Women in Public Finance Fellowship
A transformative Fellowship, the first of its kind development initiative in the ecosystem, dedicated to nurturing women professionals and women municipal finance officers to become reform champions within the Public Finance Management (PFM) sector.
Drive Change Through Real-World Impact
The Women in Public Finance Fellowship empowers you to become a leader and places you at the heart of urban reform—working alongside the union government, constitutional agencies and senior state officers to design and implement impactful public finance reforms. With expert mentorship, hands-on training, and an inspiring peer cohort, you will be empowered to work towards inclusive, effective governance across India’s cities. This professional Fellowship offers a competitive stipend and attracts talented professionals and municipal finance officers from across the country.
Launched in 2024, the inaugural cohort of 11 Public Finance Fellows is working on critical reform projects across Finance and Urban Development Departments in six different states of India.
As a Public Finance Fellow, you will be part of a select cohort of changemakers working collaboratively within a wide, knowledge sharing network to gain insights and create impact along three pillars of public finance management.
Sustainable Funding
Effective Utilization
Public Accountability
A Day in the Fellowship
The Fellowship is designed to deepen your understanding of public finance and build real-world leadership skills. With structured mentoring from a domain expert and support from the Programme Team, your work will help shape impactful tools of policy engagement that can inform the discourse on public finance in India while developing a foundation for a long-term career in governance. As a Public Finance Fellow, you will:
Explore the Policy Landscape
Research state and municipal laws, budgets, and revenue frameworks to understand how cities are financed, how they budget and spend, and disclose financial and performance information.
Analyse Budgets and Financial Reports
Analyse data from budgets, audit reports, revenue trends, and service delivery data to uncover insights and gaps.
Manage Stakeholders
Collaborate with senior government officers to align on project outputs, seek feedback, conduct reviews and follow through on the pre-agreed scope of work.
Facilitate Systemic Reform
Help design and implement solutions across policies, processes, and tools that strengthen public finance systems.
Document and Disseminate
Capture key learnings to support peer learning and contribute to the wider discourse on public finance management in India.
A New Generation of Changemakers at Work
Why This Fellowship Is for You
01 Discover an Exciting Career Opportunity
Gain a two-year, full-time position with a competitive stipend.
02 Gain Hands-On Field Experience
Collaborate with senior government officials on live reform initiatives.
03 Connect to a Peer Network
Join and work collaboratively within a wide knowledge sharing network of peers and industry professionals.
04 Engage with Industry Leaders
Participate in masterclasses with eminent women leaders in public finance.
05 Learn from Expert-Led Webinars
Participate in residential workshops and monthly sessions with domain experts, covering contemporary challenges and innovations
06 Receive Expert Mentorship
Receive personalised mentorship from domain experts to guide you through every stage of the Fellowship.
What the Fellowship Offers
Hands-On Experience through Project Immersion
Project immersion is the cornerstone of this Fellowship, giving Fellows hands-on experience stationed within government departments. By engaging directly with government teams and stakeholders in the ecosystem, they tackle real challenges and drive systemic reforms such as;
Strengthening municipal capacities
Promoting fiscal decentralisation
Tackling gaps in revenue generation strategies
Streamlining budget processes
Addressing inefficiencies in fund allocation and expenditure
Improving financial and performance reporting and facilitating digital solutions
This immersive approach provides valuable insights into the complexities of public governance and finance management in cities.
Projects for 2025-27
Department of Housing & Urban Affairs (DoHUA), Government of Assam
Play a role in transforming public finance management in Urban Local Governments (ULGs) through systems reforms in policy, process, technology, institutional strengthening for own revenues, infrastructure financing, expenditure management, accounting and reporting.
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Key Focus Areas:
- Design comprehensive policy and administrative reforms with specific process improvements for own source revenue augmentation, ensuring practical implementation pathways and support in implementing them.
- Engage directly with select Doh Sheher Ek Rupayan (DSER) cities to facilitate creation of multi-year shelf of investible urban infrastructure projects and institutionalizing systematic capital investment planning processes
- Provide targeted reform design support to DoHUA and DSER cities to address critical governance gaps in urban infrastructure development and enable effective commercial infrastructure financing mechanisms.
- Support in implementation of digital module within the UPYOG (Urban Platform for delivery of Online Governance) platform for digitizing the workflows and enabling real-time monitoring of assets and works and thereby facilitating data-driven decision-making
- Modernize accounting and budgeting systems in ULGs through digital transformation, capacity building, and establishment of standardized processes for enhanced financial management.
Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India
Reimagine financial reporting & accountability framework and strengthen urban local governments audit and institutions across India for improving quality of life in cities, and standardised financial systems across Urban Local Governments (ULGs) across the country.
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Key Focus Areas:
- Conduct comprehensive landscape study of the status of accounting, financial reporting and audit arrangements and related institutions for ULGs and set a vision for reforms.
- Contribute to development of digital and contemporary National Municipal Accounting Manual (NMAM) in its conception and design, based on the model of the Municipal Finance Code, intended to significantly enhance the quality of financial reporting and the financial management of ULGs for greater transparency, accountability and trust in local government operations.
- Explore interoperable data standards for machine-readable formats, seamless integration with existing public finance management systems (VLC, IFMIS, PFMS), and enhanced reporting capabilities for all stakeholders.
- Develop a strategy and roadmap for digitising public finance management in ULGs for different typologies of ULGs over next few years.
Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha
Play a role in transforming public finance management in Urban Local Governments (ULGs) in Odisha through systems reforms in policy, process, technology, institutional strengthening for own revenues, expenditure management, accounting and reporting.
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Key Focus Areas:
- Design comprehensive policy and administrative reforms with specific process improvements for own source revenue augmentation, ensuring practical implementation pathways and support in implementing them.
- Support in implementation of digital module within the Sustainable Urban Services in a Jiffy by Odisha Government (SUJOG), for digitizing the workflows and enabling real-time monitoring of assets and works and thereby facilitating data-driven decision-making.
- Modernize accounting and budgeting systems in ULGs through digital transformation, capacity building, and establishment of standardized processes for enhanced financial management.
- Enable planning of capital spending in ULGs through Annual action plan and capital investment plan.
Janaagraha
Drive critical yet unexplored public finance reform agendas, for improving the quality of life in cities, at scale, through strengthening institutions, developing scalable models/ solutions, designing reforms at the state level and ecosystem building
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Key Focus Areas:
- Develop comprehensive practice guide and State Finance Commission (SFC) data set as a public good for institutional strengthening of SFCs for driving greater fiscal decentralization and public finance reforms in cities.
- Create thought leadership by mapping procurement and tendering frameworks across states, identifying systemic gaps, and recommending reforms that improve transparency and efficiency in public spending.
- Work with stakeholders and partner organizations to develop a robust framework for service delivery measurement, reporting and monitoring.
- Develop frameworks for service delivery costing and linking funds/outlays with service level indicators to enable better outcomes for citizens.
Structured Support through Learning and Development
Fellows receive ongoing support to ensure their Fellowship experience remains on track and delivers meaningful, impactful results. Here’s what this support looks like:
Induction Workshop
The Fellowship journey begins with a dynamic 3-5 day residential induction workshop designed to orient Fellows to the experience, inspire meaningful connections within the cohort, and set the foundation for a successful experience. This workshop will also introduce the Fellows to the fundamentals of public finance and the challenges, opportunities, and innovations in the field.
Webinars with Domain Experts
Throughout the Fellowship, the Fellows participate in a series of webinars with domain experts on cutting-edge public finance strategies, innovations for urban development, and contemporary municipal funding challenges and solutions.
Masterclasses on Thematic Areas
The Fellows attend masterclasses featuring eminent women professionals in Public Financial Management and allied fields. These sessions explore the intersection of gender with economic, social, and political development, focusing on how public finance can advance gender equity.
Professional Development
The Fellows will also attend specialised sessions designed to enhance the personal and professional skills of Fellows through expert guidance on effective communication techniques, persuasive content creation, and data visualisation.
Guidance through Expert-Led Mentoring
Fellows are assigned a mentor to support their learning and growth in their second year of the Fellowship. The mentor aids in developing problem-solving skills, designing and planning projects, and also provides insights into navigating government systems.
Through regular, structured interactions, the mentor encourages reflection, critical thinking, and adaptive learning, ensuring Fellows remain aligned with their goals and equipped to overcome challenges. As the Fellowship concludes, mentors provide personalised guidance on career advancement and help the Fellows unlock impactful opportunities.
Who We’re Looking For
We’re seeking curious, committed professionals who are ready to step into public leadership and drive real change in how our cities are governed and financed.
- An academic background in public policy, urban governance, economics, finance, business or other relevant fields
- 4-7 years of work experience and the willingness and ability to transition to public finance
- Profiles with a minimum of 2 years of work experience may be considered if they display the willingness and ability to transition to the public finance sector.
- Detail-oriented candidates with creative problem-solving, stakeholder management and project planning skills.
Janaagraha will also seek nominations of young women Municipal Finance officers from Urban Development Departments of select states as potential Fellows who will thereafter be assessed for alignment with the Fellowship.
Our application process is designed to be inclusive, constructive, and engaging. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Submit your application through a Google Form, including written responses and a case study to help us understand your approach to real-world challenges. We will get back to you within 2 weeks of your application.
Shortlisted applicants will complete a data skills assessment on a rolling basis, where we will evaluate their analytical thinking, data interpretation, and problem-solving abilities.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview on a rolling basis to discuss motivations, experience, and alignment with the Fellowship programme.
Finalists will participate in group discussions, present their case study and meet with an expert selection panel to dive deeper into their potential for impact.
If selected, your Fellowship journey kicks off with an offer rollout, followed by onboarding and an immersive residential workshop, bringing the entire cohort together to connect, learn, and prepare for the transformative journey ahead.
Ready to build a meaningful career in Systems-Change?
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