According to a notification released by the Delhi State Election Commission, of the 250 newly redrew municipal wards of the consolidated civic corporation in Delhi, half have been set aside for women, including 42 that are allocated for the Scheduled Caste community.
21 of the 42 seats in the SC community are set aside for women from this community. Out of the remaining 208 seats, 108 will be set aside for female candidates. The number of wards set aside for each category was listed in the gazette notification in great detail.
According to the wards with the highest number of people from the Scheduled Caste category, 42 wards are set aside for them, according to State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev.
“The 42 wards reserved for the SC, not less than 21 wards have to be reserved for SC women,” he added.
"Seats shall be allocated for women belonging to Scheduled Castes, from among the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, which shall not be less than one-half of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes," states Section 3 of the Delhi Municipal Act of 1957.
In accordance with Section 3 of the Act, seats must be set aside for women, and the proportion must be at least 50% of all seats (excluding those for Scheduled Castes).
Officials stated that the action is being taken in preparation for civic elections, which are anticipated to be held by December. The declaration of reserved wards will open the door for pre-election preparations as potential candidates will begin vying for the three major political parties' tickets based on the status of the wards.
