduled Tribes (women), and women from the general category was held and a draft will be published on June 1. Citizens can submit their objections and suggestions by 3 pm on June 6 and they can be submitted to the election office of the Municipal Commissioner at the civic headquarters in Belapur.

Published on: Tuesday, May 31, 2022, 09:19 PM IST