Youngest Mayor in TN shows women how to stay on

VELLORE: Porselvi and Thavamani are proud to be active councillors at the Vellore Corporation. Until last term, the two were happy to be mute spectators, while their husbands hijacked their roles. In local body polls, men with political ambitions have been known to nominate their wives or other female relatives to posts reserved for women, and then pull strings from the background, thus leaving the women to be mere ‘signing authorities’. In fact, here in Vellore, the charade had gone so far that programmes would even carry the names of the husbands of the women councillors.All this changed when AIADMK party member P Karthiyayini, elected under the SC women’s category, won the election and became the youngest Mayor in all ten Corporations of TN. Of the total of 60 wards in Vellore Corporation, 20 councillors (one-third) are women. In a Corporation council meeting after her election, Mayor Karthiyayini made it mandatory for every woman councillor to speak over the microphone. Aware that they were nervous, she  asked them to first introduce themselves. She also made it a point to give women councillors preference in the meetings.Her patience eventually saw the women slowly coming out of their shells, even taking on responsibilities they had meekly handed over to their male relatives. Today, these women councillors participate in protests and road rokos. Of the total of 24 road rokos that took place in Vellore Corporation demanding water supply, most of them were led by women councillors.  Says Porselvi, councilor of ward number 26, “This post has come to me for the second time. There were 18 women councillors last term, but everybody was silent. It is only now we have begun to act like real councillors.” Thavamani, councillor of ward number 33 adds, “Women councillors now grab the microphone  and some even speak  without a microphone, if it is not passed to them.”Most of the women councillors pay attention to improving the panchayat union schools and Corporation schools in their areas. Mayor Karthiyayini says, “Earlier, women councillors would only sign a petition submitted to me if it had been written by somebody else. But nowadays they come to me, explain the problem and even write the petition in front of me.”What is most remarkable however is that some of these women councillors now make rounds in their wards riding pillion on their husband’s two-wheelers.