Unfinished agenda of the country's urban governance

Political oversight of executive power is a fundamental principle of India's parliamentary democracy.

- Maansi Verma

The chain of accountability requires the executive or the government to be responsible to elected representatives, who, in turn, are answerable to citizens. Thus, the Union government is responsible to Parliament and state governments to state assemblies. Though municipalities have been in existence in India since the late 19th century, it was only in 1993 that the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (74th Amendment) provided constitutional recognition to directly elected municipalities to exercise political oversight of city administration. However, in March 2025, a report of the Parliament Standing Committee on housing and urban affairs spotlighted the unfinished agenda of empowerment of our municipalities.