Reserve Maji Ladki Bahin garden in Colaba for women only: Makarand Narwekar

Mumbai: Buoyed by the success of government’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, former BMC corporator Makarand Narwekar has written to BMC, for the fourth time, reiterating his demand of reserving a garden at Colaba for women only. He also wanted it named Majhi Ladki Bahin Garden.
In a letter to BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani, Narwekar demanded that a garden in Deepak Jog Chowk, Captain Prakash Pethe Marg, should be named after Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojna, the Maharashtra government’s scheme providing financial assistance to women. He said that this garden will be a symbol of appreciation of the welfare work done for women by the Mahayuti government.
A dedicated open space, he said, is a necessity in a city that is known for being the country’s financial capital and is reputed for being one of the safest cities in the nation.
“Even though there are reserved bogies for women in local train and seats reserved for women in BEST buses, there are no designated open spaces (gardens/parks) for women,” Narwekar wrote in his letter.
Narwekar highlighted that he has written three letters with the same demand to the civic body dated October 16, 2023, January 23, 2024 and March 7, 2024.
“I fail to understand why the civic body is so adamant about not reserving a garden only for women. Inaction in such matters send wrong signals about gender neutrality despite Mumbai being an international city. I hope this time, BMC will understand the sensitivity of the issue and act swiftly. Ignoring this demand further will be an insult to a scheme like Ladki Bahin.,” he said.
Harshita Narwekar, Cuffe Parade and Nariman Point’s former BJP corporator, also endorsed Makarand’s view, saying, “Technically, the garden is being used by a lot of women than men in the evenings. During our tenure, we have developed four dead places as gardens, and we see no harm in one of it being dedicated for women,” she said.