Municipalgovernance in India

Municipal governance in India hasexisted since the year 1687, with theformation of Madras MunicipalCorporation, and then Calcutta andBombay Municipal Corporation in 1726.In the early part of the nineteenth centuryalmost all towns in India had experiencedsome form of municipal governance. In1882 the then Viceroy of India, LordRipon, who is known as the Father of

Local Self Government, passed aresolution of local self-government whichlaid the democratic forms of municipalgovernance in India.[1]

In 1919, a Government of India Actincorporated the need of the resolutionand the powers of democratically electedgovernment were formulated. In 1935another Government of India act broughtlocal government under the preview ofthe state or provincial government andspecific powers were given.

According to the 1991 Census of India,there were 3255 urban local bodies(ULBs) in the country; classified into thefour major categories:[2]

1. Municipal corporation (NagarNigam)

2. Municipality (municipal council,municipal board, municipalcommittee) (Nagar Parishad)

3. Town area committee

4. Notified area committee

The municipal corporations andmunicipalities are fully representativebodies, while the notified areacommittees and town area committeesare either fully or partially nominatedbodies.

As per the Constitution of India, 74thAmendment Act of 1992, the latter two

categories of towns are to be designatedas municipalities or nagar panchayatswith elected bodies.[3] Until theamendments in state municipallegislations, which were mostly made in1994, municipal authorities wereorganised on an ultra vires (beyond theauthority) basis and the stategovernments were free to extend orcontrol the functional sphere throughexecutive decisions without anamendment to the legislative provisions.

After the 74th Amendment was enactedthere are only three categories of urbanlocal bodies:

Mahanagar Nigam (MunicipalCorporation)

Nagar Palika (Municipality)

Nagar Panchayat (Notified AreaCouncil or City Council)

Among all urban local governments,municipal corporations enjoy a greaterdegree of fiscal autonomy and functionsalthough the specific fiscal and

Administrative structure of India

functional powers vary across the states,these local governments have largerpopulations, a more diversified economicbase, and deal with the stategovernments directly. On the other hand,municipalities have less autonomy,smaller jurisdictions and have to dealwith the state governments through theDirectorate of Municipalities or throughthe collector of a district. These localbodies are subject to detailedsupervisory control and guidance by thestate governments.

Responsibilities of urbanlocal bodies

The municipal bodies of India are vestedwith a long list of functions delegated tothem by the state governments under themunicipal legislation.

Public health includes water supply,sewerage and sanitation, eradication ofcommunicable diseases etc.; welfareincludes public facilities such aseducation, recreation, etc.; regulatoryfunctions related to prescribing andenforcing building regulations,encroachments on public land, birthregistration and death certificate, etc.;public safety includes fire protection,street lighting, etc.; public worksmeasures such as construction and

maintenance of inner city roads, etc.; anddevelopment functions related to townplanning and development ofcommercial markets. In addition to thelegally assigned functions, the sectoraldepartments of the state governmentoften assign unilaterally, and on anagency basis, various functions such asfamily planning, nutrition and slumimprovement, disease and epidemiccontrol, etc.

The Twelfth Schedule of Constitution(Article 243 w) provides an illustrative listof eighteen functions, that may beentrusted to the municipalities.[4]

Besides the traditional core functions ofmunicipalities, it also includesdevelopment functions like planning foreconomic development and socialjustice, urban poverty alleviationprograms and promotion of cultural,educational and aesthetic aspects.However, conformity legislation enactedby the state governments indicate widevariations in this regard. Whereas Bihar,Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana,Manipur, Punjab and Rajasthan haveincluded all the functions as enlisted inthe Twelfth Schedule in their amendedstate municipal laws, Andhra Pradeshhas not made any changes in the existinglist of municipal functions. Karnataka,

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh andWest Bengal states have amended theirmunicipal laws to add additionalfunctions in the list of municipalfunctions as suggested in the twelfthschedule.

There is a lot of difference in theassignment of obligatory anddiscretionary functions to the municipalbodies among the states. Whereasfunctions like planning for the social andeconomic development, urban forestryand protection of the environment andpromotion of ecological aspects areobligatory functions for the

municipalities of Maharashtra, inKarnataka these are discretionaryfunctions.

Provision of water supply and seweragein several states has either been takenover by the state governments ortransferred to state agencies. Forexample, in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradeshand Gujarat, water supply and sewerageworks are being carried out by the statelevel Public Health EngineeringDepartment or Water Supply andSewerage Boards, while liability forrepayment of loans and maintenance arewith the municipalities. Besides thesestate level agencies, City Improvement

Trusts and Urban DevelopmentAuthorities, like Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA), have been set up in anumber of cities. These agencies usuallyundertake land acquisition anddevelopment works, and take upremunerative projects such as marketsand commercial complexes, etc. In termsof fiscal federalism, functions whosebenefits largely confine to municipaljurisdictions and may be termed as theessentially municipal functions. Similarly,functions that involve substantialeconomics of scale or are of nationalinterest may not be assigned to smalllocal bodies. For valid reasons, certainfunctions of higher authorities are

appropriate to be entrusted with theMunicipalities – as if under principal-agent contracts and may be calledagency functions that need to befinanced by intergovernmental revenues.Thus instead of continuing the traditionaldistinction between obligatory anddiscretionary functions the municipalresponsibilities may be grouped intoessentially municipal, joint and agencyfunctions.

Suggested municipal functions

The suggested functions to municipalcorporations, municipalities and nagar

…

panchayats are listed in the tablebelow.[5]

EssentiallyMunicipalFunctions

MunicipalCorporation

MunicipalCouncil

NagPan

Urbanplanningincluding townplanning

Yes Yes Yes

Regulation ofland-use andconstructionof buildings

Yes Yes Yes

Planning foreconomic andsocialdevelopment

Yes Yes Yes

Roads andbridges

Yes Yes Yes

Water supplydomestic,Industrial andcommercialpurposes

Yes Yes Yes

Public health,sanitation,conservancyand solidwastemanagement

Yes Yes Yes

Fire services Yes Yes No

Urban forestry Yes Yes Yes

PreventiveHealth Care

Yes Yes Yes

Provision ofurban

Yes Yes Yes

amenities andfacilities suchas parks,gardens,playgrounds

Burials andburial grounds,cremations,cremationghats/groundsand electriccrematoria

Yes Yes Yes

Cattle pounds,prevention ofcruelty toanimals

Yes Yes Yes

Vital statistics Yes Yes Yes

includingregistration ofbirths anddeaths

Street lighting Yes No Yes

Parking lots,bus stops andpublicconveniences

Yes Yes Yes

Regulation ofslaughterhouses andtanneries

Yes Yes Yes

Slumimprovementand upgradation

Yes Yes Yes

Agency Functions

Protection oftheenvironmentand promotionof ecologicalaspects

Yes Yes Yes

Safeguardingthe interestsof weakersections ofsociety,including thehandicappedand thementallyretarded

Yes Yes Yes

Urban povertyalleviation

Yes Yes Yes

Promotion ofcultural,education andaestheticaspects

Yes Yes Yes

PrimaryEducation

Yes Yes Yes

PrimaryHealth Care

Yes Yes Yes

Municipal Corporation(Nagar Nigam/MahanagarPalika)

Nagar Nigam a.k.a. Mahanagar Palika orby some other names in differentstates(translated in english as MunicipalCorporation) in India are stategovernment formed departments thatworks for the development of ametropolitan city, which has a populationof more than 1 million. The growingpopulation and urbanisation in variouscities of India were in need of a localgoverning body that can work forproviding necessary community serviceslike health centres, educational institutesand housing and property tax. They alsoreplace street lights.

They are formed under the CorporationsAct of 1835 of panchayati raj systemwhich mainly deals in providing essentialservices in every small town as well asvillage of a district/city. Their electionsare held once in five year and the peoplechoose the candidates. The largestcorporations are in the eight metropolitancities of India, namely Mumbai, Delhi,Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,Ahmedabad,Surat, and Pune. Thesecities not only have a large population,but are also the administrative as well ascommercial centres of the country.

Municipality (Nagar Palika)

In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality isan urban local body that administers acity of minimum population of 100,000but less than 1,000,000. However, thereare exceptions to that, as previouslynagar palikas were constituted in urbancenters with population over 20,000 soall the urban bodies which werepreviously classified as Nagar palikawere reclassified as Nagar palika even iftheir population was under 100,000.Under the Panchayati Raj system, itinteracts directly with the stategovernment, though it is administrativelypart of the district it is located in.Generally smaller district cities andbigger towns have a Nagar palika. Nagar

palikas are also a form of local self-government, entrusted with some dutiesand responsibilities, as enshrined andguided upon by the Constitutional (74thAmendment)Act,1992. Udaipur is a citywhich is big but its population is 451,000so it has a Nagar Palika.

The members of the Nagar palika areelected representatives for a term of fiveyears. The town is divided into wardsaccording to its population, andrepresentatives are elected from eachward. The members elect a presidentamong themselves to preside over andconduct meetings. A chief officer, alongwith officers like an engineer, sanitary

inspector, health officer and educationofficer who come from the state publicservice are appointed by the stategovernment to control the administrativeaffairs of the Nagar Palika.

A Nagar Panchayat or Notified AreaCouncil or City Council is a form of anurban political unit in India comparable toa municipality. An urban centre with morethan 11,000 and less than 25,000inhabitants is classified as a "NagarPanchayat".

Notified Area Council (NagarPanchayat)

Each Nagar Panchayat has a committeeconsisting of a chairman with wardmembers. Membership consists of aminimum of ten elected ward membersand three nominated members. The NACmembers of the Nagar Panchayat areelected from the several wards of theNagar Panchayat on the basis of adultfranchise for a term of five years. Thereare seats reserved for Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes, backward classes andwomen. The Councillors or WardMembers are chosen by direct electionfrom electoral wards in the NagarPanchayat.

See also

List of municipal corporations in India

Local self-government in India

1. "Good municipal governance key toimprove quality of life | Pune News -Times of India" . The Times of India.Retrieved 19 December 2019.

2. "Local Bodies" (PDF). Ministry ofStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation. Retrieved 16 May2019.

3. "74th Amendment Act of 1992" .Retrieved 18 January 2009.

4. "74th Amendment Act of 1992" .Retrieved 18 January 2009.

References

Official site of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)Municipal Corporation

Official site of Ministry of panchayatRaj, Govt of India

Official site of Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike, Govt of India

Retrieved from"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

5. Reforming Municipal Finances:Some suggestions in the context ofIndia’s Decentralization Initiative, byMohanty P.K., Urban India, January–June 1995.

External links

Last edited on 5 May 2020, at 07:01

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