Municipalities

• The term implies ‘Urban Local Government’.
  
• There are eight types of urban local governments in India–

1. Municipal corporation
   
2. Municipality
   
3. Notified area committee
   
4. Town area committee
   
5. Cantonment board
   
6. Township
   
7. Port trust
   
8. Special purpose agency

• The V P Singh introduced the revised Nagarpalika Bill in the Lok Sabha in September 1990. Then, the ‘Urban Local Government’ was constitutionalized through the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 and came into force on 1 June 1993.
  
• Also added a new Part IX-A to the Constitution of India.
  
• This part is entitled as ‘The Municipalities’
  
• Articles 243-P to 243-ZG
  
• Also added a new Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution and contains eighteen functional items (Article 243-W).
  
• Urban Local Government’ Under the control of-

(i) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
(ii) Ministry of Defense in the case of cantonment boards
(iii) Ministry of Home Affairs in the case of Union Territories

Historical Background for the Evolution of Urban Local Bodies-

(i) The first municipal corporation in India – Madras (1688).
(ii) In 1726, the municipal corporations were set up in Bombay and Calcutta.
(iii) In 1870, Lord Mayo’s Resolution did financial decentralization to develop the local self-government institutions.
(iv) Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 - the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government and he is also called as the father of local self-government in India.
(v) The Royal Commission on decentralization (1907). Its chairman was Hob house.
(vi) As per the Government of India Act, 1919 the local self-government inserted to the transferred subject.
(vii) The Cantonments Act (1924).
(viii) The Government of India Act of 1935 declared the local self-government as a provincial subject.

Three Types of Municipalities

1. A Nagar panchayat for a transitional area.
   
2. A municipal council for a smaller urban area.
   
3. A municipal corporation for a larger urban area.

• All the members of a municipality shall be elected directly by the people of the municipal area.
  
• The act provides for the reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.
  
• Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for women (including for woman belonging to the SCs and the STs).
  
• Duration of Municipality is five-years.
  
• Age qualification to contest the election is 21 years.

State Election Commission

• To direct and control of the preparation of electoral rolls.
  
• To conduct elections to the Municipalities shall be vested in the state election commission.

Finances

• A municipality can levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.

Finance Commission

• The governor of a state shall appoints a finance commission to review the financial position of the municipality every five years.

District Planning Committee

• Every state shall constitute at the district level.

Metropolitan Planning Committee

• Every metropolitan area shall have a metropolitan planning committee.
• The act bars the interference by courts in the electoral matters of municipalities.

18 functional items -

1. Urban planning including town planning;
   
2. Regulation of land use and construction of buildings;
   
3. Planning for economic and social development;
   
4. Roads and bridges;
   
5. Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes;
   
6. Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management;
   
7. Fire services;
   
8. Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects;
   
9. Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded;
   
10. Slum improvement and up gradation;
    
11. Urban poverty alleviation;
    
12. Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds;
    
13. Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects;
    
14. Burials and burial grounds, cremations and cremation grounds and electric crematoriums;
    
15. Cattle ponds, prevention of cruelty to animals;
    
16. Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths;
    
17. Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences; and
    
18. Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries.

Types of urban governments

1. Municipal Corporation

• Three authorities of a municipal corporation are - the council, the standing committees and the commissioner.
  
• The Council is headed by a Mayor.
  
• The municipal commissioner is responsible for the implementation of the decisions taken by the council and its standing committees.

2. Municipality

• The municipalities are established for the administration of towns and smaller cities.
  
• Three authorities - the council, the standing committees and he chief executive officer.
  
• The chief executive officer/chief municipal officer is responsible for day-to-day general administration of the municipality. He is appointed by the state government.

3. Notified Area Committee

• Created for the administration of a fast developing town a town which does not yet fulfil the conditions for the constitution of a municipality. It is an entirely nominated body.

4. Town Area Committee

• Set up for the administration of a small town
  
• It may be wholly elected or wholly nominated by the state government or partly elected and partly nominated.

5. Cantonment Board

• It is established for municipal administration for civilian population in the cantonment area.
  
• It is set up by the central Government by the Cantonments Act of 2006
  
• It functions under the administrative control of the defense ministry.
  
• At present (2019), there are 62 cantonment boards in the country.
  
• A cantonment board consists of partly elected (Five Years) and partly nominated members (Till the transfer).

6. Township

• Established by the large public enterprises to provide civic amenities to its staff and workers.
• The township form of urban government has no elected members.
  
• It is an extension of the bureaucratic structure of the enterprises.

7. Port Trust

• Established in the port areas like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai.
  
• To manage and protect the ports
  
• To provide civic amenities.
  
• It is created by an Act of Parliament.
  
• It consists of both elected and nominated members.

8. Special Purpose Agency

These are function-based local government and not area based
Examples-

1. Town improvement trusts.
   
2. Urban development authorities.
   
3. Water supply and sewerage boards.
   
4. Housing boards.
   
5. Pollution control boards.
   
6. Electricity supply boards.
   
7. City transport boards.

Important Articles -

• 243Q Constitution of municipalities
  
• 243W Powers, authority and responsibilities of municipalities, and so on
  
• 243Y Finance commission
  
• 243ZA Elections to the municipalities
  
• 243ZB Application to union territories