Final quota list out, women won’t get 50% seats in B’luru councils

Bengaluru: On the eve of International Women's Day, the Karnataka urban development department released the final ward reservation list for Bengaluru's five new municipal corporations. But the notification has revealed a shortfall in one of the key mandates of urban governance: Half the seats for women.Across the 369 wards in five corporations of Greater Bengaluru Authority, only 176 seats have been reserved for women. The number falls nine short of the 50% mark.
The final notification, which was expected by Feb 19, was issued late Saturday. Officials said the delay was due to processing of objections and suggestions received after the draft reservation list was published in Jan. The final figures remain unchanged despite criticism that the draft itself failed to meet the statutory quota for women.A breakdown of the numbers across the five corporations shows that none of them individually reaches the halfway mark either. In Bengaluru Central City Corporation, 30 of the 63 wards are reserved for women. The Bengaluru East City Corporation has 23 women-reserved wards out of 50, while the Bengaluru West City Corporation has 55 out of 112. Both the Bengaluru North City Corporation and Bengaluru South City Corporation have 34 wards each reserved for women out of 72 each.The shortfall is notable because Karnataka amended the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 in 2012 to provide for 50% reservation for women in urban local bodies. The change followed a Supreme Court judgement requiring states to ensure equal representation for women in municipal governance. Before that amendment, the quota stood at 33%, introduced through the 74th Constitutional Amendment that strengthened local self-governance.Senior officials, however, said the deficit arises from the way reservations are calculated within different social categories. "The ward reservation for women has to be less than 50% in each category," additional chief secretary, UDD, Tushar Giri Nath told TOI, referring to the reduction of one seat in each category while calculating 50% for an odd number of wards in some categories.For example, in the Backward Classes–A reservation category, which has 19 wards each in the North and South corporations, the notification reserves nine seats for women rather than ten under this category in both corporations. Similar reductions across categories, officials said, collectively lower the final count.The explanation doesn't have many takers. Former women councillors had already raised concerns when the draft notification appeared in Jan, arguing the GBA framework should have ensured full compliance with the 50% requirement.With the final list now in place, the numbers mean that Bengaluru's restructured civic system may begin its next electoral cycle with fewer women representatives than the law appears to promise, even as the city expands its municipal framework under the new authority.—— Reservation Matrix For 5 Corpns: CorporationsTotal WardsSC STBC (A) BC (B) GeneralTotal seats reserved for WomenCentral 6311 (5)1 15 (7)4 (2)32 (16)30East 507 (3)114 (7)3 (1) 25 (12)23West 1129 (4)2 (1) 30 (15)7 (3)64 (32)55North 729 (4) 2 (1) 19 (9)5 (2)37 (18)34South 727 (3)119 (9)5 (2)40 (20)34Total36943 (19)7 (2) 97 (47)24 (10)198 (98) 176Source: UDD Final Reservation List | Numbers in brackets are seats reserved for women in each category