Only when more women contested in local body elections and took up the responsibility of governance, the society would benefit, said B. Thirumalai, senior journalist and author, here on Thursday.
Speaking at a day-long training programme for women counsellors at a meeting organised by EKTA, an NGO, in association with The Hunger Project India, he said that schools run by the government were in a bad shape. Many schools were facing closure or had been closed due to many reasons. To stop this, women should closely monitor and take position at the gram panchayat level. They could ensure that teachers conducted classes regularly and students were present.
Likewise, only when more women came to public life, menace like liquor could be put to an end. It was shocking to note that Tamil Nadu had the highest number of young widows. Most of the deaths of men were attributed to liquor consumption, he charged and hoped women would take it as a challenge and utilise the 50 per cent reservation in local bodies to contest in elections to be held shortly.
He further said that in the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry 50 per cent of voters were women and hence the number of women contestants should be higher. It was a myth that politics was meant for men.
It was in 1921 that women were given the right to vote in India but women in Britain got the right to exercise their franchise only in 1928. Thus, women in Tamil Nadu should not remain mute spectators any more and should join the mainstream politics, Mr. Thirumalai said and explained how Rani Mangammal, Velu Nachiar, Muthulakshmi Reddy and Sornathammal remained role models even today.
Releasing the helpline number 092666 74111, journalist Jayalakshmi said it was time for womenfolk to voluntarily come forward and contest in elections. “This is the right moment to reveal your talent,” she told the participants and shared some of her experiences as a journalist with elected representatives.
The training was primarily to train women on five aspects: as a voter, as a candidate, as an election agent, as a proposer, and as a campaign manager during the local body election.
