A voluntary activist from Disha, an association fighting for gender equality, has alleged gender discrimination against the Secunderabad Club, the rules of which deny election as well as voting rights to its women members.
Women members of the 130-year-old club are not allowed to contest election or be part of its managing committee.
The existing women members are not permitted to become members of the general body of the society, as only men can be permanent members and move resolutions or take decisions, the activist alleged.
While the proposed rules to be introduced at the annual general meeting on July 31 stipulate that any person can become a permanent member, the waiting period for the application to be considered for it is 15 to 20 years!
With the privilege denied to the existing members, the general body will remain closed for women members for the next decade or two, Anjana Anukriti Taggarse, an executive member of the association, said at a press conference here on Friday.
Further, the club’s rules stipulate that children of women members are barred from membership once they attain 25 years of age, even as it is allowed for children of male members. Similarly, sons of male members inherit the membership, while daughters have to face a ballot where male members have the sole authority to elect them as associate member ladies.
Raking more controversy is the rule that disqualifies AMLs as well as lady members when they decide to remarry, even as men enjoy the privilege to choose one among their multiple partners as ‘declared wife’!
