Berhampur: At least 11 out of 22 blocks will have women chairpersons as 1, 82,362 new voters were added to the voters’ list during the last five years, a report said.
There were altogether 22, 61,254 voters in 503 panchayats of the district during 2017 panchayat elections. This year, it has increased to 24, 43,616.
Moreover, transgenders were not included in the voter list during the previous elections but 180 of them have been enlisted this year.
Since the state government is laying stress on adequate representation of women in Panchayati Raj system, 11 out of 22 blocks in the district will have women chairpersons, government sources said.
Similarly, over 250 women will be elected as sarpanchs and equal number of women will become samiti members.
As many as 35 women will become members of 69 zilla parishad (ZP) zones in Ganjam while the post of ZP chairperson has been reserved for women.
Renubala Pradhan was elected as the ZP chairperson in 1997 panchayat elections as the post was reserved for women. The post has been reserved for women again after a period of 25 years.
Similarly, chairperson posts of Aska, Kabisuryanagar, Ganjam, Jagannathprasad, Polsara, Rangeilunda, Purusottampur, Sorada, Hinjilicut, Chhatrapur and Digapahandi blocks have also been reserved for women.
At least eight blocks including Sanakhemundi and Kukudakhandi have remained unreserved.
PNN