Mumbai: The Shiv Sena-led Mumbai civic body wants to ban display of lingerie on mannequins and discussed a proposal in this regard Monday for the eighth time in six years.
Shiv Sena corporator Sheetal Mhatre, the chairperson of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) law and revenue committee, directed the civic body administration to take action with regard to lingerie-clad mannequins displayed illegally outside shops on roads, tree barks or public walls, among other places.
The proposal to remove lingerie mannequins displayed in front of shops was first mooted by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Ritu Tawde in 2013.
“This matter has been pending for years. The proposal keeps coming back for discussion because the BMC administration never provides us with satisfactory answers. We discussed this proposal for the eighth time (in six years) on Monday,” Mhatre told ThePrint.
She added the BMC administration has made it clear that it cannot ban shops and establishments from displaying lingerie mannequins altogether because it will need a change in law, which is under the purview of the state government.
“On Monday, BMC officials informed us that the civic body can only take action against illegal mannequins, so we have directed them to send notices to such shops and establishments, and if they don’t comply, then cancel their licences. Since the proposal being discussed was to do with mannequins wearing lingerie, we have decided to only focus on such displays first,” Mhatre said.
‘We wear lingerie, but don’t hang it in our living rooms’
When the proposal first came up for discussion in 2013, the BMC informed its corporators that it cannot implement a blanket ban on lingerie mannequins under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act. Action can be taken under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, but only a gazetted rank officer can make such a provision.
Mhatre said the proposal has been pending with the state women and child development department.
She added while the state government will decide on whether to allow shops to display lingerie-clad mannequins inside their premises, it is indecent to do so in full public view.
“We all wear lingerie. But that doesn’t mean that we display it for everyone to see in our living rooms,” Mhatre said.
“People walk by such displays on the roads and often point at them and pass comments. It is embarrassing for women,” she said, adding that corporators of all parties are on the same page on this issue.
Mhatre had earlier raised a demand for menstrual leave
Mhatre, a corporator from Dahisar, had made national headlines in 2017 when she raised a notice of motion in the BMC, demanding menstrual leave for women. She had said all women employees in government, semi-government and private organisations should be allowed to take a leave on the first day of their menstrual cycle.
Mhatre Monday also raised the demand for a 15-day paternity leave for new fathers, saying Mumbai is a metropolitan city with nuclear families and working women.
“A longer paternity leave will help women to a great extent. But the BMC is not willing to implement anything new. For everything, they point their finger to the state government, saying it is not in their hands,” Mhatre said.
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