Women panchayat presidents and ward members from the district and members of the Muzhakkam Federation from Tirupparankundram, Chellampatti and Parangipatti said that they wanted 50 per cent reservation for women in local body elections, at a meeting organised by Ekta Foundation and The Hunger Project here on Saturday.
In a list of demands that the federation members said that they would submit to the State and Central governments, the women said that while there was 33 per cent reservation in place for them, it was not enough and they demanded equal participation in future. T. Pasupathy, panchayat president of Pullaneri, said that as women panchayat presidents, they wished better coordination and support from block-level officials, villagers and the government towards implementation of developmental works. “Every month, we want a meeting to be organised exclusively for women panchayat presidents by the Collector so that special attention could be given to the problems we faced,” she said. Senthil.A, a programme associate of Ekta foundation who coordinated the meeting, said that the federation would place its demands to higher authorities for consideration.