Maharashtra election commission to strengthen women’s role in politics

The Maharashtra State Election Commission has framed a training module to strengthen women’s role in politics, right at the grassroot level. A brainchild of state election commissioner Neela Satyanarayana, a three-day participatory training programme has been designed to increase their role at the corporation level. 

“There is one-third reservation for women from the panchayat to the Centre. But this reservation has yielded only quantitative results, not qualitative. A participatory model is framed to help women overcome social and political inhibitions,” said additional chief secretary Chand Goel. 

The module seeks to leverage women’s interest in politics through games, songs and video clips. Around Rs3 crore will be pooled for training in 10 districts. 

“Apart from government machinery, Unicef and UNFPA are also slated to be part of the project,” Goel added. The training will be imparted through ASHA and aanganwadi workers. 

The state has 2.29 lakh municipal councillors, out of whom 76,585 are women. In the first phase, 10 districts have been selected for training. These include Pune, Thane, Nashik and Kolhapur. 

As a pilot project, the programme will start in Pune from December 14. The programme seeks to increase number of women candidates in the elections. Officials added that after these 10 districts, the training module will be implemented in the city. BMC has 227 councillors, out of whom 75 are women. 

“Apart from rural areas, there is a dire need for a similar programme in urban areas,” Goel added. The city programme will be launched before the corporation goes for polls.