Gender diversity is now a much-discussed issue in the corporate world. There are companies that conduct special recruitment drives to increase women’s participation in the workforce. Neighbourhood associations should also assess if they are creating an atmosphere enabling gender diversity. Ensuring that a percentage of positions in all general committees is filled by women-residents will be a highly positive move. As a positive sign, many residents welfare associations (RWAs) in Chennai are characterised by an equal representation of women as office bearers. In Mandaveli Raja Street Resident Welfare Association, eight out of the 14 office bearers are women. “There are RWAs where women are among the key office bearers and assumed these posts because of their time and dedication to neighbourhood causes and calibre, and not just because they are women,” says Ganga Sridhar, a member of the association. While their participation in all committees should be facilitated, women should also be enabled to form exclusive groups that are sufficiently empowered to manage certain aspects of work in the neighbourhood. This effort is absolutely necessary and, going by past experiences, will be rewarding as women's wings in many associations have been doing commendable work. A case in point: The women's wing of Anna Nagar Western Extension B Sector Association, which has since its inception, championing many civic causes, the most significant being its ongoing zero-waste programme. Creative solution With the help from the Greater Chennai Corporation, this women’s wing is supervising zero-waste management programme in the neighbourhood. Arunthathi Kathiravan, a member of the women’s wing, says, “Last year, sewage was getting collected in a common rainwater harvesting system. The main association sought our help in addressing the problem. Rajathi Rajendran, president of the women’s wing, suggested that each woman-member write a petition letter about the problem, instead of a single, representative letter. The main association then submitted 50 letters from women-members to the Corporation officials at the Ripon Building. The next day, the officials attended to the problem.”

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