Abstract

Women’s participation in urban local governance in India stands as one of the most significant transformations brought about by democratic decentralisation legislative reforms and gender-inclusive policy planning. With the implementation of the Seventy-Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act India formally recognised urban local bodies as the third tier of governance and created constitutional provisions for women’s representation in municipalities. However numerical representation alone cannot ensure genuine democratic participation. The real transformation emerges only when women actively engage in agenda-setting decision-making budget planning programme monitoring and community mobilisation. The presence of women in municipal institutions not only strengthens the quality of governance but also brings lived experiences inclusivity and equity-driven perspectives into policy processes. Their contributions are particularly visible in areas such as sanitation drinking water management public