NUK delivered a round of leadership training to newly elected women councillors preparing to take up reserved seats on union parishad (local council) bodies, part of its ongoing Women's Political Representation Program.
What the training covered
- Budget literacy — how union parishad budgets are structured, and where reserved-seat councillors can meaningfully influence allocation decisions.
- Council procedure — committee structures, meeting protocols, and how to ensure agenda items raised by women councillors are not quietly dropped.
- Public speaking and negotiation — practical skills for councillors who may be participating in formal public meetings for the first time.
Why this training exists
A reserved seat guarantees a woman's presence in the council chamber, but not necessarily her influence within it. NUK's training is designed to close that specific gap, building on years of observing where newly elected women councillors are most often sidelined from substantive committee work.
Training sessions also create space for peer networking among elected women from different unions, an explicit goal of NUK's program given how isolating local political office can be without that kind of support network.
What comes next
NUK plans to track these councillors' committee participation over their term, building an evidence base for its national advocacy on strengthening the institutional powers available to reserved-seat representatives.