Thiruvananthapuram: The State Election Commission, Kerala, is likely to issue the final notification on delimitation of local body wards in the state within the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to issue an order soon on petitions filed by the Congress and Muslim League leaders alleging discrepancies in the process, following which the State Election Commission will issue the final notification. 

The appeal in the Supreme Court challenges an order of the High Court approving the division of wards. According to the petitioners, delimitation of wards was once carried out based on the Census of 2011, and repeating the exercise was a violation of constitutional provisions. 

However, the state government argued that the fresh division was conducted considering the increase in population. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court sought an explanation on how new wards were decided based on the rise in population. 

On November 18, 2024, authorities published a draft report proposing the creation of 1,510 new wards in the state - 1,375 wards in 941 panchayats and 135 wards in six corporations and 87 municipalities. The proposal altered the boundaries of a majority of existing wards and officials carried out enquiries on complaints. Subsequently, the respective District Collectors submitted their reports and the State Election Commission completed its direct collection of evidence two months ago. 

Women to head 602 out of 1,200 local bodies 
In a major development, 602 out of the 1,200 local bodies in the state will be headed by women after the next local body elections, as per a decision taken by the government. They will include 57 Scheduled Caste (SC) women and 10 belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST). 

While the state government has fixed the number of seats reserved for women in panchayats, municipalities and corporations, the State Election Commission will decide the local bodies where this reservation will be implemented. 

Reserved seats
The following is the number of seats reserved for heads of various local bodies: 

• 6 Corporations: General category - 3; general women – 3 (No reservation for SC, SC Women, ST, ST women)
• 87 municipalities: General – 39; women (total) – 44 (including Women General – 41); SC (total) – 6 (SC – 3, SC women - 3); ST – 1 (no reservation for ST women) 
• 941 grama panchayats: General – 416; Women (total) – 471 (including Women General – 417); SC (total) – 92 (including SC Women – 46); ST (total) – 16 (including ST – 8 and ST Women 8). 
• 52 block panchayats: General – 67; Women (total) – 77 (including Women General – 67); SC (total) – 15 (SC – 7; SC Women – 8); ST – 3 (ST – 1; ST Women 2). 
• 14 district panchayats: General – 6; Women (total) – 7 (All general); SC – 1. (No reservation for SC Women, ST and ST Women).