Background: Literacy and empowerment have an impact on the lives of women. Objectives: 1.To assess the relationship between literacy and women empowerment. 2. To assess the empowerment of women in terms of their participation in household decision-making. Methodology: A crosssectional study was conducted in the urban slums in NiladriVihar, Bhubaneswar; among the evermarried women in the reproductive age group, using a pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire from January 2016- April 2016 after ethical clearance. Data was entered into Microsoft excel 2007 spreadsheet and analysed using Epi info software. Results- The mean age of the study participants was 34.54 ± 9.20 years. 81% of the married women were literate. Women who were literate, could decide on contraceptive use and had higher autonomy in birth control decisions compared to those who were illiterate. Study participants who studied till intermediate (25%) had greater autonomy in taking decisions related to house-hold expenditures and issues related to mobility. 64% of the women had access to bank account. 48.28% women had faced some form of inequality in work place. Conclusion-This study showed the importance of literacy in the levels of women’s empowerment in terms of their household decision making and decisions related to autonomy over reproductive and contraceptive rights, among the studied slum women. These findings can help us to focus on creating more awareness among women about the importance of literacy. This change can have an impact in changing their lives, thereby empowering them
