Municipal Corporations in India

In India, Municipal Corporations or City Corporation [2] or Mahanagar Palika or Mahanagar Nigam are urban local government that works for the development of a city, which has a population of more than one million (ten lakh). The growing population and urbanization in various cities of India were in need of a local governing body that can work for providing necessary community services like health care, educational institution, housing, transport etc. by collecting property tax and fixed grant from the State Government.

The 74th amendment made the provisions relating to Urban Local Governments (Nagarpalikas).

Three tier structure:

• Municipal Corporations
• Municipal Councils
• Nagar Panchayats

Chennai Corporation headquarters

Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai

Municipal Corporation of Delhi Headquarters

Terms used for Municipal Corporation in India

In India a Municipal Corporation is called by different names which varies from state to state(oweing to the official language of the state or due to other regional language variations) all of which are translated to "Municipal Corporation" in English, these names including Nagar Nigam(in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana), Mahanagar Palika(in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka), Pouro Nigom(in West Bengal), etc. The term Nagar Palika Nigam is used in Madhya Pradesh for Municipal Corporation. In Tripura, the sole Municipal Corporation of the city of Agartala is called Agartala Pur Porishod in Bengali. Also, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation is typically called by the name "Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan". The detailed structure of these urban bodies varies from state to state, as per the laws passed by the state legislature(Vidhan Sabha) but the basic structure and function is almost the same. Under the panchayati raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in.

Constitution

Administrative structure of India

Each Municipal Corporation has a committee consisting of a Mayor with Councillors. They are formed under the Corporations Act of 1835 of Panchayati Raj system which mainly deals in providing essential services in Metropolitan Cities. The no. of councillors depend upon the area and population of the city that minimum of 3,00,000. Municipal Corporation members are elected from the several wards of the specific city 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 are chosen by direct election from electoral wards in the Municipal Corporation.

The largest corporations are in the six metropolitan cities of India, viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and among these Mumbai is the most populous and largest metropolitan city of India. These cities not only have a large population, but are also the administrative as well as commercial centres of the country.

Administration

Mayor is the head of the Municipal Corporations in India. The Municipal Commissioner is the official in charge of this organization. Executive Officers monitor the implementation of all the programs related to planning and development of the corporation with the coordination of Mayor and Councilors.

Functions

Municipal Corporation building in Bangalore

• Water supply
• Hospitals
• Roads
• Over bridge
• Street lighting
• Drainage
• Solid waste
• Fire brigades
• Market places
• Records of births and deaths

it also helps in education and primary health care

Sources of Income

Its sources of income are taxes on water, houses, markets, entertainment and vehicles paid by residents of the town and grants from the state government.

See also

• Municipal governance in India
• List of municipal corporations of India

Sources

Our Civic Life (Civics and Administration) Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, Pune