MUNICIPALITIES

Part IXA (Art 243P – Art 243ZG)

74th Amendment Act’92

• It also added Schedule XII (containing 18 functional
  items)
• Provisions w.r.t. Municipalities are analogous to
  Panchayats.

Categories of Municipalities

• Municipal Corporation (larger urban area)
• Municipal Council (smaller urban area)
• Nagar Panchayat (transitional area)

Pattern of Municipal Administration

1. members are elected by the people . chair person in municipalities are nominated by state govt. these members and chairperson are like legislative body….
2. IAS and the administrative staff of municipal commission are known as executive body of municipal corporation.

Bodies under Part IX A

• Bodies for self-governance
• Bodies for grass-root planning
  -District planning Committee
  -Metropolitan Planning Committee

District Planning Committee

• Members – 4/5th members elected by, and from amongst,
  the elected members of the Panchayat at the district level
  and of the Municipalities in the district.
• Purpose – Prepare a draft development plan for the district
  as a whole.

Metropolitan Planning Committee

• Members – 2/3rd members elected by, and from amongst,
  the elected members Municipalities & Chairpersons of
  Panchayats in the district.
• Purpose – Prepare a draft development plan for the
  metropolitan area as a whole.

Problems of Urban Administration

• Unplanned & haphazard urbanisation
• Massive corruption in Municipal bodies
• Excessive government control and poor
  delegation of 3Fs
• Inadequate capacity building of local body
  functionaries
• Absence of urban way of life
• Lack of quality leadership at city level
• Politically the focus is still on rural areas.
• Existence of parallel bodies

2nd ARC recommendations

• Set up 2nd National Commission on Urbanisation.
• Members of MPC/DPC should be appointed by
  SEC.
• Devolve additional functions to Municipalities.
  (School education, public health, traffic
  management etc.)
• Mayors should be elected directly.
• Undertake comprehensive property tax reforms.
• Art 276: Enhance the upper ceiling on Professional
  Tax with periodic review.
• Enhance fines for civic offenses.
• Municipalities should be encouraged to access
  capital market through instruments such as bonds.
• Encourage bigger municipalities to run Municipal
  Enterprises example bus services.

SIGNIFICANCE

• Foundation of democracy
• Direct democracy
• Decentralization of Power
• Environmental & Disaster Management
• Improved service delivery
• Community Participation in Development
• Local Economic Policies
• Ease the load on higher levels of administration
• More adept at identifying and utilizing local skills
  and assets
• Sensitizes local bureaucracy to local needs
• Empowerment of marginalized communities
• Platform for Local Governance training
• More economical level of government

XVth FC & LSG

• Recommended Grants – ₹ 4.36 lakh cr.
• Spending by PRIs & Municipalities
  -60% – National priorities like drinking water etc.
  -40% – Untied
• Spending by Municipal Corporations
  -1/3rd – Improve air quality
  -2/3rd – National priorities like drinking water etc
• Criteria for devolution:
  -Population – 90%
  -Geographical Area – 10%
• Mandatory publishing of audit reports in public domain