Municipal governance in India has been in existence since the year 1687 with the formation of Madras Municipal Corporation and then Calcutta and Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1726. In 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's resolution of local self-government laid 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 purview of the state or provincial government and specific powers were given.
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The purpose of municipal governance and strategic urban planning in a country is to create effective, responsive, democratic, transparent, accountable local governance framework organised according to a rational structure that promotes responsiveness and accountability; to provide responsive policy guidance and assistance to sub-national entities; to strengthen the legal, fiscal, economic and service delivery functions of municipalities; and to foster greater citizen participation in the governance of local bodies.
According to Census of India, 1991, there are 3255 Urban Local Bodies (ULB)s in the country; classified into four major categories of
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 Indian Constitution, 74th Amendment Act of 1992, the latter two categories of towns are to be designated as municipalities or nagar panchayats with elected bodies.[1] Until the amendments in state municipal legislations, which were mostly made in 1994, municipal authorities were organised on an Latin: 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.
After the 74th Amendment was enacted there are only three categories of urban local bodies:
This article provides that there be a nagar panchayat for transitional areas i.e. an area in transition from rural to urban, a municipality for a smaller urban area and a municipal corporation for a larger urban area.[2] Article 243Q of the 74th Amendment requires that municipal areas shall be declared having regard to the population of the area, the density of population therein, the revenue generated for local administration, the percentage of employment in non-agricultural activities, the economic importance or such other factors as may be specified by the state government by public notification for this purpose.
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 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.
The municipal bodies of India are vested with a long list of functions delegated to them by the state governments under the municipal legislation. These functions broadly relate to public health, welfare, regulatory functions, public safety, public infrastructure works, and development activities.
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 unilaterally, and on an agency basis, various functions such as Family planning, Nutrition and slum improvement, disease and Epidemic control, etc.
The Twelfth Schedule of Constitution (Article 243 w) provides an illustrative list of eighteen functions, that may be entrusted to the municipalities.[1]
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 indicate wide variations in this regard. Whereas Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Manipur, Punjab and Rajasthan have included all the functions as enlisted in the Twelfth Schedule in their amended state municipal laws, Andhra Pradesh has not made any changes in the existing list of municipal functions. Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal states have amended their municipal laws to add additional functions in the list of municipal functions as suggested in the twelfth schedule.
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.
Provision of water supply and sewerage in several states has either been taken over by the state governments or transferred to state agencies. For example in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, water supply and sewerage works are being carried out by the state level Public Health Engineering Department or Water Supply and Sewerage Boards, while liability for repayment of loans and maintenance are with the municipalities. Besides these state level agencies, City Improvement Trusts and Urban Development Authorities, like Delhi Development Authority (DDA), have been set up in a number of cities. These agencies usually undertake land acquisition and development works, and take up remunerative projects such as markets and commercial complexes, etc. The Municipal bodies in most cases have been left only with the functions of garbage collection, garbage disposal, street lighting, construction and maintenance of roads, etc.
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.
The suggested functions to municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats are listed in the table below.[3]
| Essentially Municipal Functions | Municipal Corporation | Municipal Council | nagar panchayat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban planning including town planning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Planning for economic and social development | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roads and bridges | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Water supply domestic, Industrial and commercial purposes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public health, sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fire services | Yes | Yes | No |
| Urban forestry | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Preventive Health Care | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Burials and burial grounds, cremations, cremation ghats/grounds and electric crematoria | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cattle pounds, prevention of cruelty to animals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Street lighting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Slum improvement and up gradation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agency Functions | |||
| Protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and the mentally retarded | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Urban poverty alleviation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Promotion of cultural, education and aesthetic aspects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Primary Education | Yes | Yes | No |
| Primary Health Care | Yes | Yes | No |
nagar nigam a.k.a (Municipal Corporation) in India are state government formed departments that works for the development of a 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 are formed under the Corporations Act of 1835 of panchayati raj system which mainly deals in providing essential services in every small town as well as village of a district/city. Their elections are held once in five year and the people choose the candidates. The largest corporations are in the four metropolitan cities of India, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai. These cities not only have a large population, but are also the administrative as well as commercial centres of the country.
A nagar panchayat is an urban local body in India comparable to a Municipality.
An urban centre with more than 30,000 and less than 100,000 inhabitants is classified as a nagar panchayat.