Kerala Model of Empowering Women: Young Leaders in Civic Bodies

After sweeping the local body elections in Kerala, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has created a new model of entrusting responsibility of local administration to young faces - most of them women, with some in their early 20s.

On Monday, December 28, municipal corporation mayors and municipality chairpersons across the state were elected and took oath. While Arya Rajendran, 21, took charge as Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, becoming the youngest ever mayor in a major city in the country, several other women—who have been active in politics through the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and youth organisation Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)—have been elected to key posts in local bodies across the state. 

In fact, women have actually led the LDF in the elections. In Thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation, 66% of the candidates from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were women, five being below 25 years of age.

In the recently concluded polls, a total of 21,854 members were elected as representatives in 1,199 local self-government institutions across the state, including gram panchayat, block panchayat, district panchayat, and municipal corporations. Of the total, more than 11,000 representatives are women, including some from the most deprived sections.

Reshma Mariam Roy, nominated as Gram Panchayat President, is the youngest among the entire list across the state and will be taking oath on Wednesday, December 30. She will be heading the Aruvappulam panchayat in Pathanamthitta district. The panchayat had been a United Democratic Front stronghold for the last 15 years. A BBA degree holder, she aspires to continue her studies through distance education. She is a member of the CPI (M) Oottupara branch, DYFI district committee and SFI district secretariat member.

"I filed the nomination on November 18, a day before the final date of submission of nomination papers. That is because I turned 21 on that day," she said.

Read more: One-Third of Women Elected in Kerala Local Body Polls Are Active Kudumbashree Members

"The Left Democratic Front has a majority in the panchayat with nine seats out of the total 15. I am the youngest member but will definitely learn from the experience of the seniors in the party for effective governance. I hope to make it the best panchayat," she added.

Further, the LDF has given the reins of Olavanna Grama Panchayat to a final year law student, 22-year old Saruthi, who won with a comfortable margin of 574 votes. The LDF won 17 seats out of the total 23 in Olavanna panchayat.

"This is a huge responsibility given by the party," Saruthi said, adding that she has to prepare for her final semester exams starting from December 29.

In Wayanad’s Pozhuthana gram panchayat, Anas Rosna Stephy (23), who won on an LDF ticket, is the party's choice to head the local body. A graduate in Zoology from Providence College in Calicut, Stephy is from a tribal community and won from a general seat. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Disaster Management. When NewsClick contacted her, she was already busy with various meetings at her panchayat, where the LDF has won seven seats out of the 13.

In Kollam’s Ittiva panchayat, 23-year-old Amritha will be at the lead. "This is a responsibility entrusted upon me by the party," said Amritha, a graduate in Sociology, who also has a diploma from ITI.

Also read: Breaking Stereotypes, This 21-Year-Old in Kerala is Set to Become India's Youngest Mayor

Malampuzha panchayath in Palakkad district will have 23-year-old Radhika Madhavan as the panchayat president. A post graduate degree holder in Malayalam Literature from Victoria College, she was a gazetted teacher at the Elphinstone Tribal School before entering the election fray. 

The LDF won 7,262 seats out of the total 15,962 in the Gram Panchayat. It also bagged 1,266 seats out of the 2,080 seats in block panchayats. Out of the 331 seats in district panchayat, LDF got 212 while it won 207 seats out of the 414 in six municipal corporations. With this, LDF is set to take charge in five municipal corporations of the state - Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur and Kozhikode - on Monday, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have bagged the Kannur corporation.

A A Rahim, state president of DYFI, said that youngsters taking charge in various local self-government institutions is a Left alternative and a Kerala model. "Thousands of youngsters who were part of DYFI were included in the election process. We have shown the people a Left alternative, a Kerala model for the country," Rahim told PTI.

"There are many local body institutions in the state, which have been won by the LDF and are led by someone below the age of 40. This shows that an earlier trend of apolitical mentality among the youth has gone. More youngsters are taking part in democracy," he said.

The exact figures of gram panchayats will be out after December 30 when the elections for the presidents and vice presidents will take place.

(With inputs from PTI)