VASCO
Several women affiliated to Mormugao Congress on Tuesday morning agitated in the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) building against the reservations declared for the upcoming civic polls.
The women led by outgoing councillors Shradda Amonkar, wife of GPCC Vice President Sankalp Amonkar, Bhavna Bhosle and others questioned why reservations for women were not ensured for the civic polls from Mormugao constituency and alleged that the reservations were politically motivated and done with Assembly elections in mind.
The agitated women met the newly appointed administrator Raju Gawas and demanded that he take up the grievance of the women from Mormugao with the government but Gawas said that his duty was restricted to functioning of MMC and he was not the right authority to place the grievances regarding the reservations.
Angered women later inked the photos of Urban Development Minister Milind Naik in protest before appealing to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to intervene and get the reservations restructured.
Shradda Amonkar, outgoing councillor speaking to media informed that she had approached the courts over the reservations. “We have come here to meet the administrator to address our grievances that not even one ward is reserved for the ladies despite 53 per cent women voters and this is injustice to women and despite having reservation for women in 2010 and 2015, there is no reservations this time.”
Outgoing councillor Bhavna Bhosle said that it looked like the BJP wanted the women only for voting, meetings and having self-help groups.
Women leaders Shanti Mandrekar, Vinnie Bhagat and Regina Dias also spoke.
