Gender equity in metropolitan administration is critical

• By 2050, India will have over 800 million people living in cities, making it the largest driver of global urban growth.

• Progressive constitutional reforms have advanced gender equity, with the 73rd and 74th Amendments mandating 33% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Governments (ULGs).

• Women now constitute over 46% of local elected representatives, as well as mayors and councillors.

The Bureaucratic Gender Gap

• Despite more women entering civil services, the urban administrative architecture remains male-dominated.

• Women constituted just 20% of the Indian Administrative Service as of 2022, with lower representation in urban planning, municipal engineering, and transport authorities.

• Women officials bring perspectives shaped by lived realities, prioritizing water, health, safety, and improving public trust in law enforcement.

Missed Opportunity in Gender Budgeting

• Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB), which integrates gender considerations into public finance, is a promising but underutilised tool in India’s urban governance.

• India adopted a Gender Budget Statement in 2005-06, with Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala leading efforts.

• However, most such efforts suffer from weak monitoring and limited institutional capacities, especially in smaller cities.

Building Inclusive Cities

• Moving beyond political quotas to ensure women’s presence in bureaucracy requires systemic reforms in recruitment, retention, and promotion across administrative and technical roles.

• Affirmative action, through quotas and scholarships in planning and engineering, is key to dismantling structural barriers.

• Globally, countries like Rwanda, Brazil, and South Korea show the impact of representation, with Rwanda boosting maternal health and education spending, Brazil prioritising sanitation and primary health care, South Korea’s gender impact assessments reshaping transit and public spaces, and Tunisia’s parity laws giving women more technical roles.

The Cities We Require

• As India aspires to become a $5 trillion economy, its cities must become spaces of inclusion and equity.

• Gender must be mainstreamed into planning and implementation through mandatory audits, participatory budgeting, and linked evaluation.

• Local gender equity councils and models like Kudumbashree offer templates for small and transitioning cities.