The Hindu : Front Page : Husbands to get a say in ‘pre-general body' meet

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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2011
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Husbands to get a say in ‘pre-general body' meet

T.V. Sivanandan

Decision taken at closed-door meet with ZP president
‘Their demands contradict benefits of reservation'

GULBARGA: Following the ruckus kicked up by husbands of elected members of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat demanding that they be included in consultations, the women-dominated panchayat seems to have caved in.

In an unprecedented move, it was decided at a meeting of the husbands and their elected spouses with zilla panchayat president Shivaprabhu Patil, vice-president Harshanand Guttedar and panchayat officials, to convene a “pre-general body meeting” on the eve of the official general body meeting, to which the husbands would be invited.

Sources said Monday's closed-door meeting witnessed heated discussions during which the husbands argued that their wives required their assistance to follow the proceedings.

The president and the officials pointed out the constitutional impropriety of the presence of spouses at official meetings, and reminded the husbands that officials were not required to apprise them of developmental activities.

The deadlock was resolved by Mr. Patil who came up with the idea of convening a pre-general body meeting. Mr. Patil, defending his decision, told The Hindu, “There is no bar in allowing the husbands to participate in the pre-general body meeting.”

Minister disapproves

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Jagadish Shettar did not take kindly to the turn of events in Gulbarga. He told presspersons in Belgaum that the men's demands for a role in the affairs of a democratically elected body were “unfair, unjust and in contradiction of the reservation benefits given to women”.

The State Government had enhanced reservations for women to 50 per cent to ensure equal political rights to them. The husbands were jeopardising the women's democratic rights, Mr. Shettar said.

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