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Unit-IV- Municipalities

In India, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), also called municipalities are self-
government institutions responsible for the administration of cities, towns,
and transitional areas within a state or Union Territory. The 74th amendment
to the Constitution of India in 1992 provided constitutional framework for the
establishment of Urban Local Bodies.

There are three types of Urban Local Bodies in India, which

includes municipal corporations governing large urban areas, municipal
councils governing smaller urban areas and nagar panchayats governing
transitional areas from rural to urban. They are established by
individual state governments and can differ in names, election method or tier
structure. The classification of these areas is at the discretion of the states,
considering factors such as total population, population density, non-
agricultural employment, annual revenue generation, among other criteria.

History
Municipal governance in India in its current form has existed since the year
1664. In 1664, Fort Kochi Municipality was established by Dutch, making it
the first municipality in Indian subcontinent, which got dissolved when Dutch
authority got weaker in the 18th century. British followed with the formation
of Madras Municipal Corporation in 1687, and then Calcutta and Bombay
Municipal Corporation in 1726. In the early part of the nineteenth century
almost all towns in India had experienced some form of municipal
governance. In 1882 the then Viceroy of India, Lord Ripon, known as the
Father of Local Self Government, passed a resolution of local self-
government which lead the democratic forms of municipal governance in
India.

In 1919, a Government of India Act incorporated the need of the resolution

and the powers of democratically elected government were formulated. In
1935 another Government of India act brought local government under the
preview of the state or provincial government and specific powers were
given.

74th Constitutional Amendment Act

It was the 74th amendment to the Constitution of India in 1992 that gave
constitutional validity to municipal or local governments. Until amendments
were made in respective state municipal legislations as well, municipal
authorities were organised on an ultra vires (beyond the authority) basis and
the state governments were free to extend or control the functional sphere
through executive decisions without an amendment to the legislative
provisions.

As per the 2011 Census, urban areas were classified as follows:

1. Statutory Towns: All areas under statutory urban administrative units

like Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Cantonment Board, Notified
Town Area Committee, Town Panchayat, Nagar Palika, etc. are known
as Statutory Towns. According to 2011 Census of India, there were
4041 statutory urban local bodies (ULBs) in the country as compared
to 3799 as per Census of 2001.
2. Census Towns: All Administrative units satisfying the following three
criteria simultaneously: i) A minimum population of 5,000 persons; ii)
75 percent and above of the male main working population being
engaged in non–agricultural pursuits, and iii) A density of population of
at least 400 persons per km2.

As per the 2011 Census, there were 3,784 Census Towns against
1,362 in 2001.
Statutory towns are of various kinds and the major categories include:

1. Municipal corporation (Nagar Nigam)

2. Municipality (municipal council, municipal board, municipal committee)
(Nagar Parishad)
3. Town area committee
4. Notified area committee
The municipal corporations and municipalities are fully representative
bodies, while the notified area committees and town area committees are
either fully or partially nominated bodies. As per the Constitution of India,
74th Amendment Act of 1992, the latter two categories of towns are to be
designated as municipalities or Nagar panchayats with elected bodies.

After the 74th Amendment was enacted there are only three categories of
urban local bodies:

 Mahanagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation)

 Nagar Palika (Municipality)
 Nagar Panchayat (Notified Area Council or Town Panchayat)
Among all urban local governments, municipal corporations enjoy a greater
degree of fiscal autonomy and functions, although the specific fiscal and
functional powers vary across the states. These local governments have
larger populations, a more diversified economic base, and deal with the state
governments directly. On the other hand, municipalities or Nagar panchayats
have less autonomy, smaller jurisdictions, and have to deal with the state
governments through the Directorate of Municipalities or through the
collector of a district. These local bodies are subject to detailed supervisory
control and guidance by the state governments.

State Municipal Acts

State Municipal Acts are legislations enacted by state governments to
establish municipal governments, administer them, and provide a framework
of governance for cities within the state. Every state has its own municipal
act and some states have more than one municipal act, governing larger and
smaller municipalities under different acts. Various processes including rules
for elections, recruitment of staff, and demarcation of urban areas derived
from the state municipal acts. Most Municipal Acts are enforced across all
statutory urban areas in the respective states except the cantonment areas.
The Government of India had issued a Model Municipal Law in 2003 which
aimed to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the municipal
governments in the various states and bring them into conformity with the
provisions of the 74th CAA.

Responsibilities of urban local bodies

The municipal bodies of India are vested with a long list of functions
delegated to them by the state governments under their respective
municipal legislations.

The Twelfth Schedule of Constitution (Article 243 w) provides an illustrative

list of eighteen functions that may be entrusted to the municipalities. They
are-

Public health includes water supply, sewerage and sanitation, eradication of

communicable diseases etc.;

Welfare includes public facilities such as education, recreation, etc.;

Regulatory functions related to prescribing and enforcing building

regulations, encroachments on public land, birth registration and death
certificate, etc.;

Public safety includes fire protection, street lighting, etc.;

Public works measures such as construction and maintenance of inner-city

roads, etc. and

Development functions related to town planning and development of

commercial markets.
In addition to the legally assigned functions, the sectoral departments of the
state government often assign various functions such as family planning,
nutrition and slum improvement, disease and Epidemic control, etc.

Besides the traditional core functions of municipalities, it also includes

development functions like planning for economic development and social
justice, urban poverty alleviation programs, and promotion of cultural,
educational, and aesthetic aspects. However, conformity legislation enacted
by the state governments indicates wide variations in this regard. There is a
lot of difference in the assignment of obligatory and discretionary functions
to the municipal bodies among the states. Whereas functions like planning
for the social and economic development, urban forestry and protection of
the environment and promotion of ecological aspects are obligatory
functions for the municipalities of Maharashtra, in Karnataka these are
discretionary functions.

In terms of fiscal federalism, functions whose benefits largely confine to

municipal jurisdictions and may be termed as the essentially
municipal functions. Similarly, functions that involve substantial economics
of scale or are of national interest may not be assigned to small local bodies.
For valid reasons, certain functions of higher authorities are appropriate to
be entrusted with the Municipalities – as if under principal-agent contracts
and may be called agency functions that need to be financed by
intergovernmental revenues. Thus instead of continuing the traditional
distinction between obligatory and discretionary functions the municipal
responsibilities may be grouped into essentially municipal, joint and agency
functions.

Municipal Corporation
It is also known as Nagar Nigam. Municipal Corporation/City Corporation in
India are state government formed urban local bodies that work for the
development of a metropolitan city, which has a population of more than 1
million. The growing population and urbanisation in various cities of India
were in need of a local governing body that can work for providing necessary
community services like health centres, educational institutes, and housing
and property tax. They also replace street lights.

They are formed under the Corporations Act of 1835 which mainly deals in
providing essential services in a major city. Their elections are held once in
five-year and the people choose the candidates. The largest corporations are
in the eight metropolitan cities of India, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Pune. These cities
not only have a large population but are also the administrative as well as
commercial centres of the country.

Municipal Council
A Municipality, or Municipal Council, is an urban local body that
administers a smaller urban area with a minimum population of 100,000 but
less than 1,000,000. However, there are exceptions to that, as previously
municipalities were constituted in urban centers with a population over
20,000 were reclassified as Municipality even if their population was under
100,000. Locally, the municipality is known as Nagar Palika and these are
constituted by the Municipal Acts of the respective states.

Municipalities in India are categorized into City Municipal Councils and Town
Municipal Councils, the classification of which depends on factors like
population, economic growth, employment, and more. This classification
varies from state to state. For instance, in Kerala, municipalities are graded
as I, II, III, while in Bihar, the classification is denoted as Class A, B, C. The
criteria for these classifications include population, population density, non-
agricultural employment, and other relevant parameters.

It interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively

part of the district it is located in. Generally smaller district cities and bigger
towns have a Municipality. Municipalities are also a form of local self-
government, entrusted with some duties and responsibilities, as enshrined
and guided upon by the Constitutional (74th Amendment) Act, 1992.

The members of the Municipal Councils are elected representatives for a

term of five years. The town is divided into wards according to its population,
and representatives are elected from each ward. The members elect a
chairperson and vice chairperson among themselves to preside over and
conduct meetings. A chief officer, along with officers like an engineer,
sanitary inspector, health officer, and education officer who come from the
state public service are appointed by the state government to control the
administrative affairs of the municipality.

City Municipal Councils are known regionally by different names, including

Town Municipal Council, Town Municipality, Nagar Palika, Nagarasabe,
Purasabe, Nagara Sabha and Nagaraatchi.

Town Panchayat
A Town Panchayat (also known as Nagar Panchayat or Town Board) is a
form of an urban political unit in India comparable to a municipality. The
composition of Town Panchayats varies across states, serving as the
governing body for areas transitioning from 'rural' to 'urban'.

Town Panchayats in Tamil Nadu are established based on a population range

of above 5000 and below 30,000, categorized into grades determined by
criteria including population and economic growth. In Bihar, Town
Panchayats are constituted for populations ranging from above 12,000 to
below 40,000, while in Karnataka, the criteria are above 10,000 and below
20,000.[11][12][13]

Each Nagar Panchayat has a committee consisting of a chairman with ward

members. Membership consists of a minimum of ten elected ward members
and three nominated members. The members of the Nagar Panchayat are
elected from the several wards of the Nagar Panchayat on the basis of adult
franchise for a term of five years. There are seats reserved for Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes, and women. The Councillors or
Ward Members are chosen by direct election from electoral wards in the
Nagar Panchayats.

Town boards are also known by different names depending on the region,
including: Nagar Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat, Municipal Board, Town
Panchayat, and Pura Panchayat. Certain states lack Town Panchayats or
equivalent urban local bodies.

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