Mumbai: Lalbaugcha Raja mandal sparks gender bias row

Its a mans world even when it comes to Ganpati mandals At the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal hundreds of women members toil day in and day out for the perfect celebrations but not a single one of them has a seat on the managing committeeIn fact a local activist has alleged that they have never had a woman on the committee in the 84 years since the mandal was founded A quick glance at Lalbaugcha Rajas website throws up the list of managing committee members mdash 35 names prefixed with Shri and not a single Shrimati or KumariMahesh Vengurlekar an activist from Lalbaug has now filed a complaint with the Charity Commissioner to point out that the committee does not have a single female member More shockingly the mandals charter specifically states that any male who has been a member of the mandal for more than three years can apply for a spot on the managing committeeFormer mayor Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar being manhandled by the crowd at Lalbaugcha Raja pandal during Ganeshotsav in 2013 PicRane AshishDoors closed to womenThey have never had a woman in the management committee and with this statement in black and white they have nullified the chances of women participating in decisionmaking in the future as well he allegedLalbaugcha Raja is one of the richest mandals in the city but women dont get to make any financial or core decisions Vengurlekar said In todays time when women are being given equal opportunities and even reservations then should mandals not do the same This is a renowned Ganpati mandal that people visit from far so what example are we setting for other mandalsLalbaugcha Raja is already infamous for exposing women devotees to molestation and manhandling in the crowd Some have suggested that woman committee members will be more sympathetic to devotees and likely to come up with a solution Vengurlekar also alleged that there were a lot of irregularities in the mandals operations and suggested that if a woman were to step in the malpractices would reduceMandal saysThe mandal refuted all allegations stating that there were no irregularities nor any bias against women Sudhir Salvi mandal secretary said All of these allegations are untrue In fact our mandal has 1200 female members working during the 11 days of the festival They are all free to join the committee whenever they want to we will always welcome themmidday checked with Charity Commissioner Shivkumar Dige who said there was no mandate in the law to have a woman in the managing committee but added that he would have to check trusts constitution to rule out bias or any violations He said I will enquire into this complaint and if it has merit like the complainant alleges I will accordingly take actionMore power to women Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkarformer mayor CongressI had a bad experience during my visit there few years back due to manhandling of devotees The committee should be at least onethird female so they can manage things better The charity commissioner should take up this complaint seriously and pass an order that forces the mandal to involve femalesVishakha Rautformer mayor and Shiv Sena group leaderA woman member will definitely understand the needs of women devotees better I will put this demand before the mandal personally so that there is no question of biasAlso Read Mumbai Metro Dividers To Make Way For Ganpatis Smooth And Safe JourneyCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates