The Municipal Corporation plays a very significant role in city administration and it is headed by a Municipal Commissioner, who has all the executive powers.
A Municipal Corporation has to work hand in hand with the State Government, for the effective execution of various plans and programmes set up for the benefit of the common man and also carve out a better and planned city.
A Municipal Corporation in India, formed under the Corporations Act of 1835 of Panchayati Raj system, is responsible for providing essential services in every small town as well as village of a district/city. It caters to their daily problems and provides the convenient services to the people, holding a central importance in the state.
The largest corporations are in the four metropolitan cities of India. Mumbai has the largest Municipal Corporation, which is followed by Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. These metropolitan cities not only have a large population, but are also the administrative as well as commercial centres of the country.
This section of the National Portal of India brings to you detailed information on the organisational structure, elections, roles and functions of the Municipal Corporations. Also, you will find a list of various citizen centric Services offered by the Municipal bodies across the States.
Organisational Structure
Prior to the implementation of the 1992 Act, urban local government was defined by the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Town Area Committees and Notified Area Councils/Committees. Hence, the structure and composition of municipalities varied considerably, with wide differences in definition and structure between States.The 1992 Act brought uniformity in the constitution of the municipal bodies by classifying them as Municipal Corporations for large urban areas, Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas, followed by Nagar Panchayats and suburban government bodies.
The Municipal Corporation of a state is divided into zones and every zone has its Municipal Commissioner, followed by Municipal Corporation Inspectors. The Municipal Commissioner is the Chief Executive Officer and head of the executive arm of the Municipal Corporation. All executive powers are exercised by the Municipal Commissioner.
The Commissioner is appointed for a fixed term as defined by state statute. The Commissioner's tenure can be extended or reduced. The powers of the Commissioner are those provided by the statute and those delegated by the Corporation or the Standing Committee.
Elections to Municipal Corporations
Members of the Municipal Corporations are elected by the people directly through elections. The serving period of a Municipal Corporation is five years, until it is dissolved before. However, the provisions for elections to the municipal bodies are not uniform throughout the nation as the municipalities come under the State government jurisdiction. While the state governments arrange the elections in some states, the Executive Officers do the same in some other municipalities.Elections to the Municipal Corporations are conducted under the superintendence, direction and control of the State Election Commissions.
The electoral roll for each ward of the city is split into one or more parts taking into consideration the area within the ward wherein the voters to be included in each part reside, so that the voters to be included in each part belong to a named area, street or road within the ward and the electoral roll so split up in respect of the several parts of the ward together constitutes the electoral roll for such ward.
Any person may be nominated as a candidate to fill a seat in any of the wards of the city, if he is qualified to be chosen to fill that seat under the provisions of the Act.
In a ward wherein a seat is reserved for the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, or Scheduled Tribes, a candidate shall not be deemed to be qualified to be chosen to fill that seat unless his/her nomination paper contains a declaration by him/her specifying the particular class, caste or tribe of which he/she is a member and said class, Caste or tribe is a Backward Class, Scheduled Caste, or Scheduled Tribe. If a seat is reserved for women, the nomination paper shall contain a declaration that the candidate is a woman.
Every political party recognised by the Election Commission of India as a National Party or as a State Party shall be a recognised political party for the purpose of election of the Corporation.
Roles and Functions
A Municipal Corporation works in coordination with the State Government for the effective execution of the various plans and programs.All municipal acts in India divide functions, powers and responsibilities into the following two categories:
- Obligatory
- Discretionary
Some obligatory functions:
- Supply of pure and wholesome water
- Construction and maintenance of public streets
- Lighting and watering of public streets
- Cleaning of public streets, places and sewers
- Regulation of offensive, dangerous or obnoxious trades and callings or practices
- Maintenance or support of public hospitals; establishment and maintenance of primary schools
- Registration of births and deaths; removing obstructions and projections in public streets, bridges and other places
- Naming streets and numbering houses.
Some discretionary functions:
- Construction and maintenance of public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, rest houses, leper homes, orphanages and rescue homes for women
- planting and maintenance of roadside and other trees
- Housing for low income groups
- Conducting surveys
- Organising public receptions, public exhibitions, public entertainment; provision of transport facilities with the municipality
- Promotion of welfare of municipal employees
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