Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pandurang K Pole has issued a fresh list reserving 358 municipal wards out of 1,119 for women and sought objections and suggestions to it within a week.
The list of reserved wards for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women in open, SC and ST categories have been made on the basis of population data.
According to data released by the election department, of the 1,119 wards of 77 municipal bodies in the Union territory, 358 wards have been reserved for women.
Eighty-six wards have been reserved for SC and 14 for ST.
“In accordance with section 10-A of the Jammu & Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000, and Section 11-A of the Jammu & Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000, wards are to be reserved for women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes…,” the CEO said in the notification issued on Tuesday.
The chief electoral officer invited objections and suggestions in relation to the notification. “Any objections and suggestions should reach the CEO, Nirvachan Bhawan Jammu, or Darul Intikhab, Srinagar, within 7 days from the issuance of this notice till September after which no objections or suggestions will be entertained,” he said.
Thirty-three per cent of the total wards are reserved for women. Out of these, a third of the seats are reserved for women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The largest number of 25 wards each have been reserved for women in Srinagar and Jammu civic bodies, followed by reservation of eight wards in Anantnag, seven each in Baramulla, Spore, Udhampur and Kathua districts.
Seats have been reserved based on the decreasing order of the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and excluding wards where their population is less than one per cent as per the 2005 and 2018 elections.
Ward numbers 16 and 56 of Jammu Municipal Corporation from where Mayor Rajinder Sharma and Deputy Mayor Baldev Singh Baloria were elected have been reserved for women from open and SC categories respectively.