MARGAO
Every time civic elections are round the corner, the Pajifond ward of the Margao Municipal Council comes into sharp focus.
It may be no different this time around with polls for the civic body expected early next year. The reason is simple. For 30 years now, Pajifond has been mysteriously not reserved for women, throwing up the moot question why the 33 per cent reservation for women under the 74th Constitutional Amendment is not implemented in this ward.
As the government is presently on the job to effect delimitation and reservation of wards ahead of the civic polls, the same question has come to play “ will the women from Pajifond get the historic opportunity to contest in a reserved ward in the 2021 polls or will history repeat itself when the manipulative and greedy political bigwigs have their say in the delimitation process to subvert the Constitutional guarantees for the fairer sex.
Take note, women have been denied reservation in the Pajifond ward by a simple and time-tested technique -- manipulating and changing the ward number at every election. While the ward is known to the local populace as Pajifond ward, the number changes with every election through the manipulation of the delimitation process, thus defeating the letter and spirit of the 74th Constitutional Amendment for women reservation.
For three decades now, Pajifond has not been reserved for women, and hence the ward has not been represented by a women councillor over the last 30 years. The ward was represented by former MMC Chairperson Santosh Raiturkar for two terms, followed by Raju Naik, who represented Pajifond for 15 years, before outgoing city father Angelis Pereira stopped his bid to play his fourth innings in 2015.
Fatorda’s political bigwigs, incumbent MLA Vijai Sardesai and archrival and senior BJP leader, Damu Naik, have once again supported reservation of the Pajifond ward for women. In 2015, the duo had backed reserving the Pajifond ward for women. History, however, was repeated in September 2015 midnight when then Director of Municipal Administration Elvis Gomes was left with no option but to give in to the demands of the ruling BJP leadership to reserve the ward for OBC instead of women, to satisfy the lust for power of the local netas.
Five years later, both MLA Vijai Sardesai and BJP leader Damu Naik are again the cynosure of all eyes.
Both Vijai and Damu have come out openly in support of the Pajifond ward being reserved for women. The focus, however, is centered on BJP leader Damu. Given that the BJP is ruling the state, questions are raised whether he would present a full-proof case before the government and the authorities to reserve Pajifond ward for women.
After women from Pajifond had missed the reservation bus in 2015, Damu had told this newspaper in 2015 that the ward will be certainly reserved for women after five years.
Last time around, women’s rights activist, Auda Viegas, had knocked on the doors of the judiciary after the government had failed to reserve the Pajifond ward for women.
In her plea, Auda had pointed out how the Pajifond ward of the Margao Municipal Council has not been reserved for women for more than 25 years. She contended that the failure to reserve ward No 11 for women for two decades and a half has defeated the purpose of the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India pertaining to 33 per cent reservation for the fairer sex.
