LOCAL SELF
GOVERNMENT
URBAN
FIRST LESSON
The 74th Amendment Act is also known as the Nagarpalika
and Municipalities Act. The Act, (12th Schedule) has
introduced a new part, IXA, in the constitution which deals
with issues relating to municipalities. The main provisions of
the Act are constitution of a three-tier system of local
bodies in urban areas such as:
(i) Municipal Corporation for larger
urban areas
(ii) Municipal Council for smaller urban
areas
(iii) Nagar Panchayats for areas in
transition from a rural to urban
areas
In addition, there would be Town
Area Committees, Cantonment
Boards and Port Trust in certain
areas. 2
1 2 3
Municipal Municipal Nagar
Corporation Council Panchayats
(Nagar Nigam)
Three Tier System
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
(NAGAR NIGAM)
All big cities with a population in several lakhs can have a Municipal Corporation.
Term
5 Years
In the event of dissolution before The power of the Municipal Corporation is
the expiry of the term, elections exercised through
must be held within 6 months
and a new Council has to be
constituted.
The General Council
The Mayor
The Standing Committees
A Municipal Commissioner
GENERAL COUNCIL
The Corporation is composed of
members called Councilors.
The Councilors are elected by all adult The election to the General Council is
citizens of the city who: based on universal adult franchise through
secret ballot.
(a) are registered as voters.
(b) have attained the age prescribed Cities and towns are divided into a number
by the State Corporation Act. of wards.
(c) do not hold an office of profit
under the state government or in
Members are elected by the people of
any other local body.
these wards.
(d) are eligible for election to the
state legislature.
Other officials except for the Municipal
The size of the Council varies from city to Commissioner are appointed by the
city, on the basis of its population. One General Council.
third of the seats are reserved for women.
Seats are also reserved for the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes
MAYOR
The functions of the Mayor are:
(a) The Mayor presides over the
The Mayor is elected annually by the meetings of the Council and guides its
deliberations.
members of the Corporation from (b) He/She regulates the conduct of
among themselves. business and maintains decorum and
discipline in the meetings.
He / She is the first citizen of the city (c) He/She has access to all records of
and the most respected member of the Corporation.
the Corporation. (d) He/She has the right to obtain
reports from the Municipal
Commissioner on all administrative
A Deputy Mayor can also be matters.
elected in the same way (e) He/She is a link between the
Corporation on one hand and the
state government on the other.
(f) He/She receives foreign and other
dignitaries visiting the city.
STANDING COMMITTEE
The members of a Standing
Committee are elected by the
Council to deal with important
The General Council subjects like
performs specialized
Health, finance, taxation,
functions through a
engineering, economic
number of
planning, development,
Standing Committees.
welfare schemes for
weaker sections, etc.
MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER
The functions of the Municipal Commissioner are:
• The Municipal Commissioner is the chief (a) The Municipal Commissioner is entrusted with the control of the
executive officer of the Municipal
Corporation. entire administrative machinery of the Municipal Corporation.
(b) He/she gives necessary guidance and directives to other officers of
• Unlike other officers, he/she is appointed the Corporation.
by the state government (and in some
cases as in Delhi, by the union government) (c) He/she is the custodian of all municipal records.
for 5 years. (d) He/she is responsible for the implementation of all rules, regulations
and policies of the Corporation.
• His/her salary is fixed by the state
(e) He/she distributes office work among different departments.
government but is paid out of the
municipal fund. (f) He/she writes personnel files of all officials and staff members of the
Corporation and imposes punishment on defaulting staff members.
• His/her service conditions are also
(g) He/she takes part in the meetings of the Council but cannot vote or
determined by the state government.
move any resolution in the meeting.
FUNCTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
Obligatory Functions
Electricity and water supply, provision of safe drinking water, maintenance of water tanks and other sources of
water and maintenance of power stations.
Establishment of hospitals, dispensaries, health care centers, family planning centers, mother and childcare,
measures for preventing diseases, vaccination and inoculation, scavenging, removal and disposal of garbage,
construction, cleaning and maintenance of drains, public urinals, toilets, etc.
Construction and maintenance of roads and buildings, lighting of streets and roads, serving notices for removal
and demolition of dangerous buildings, maintenance of graveyards, crematoriums, fire brigade and transport
system, framing rules for public vehicles and installing necessary directions on roads and platforms.
Establishment and maintenance of primary and secondary schools, providing adequate
opportunities to students, adult education and organizing sports events and athletic activities.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
Obligatory Functions
The Municipal Corporation maintains the record of births and deaths to help the government in times of
census and also to determine birth and mortality rates.
The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the publication of the annual report on the working of the
Corporation.
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FUNCTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
Discretionary Functions
Construction of public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, theatres, akharas and stadia
Public housing
Organization and management of fairs and exhibitions
Civil reception of VIPs Holding cultural festivals
Relief to destitute, old and disabled persons and implementation of other welfare schemes for weaker sections and handicapped people
Registration of marriage
Beautifying the city by planting trees, fountains, etc.
Holding cultural festivals
SOURCES OF INCOME
It can levy taxes on vehicles, professionals, theatres, advertisements (other than newspapers)
Transfer of property besides income from house tax and entertainment tax,
Income from cess on water, electricity, education, toll and octroi duty.
In addition to these, the Corporation gets grants-in-aid from the state government which takes care of much of its
developmental functions.
The Municipal Corporation may set up shopping centers and other profitable undertakings which may also provide
income for the Corporation.
MUNICIPAL COUNCILS
(NAGAR PALIKAS)
The self-governing institutions in cities and towns with a population between 20,000 to 3 lakhs are called Municipalities
or Municipal Councils.
The Municipality works with the help
Council
Chairman
Executive officer
Committees
COMPOSITION OF A MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
The election to the Municipal Council is based on universal adult franchise through secret ballot.
The members elect a Chairperson from among themselves. A Vice- Chairperson is also elected
in the same way as in the Municipal Corporation.
Municipalities also have a few aldermen in the Council. The size of the Council varies from city to
city and is proportionate to its population.
One third of the total number of seats are
reserved for women. Seats are also
reserved for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes.
CHAIRPERSON
The functions of the Chairperson are:
The Chairperson is the highest
executive official and head of the (a) He/She presides over the meetings, regulates and
deliberative wing of a Municipality. controls the conduct of business in the meetings and
maintains decorum and discipline in the Council.
(b) Like the Mayor of the Corporation, he/she too has access
to all records of the Municipality and has a right to obtain
a report from the executive officer on the working of the
Municipality.
(c) Normally, he/she does not vote but if there is equal
division of votes on any issue, he/she can use his/her vote
to break the tie.
(d) He/She is also a channel of communication between the
Municipality and the state government.
(e) In some states, the Chairperson can appoint primary
school teachers and some lower staff of the Council.
(f) Along with the other members of the Councils, which
constitutes the general body, he/she decides all matters of
policy and important details of municipal administration.
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The Executive Officer looks after the day-to- day administration, distributes work among various
departments, prepares the budget of the Municipality, grants licenses and contracts, grants leave to the staff under him/her
and maintains the personnel files of all staff members.
He/She also attends the Council's meetings.
In addition to the Executive Officer, the Municipal Council can appoint engineers, health officers, sanitary inspectors and
other officers to do specific duties. Committees may also be set up for specialized funds.
OTHER URBAN BODIES
Town Area Committees are set up in Notified Area Committees are set
up in towns with a population between 5,000 and
towns with a population of 10,000 to 20,000.
10,000.
The number of members of the Notified Area
The members are elected on the basis of adult
Committee is determined by the state
franchise by joint electorate system. Some of the
government.
members are also nominated by the state
government.
These are usually set up in suburbs or adjoining
areas of large cities.
These are also called Nagar Panchayats.
Depending on the availability of funds, it performs
The Town Area Committee has to perform fewer
similar functions as the Town Area Committee.
functions than Municipalities. These are generally
responsible for basic amenities such as electricity
The subdivisional officer, who is a government
and water supply, education, sanitation, health,
official has control over the functions and
street lighting, scavenging and public welfare
administration of the Notified Area Committee.
OTHER URBAN BODIES
Cantonment Boards In some of the Port Trusts are set up in port areas to
major Indian cities, there are permanent military provide civic amenities to the people of these
establishments, for example, Delhi, Lucknow. areas who have specific needs and problems.
These establishments are referred to as Since these needs and problems are significantly
cantonments. different from those of the general population,
These Boards are autonomous bodies subject to
the supervision and control of the General India has nearly 150 ports including large port
Officer Commanding (GOC) and the defense cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, etc.
ministry.
Its Chairperson is a military official and the Each Port Trust has a Board of Trustees which
Deputy Chairperson is generally elected from the includes members representing interests of the
elected representatives of the Board. shipping industry. The Trust includes both elected
and nominated members. Some members of the
With the approval of the government, the Board Municipal Corporations or Municipalities and
can levy taxes within the cantonment area. These representatives of the traders' community are
Boards perform similar functions as the Municipal also represented in the Trust.
Boards.
OTHER URBAN BODIES
Improvement Trusts
The bigger the city, the more complex are its
problems. Though all the cities have Municipal
Corporations or Municipalities, they are not able
to look into all matters related to the
improvement of the locality.
These institutions generally work under the
control of the government and their members
are nominated by the government.
The Chairperson of the Trust is appointed by the
government.
LIMITATIONS OF URBAN LOCAL SELF-
GOVERNMENT
• Unethical Means Adopted in Elections Other Reasons
• Low Literacy Rate Other reasons for the dismal working of local self-
governments are lack of autonomy, inadequate finances,
• Communal Trend in voting irregular elections, pressure from political leaders, undue
interference by the state government, and inefficient
bureaucracy.
Lack of transparency has led to corruption in the local bodies.
Misappropriation of funds by officials and non-officials has been
detected in most of these bodies.
SOLUTIONS
• The government must be more vigilant in checking corruption which has crept into the entire
body-politic at all levels.
• More facilities should be given to local bodies to start small-scale industries to improve the
financial condition of people. Self-employment gives confidence to local people.
• Women empowerment is an important factor in making democracy more meaningful.
• The root cause of all evils in India is lack of education and poor literacy rate. This problem has to
be tackled on a war footing.
• Any person who hampers this democratic process by using money and muscle power must
immediately be brought to book by relevant agencies.
• Local government institutions should be given more power to take independent decisions.
