Women leaders are going to play a pivotal role in development of the new state of Andhra Pradesh if the outcome of the recently held municipal, mandal parishad and zilla parishad elections is any indication.
Women leaders have won a large number of president posts in mandal parishads and chairperson and deputy chairperson seats in zilla parishads, ringing in a ray of hope for women empowerment in the region.
Since the mandal and zilla parishad heads play a key role in planning at the micro and district level, the women leaders are all set to call the shots in the administration of Andhra Pradesh now.
Although, they got the chance due to rotation of reservation system, their pres ence at the top in the first term after the bifurcation of the state is really significant, experts said.
The women rule in civic bodies is expected to bring striking difference in the administration and help reduce corrupt practices, analysts feel. “Chandrababu Naidu is lucky to have many women in key positions in the civic and local bodies. He may not receive any complaints of irregularities or misuse of power against women mayors, municipal chairpersons and ZP chiefs,” said a senior citizen M Venkateswara Rao of Rajahmundry . He said women are relatively less corrupt than their male counter par ts.Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Guntur districts are being viewed as financial hubs of the new state and interestingly, all the three ZP chief posts have gone into women’s kitty here.
While Lalam Bhavani has been crowned with ZP chairperson post in Visakhapatnam, Gadde Anuradha has occupied the ZP chief post of Krishna district. Anuradha’s husband, Rammohan is presently the legislator from Vijayawada city .
More significantly, a minority woman, Shaik Janimun is heading the crucial ZP chair in politically volatile Guntur district.
Unlike in the past, the women, who are now heading civic and local bodies, are well-educated and expected to handle things better than the ministers in their respective districts, political observers argue. While Anuradha is a post-graduate in sciences and has experience of heading a firm, Janimun and Bhavani are both graduates. Similarly, Sobha Swathi and Chowdary Dhanalakshmi, who heads ZPs of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam respectively, are highly qualified. A large number of women have also bagged urban posts and have been crowned with the mayoral chair in important towns of Rajahmundry, Eluru, Chittoor, and Anantapur. Pantham Rajani Sesha Sai heads Rajahmundry city civic body which is going to host the crucial Godavari pushkaram fair next year.
A political novice, Shaik Noorjahan is keen on providing corruption-free administration in Eluru town as its mayor. The town is expected to witness massive growth in the coming years, thanks to the talk of a capital city coming up near Vijayawada.
“I was hesitant when the post was offered to me as I did not know politics much, expect for serving the poor among my relatives and neighbours. However, my husband and relatives prevailed upon me that becoming mayor is nothing but expanding my services is more deserving,” said Shaik Noorjahan.
Heading the civic body in a faction-ridden Anantapur district is no mean job. But, Madamanchi Swaroopa has the courage to lead the civic body . She served as corporator in the previous body and become TDP women wing’s chief with sheer hard work.
Recognising her organizational skills, Chandrababu Naidu named her as the mayoral candidate. “I am the first woman mayor of the city . I will set my focus on resolving drinking water crisis,” said Swaroopa. Both the mayor and ZP chief posts have been bagged by women in Chandrababu Naidu’s home district of Chittoor. While Kathari Anuradha heads the Chittoor city civic body as its mayor, Geervani leads the district as the ZP chief. About 30 other municipal towns in AP too are headed by women chairpersons.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by M N Samdani, TNN / July 15th, 2014
