Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 27 (IANS) The State Election Commission Friday published the list of 605 local bodies of the total 1,208 in Kerala to be headed by women.
These comprise 489 village councils, 76 block councils, seven district councils, 30 municipalities and three corporations in the state.
The local bodies polls are expected to be held in October and this is the first time that women are being given equal representation when it comes to heading the bodies.
In the 2005 local bodies poll, women were given the key posts in 33 percent of the local bodies and following the amendment of rules, women have now been given 50 percent reservation.
Malappuram district, which has the largest Muslim population, has been given 50 local bodies to be headed by women while Wayanad district will see women heading nine local bodies.
‘The basis of selection as to which local bodies should be headed by women was broadly arrived on the basis of rotation and also taking into account the population of women in each local body,’ an official told IANS.
Among those reserved for Scheduled Castes women are 121 councils besides another eight for women from the Scheduled Tribes category.
