Democratic Decentralization
Democracy is considered as one of the best forms of government because it ensures liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equality of status and opportunity, fraternity as well as the right to participate in political decision-making. Participation and control of governance by the people of the country is the essence of democracy. Such participation is possible only when the powers of the state are decentralized to the district, block and village levels where all the sections of the people can sit together, discuss their problems and suggest solutions and plan, execute as well as monitor the implementation of the programmes. It is called the crux of democratic decentralization.
The words, “democratic” and “decentralization” form the key to the understanding of the expression “democratic decentralization.” The work “democratic” explains the nature and purpose of the concept as also its basic claims in an institutional set up. The word ‘decentralization’ is essentially indicative of the method to realize the end as contained in the word ‘democratic’. Decentralization means transfer of planning, decision-making or administrative authority from the central government to its field organizations, local administrative units, semi-autonomous organizations, local governments or non-governmental organizations. Different forms of decentralization can be distinguished primarily by the extent to which the authority to plan, decide and manage is transferred and autonomy is achieved in their tasks. In simple under decentralization authority is not concentrated at the centre, it is distributed to smaller administrative units.
History Behind the Evolution of Urban Bodies in India:
The Urban local bodies had their inception in British India.
1. The first Municipal Corporation was set up in India in the year 1687 at Madras, followed by Bombay and Calcutta in the year 1726.
2. Lord Ripon is regarded as the father of local self-government for his resolution on local self-government in 1882 which is beheld as the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government.
3. In September 1991 PV Narasimha Rao’s government introduced a modified version of the Municipalities Bill in the Lok Sabha which emerged as the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act in 1992. It came into force on the 1st of June 1993.
4. The municipalities are incorporated under Part IX-A of the Constitution under Articles 243P to 243-ZG.
Types of Urban Local Bodies
There are eight categories of urban governments created in India for the administration of urban areas. They are as follows:
1. Municipal Corporation: Municipal Corporation is established by the Act of state government for the big cities of states and by the Act of Parliament for the big cities of Union Territories. A corporation has three authorities. First is the corporation council headed by the Mayor, who is assisted by the Deputy Mayor. The councilors and Mayor are directly elected by the people. Council is a deliberative and legislative organ of the corporation. Second organ of the corporation are the standing committees to deal with various activities like health, education, public works and are empowered to take decisions in their respective fields. The third authority of the Corporation is the Municipal Commissioner, who is a government officer and is responsible for the implementation of the decisions taken by the council and standing committees.
2. Municipalities: Municipalities are setup by the Acts of state legislature for the administration of small cities or towns. It also has three authorities. First the municipal council is the legislative branch of the municipality, and is headed by the Chairman, who in turn is assisted by a Deputy Chairman. The standing committees facilitate the work of municipality in various fields such as health, taxation finance etc. The third authority of the municipality is the Chief Municipal Officer, who is appointed by the state government and is responsible for the general administration of the municipality. The municipality may be known by other names also such as Municipal Board, Municipal Council or Municipal Committee etc.
3. Notified Area Committee: This may be created either in a town which is fast developing or which may not fulfill the conditions for the creation of a municipality. It is known as Notified Area Committee because it is created through a notification of the state government published in the official gazette. It is not a statutory body and all its members and chairman are nominated by the government. It performs similar functions as performed by a municipality.
4. Town Area Committee: It is created by a separate Act of state government for the administration of small towns. It performs a limited number of functions like street lighting, drainage etc. As provided in the Act, it may be wholly elected or totally nominated or partly elected or partly nominated body.
5. Cantonment Boards: They are established to perform municipal functions for civilian population living in cantonment or military areas. Its noticeable feature is that it is created and works under the central Act of 1924 under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence. There are three types of Cantonment Boards depending upon the number of civilian population in the Cantonment Area. It consists of partly elected and partly nominated members. The members are elected for a three year term. The military officer commanding the cantonment station is the ex -officio chairman of the Cantonment Board.
6. Townships: Townships are established by a public sector undertaking as its housing colony to provide civil amenities to its employees living in township. It has no elected members and its affairs are managed by a Town Administrator appointed by the public sector undertaking.
7. Port Trusts: Such urban bodies are established by an Act of the Parliament to manage and protect ports and to provide civic amenities to the port area. It is headed by an official appointed by the central government. It has both elected and nominated members.
8. Special Purpose Agencies: The state governments establish some special purpose agencies to perform some specific functions of municipalities. They function as separate bodies not under the control of municipalities. They may be created either by an act of State Legislature or by an order of the executive. Some of these agencies are Housing Board, Water Supply Undertaking, Electricity Supply Undertakings, and Urban Development Authorities etc.
Urban local bodies form the basis for strengthening grassroots democracy in India. These bodies play the greater role of involving masses at the grass-root levels, thereby making them more aware electorally and politically. It empowers every citizen down to the grass root levels and gives them the power to influence the decision-making powers of the government thereby enhancing Indian democracy and making it more responsive.
Role of Urban Local Bodies in India
Urban local bodies play an important role in the planning and development of urban areas. The municipalities in India are confronted with a number of challenges, such as issues of bringing efficiency in the conduct of business, ensuring effective participation by the weaker sections of the population in local governance, improving financial condition, ensuring transparency in the planning and implementation of projects.
Cities must gear up for the rising demands of urbanization and to stay abreast and prepared for National Government’s vision for Smart cities, on the other hands cities need to continuously gear up for addressing issues of environmental degradation, air pollution, climate change and increasing frequency of climate induced events and disasters.
In towns and cities, we have local government institutions that are called Municipalities and Municipal Corporations. An urban area is usually a compact and densely populated area. Municipal administration is necessary to provide basic civic facilities like water supply, drainage, garbage disposal, public health, primary education, construction and maintenance of roads and sanitation.
As local level democratic government, the municipal institutions that are elected by the local people raise taxes and collect fees and fines from the public. They regulate city life by laying down regulations regarding buildings, road network and garbage disposal. There are many developmental activities undertaken by them like women and child development, slums improvement etc. Municipal government has made possible participative urban development and local management of civic facilities.
Composition and Duration of Municipalities:
1. The people of a municipal area directly elect every member of the municipality.
2. Every municipal area is divided into wards, one member is elected from each ward who is the councillors of the respective wards and became one of the members of the municipality.
3. There is a chairman in charge of the administration of every municipality his election may be determined by the state government.
4. People who possess exceptional knowledge or experience in local-level administration, are a part of the body.
5. Members of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, or members of the State legislative assembly who belong to the constituency are also members of the municipality.
6. Chairpersons of the committees other than the ward committee are also members of the municipality.
7. Seats are also reserved for the members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled tribes and 1/3rd of the seats are reserved for women.
8. All the municipalities are elected for a five-year term. They however can be dissolved before the completion of their tenure and in that case, elections must be held before the expiry of six months.
Roles and Responsibilities of Urban Local bodies
It is a common practice to divide the organization of a corporation or a municipality into two parts:
(a) Deliberative
The corporation, council or municipal board or council consisting of the elected representatives of the people constitutes the deliberative part. It acts like a legislature.
It discusses and debates on general municipal policies and performance, passes the budget of the urban local body, frames broad policies relating to taxation, resources raising, pricing of services and other aspects of municipal administration.
It keeps an eye on municipal administration and holds the executive accountable for what is done or not done. For instance, if water supply is not being properly managed, or there is an outbreak of an epidemic, the deliberative wing criticizes the role of the administration and suggests measures for improvement.
(b) Executive Part
The executive part of municipal administration is looked after by the municipal officers and other permanent employees. In the corporations, the Municipal Commissioner is the executive head, and all other departmental officers like engineers, finance officers, health officers etc. function under his/her control and supervision.
In a large corporation, such as Delhi or Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the Commissioner is usually a senior IAS officer. In municipalities, the executive officer holds a similar position and looks after the overall administration of a municipality.
The Functions Performed by the Municipalities can be classified into two types, they are as follows:
Municipal functions are generally classified into obligatory and discretionary types.
i. The obligatory (compulsory) functions: The performance of these functions is those that the municipal body must perform. In this category fall such functions as water supply; construction and maintenance of roads, streets, bridges, subways and other public works, street lighting; drainage and sewerage; garbage collection and disposal; prevention and control of epidemics.
Some other obligatory functions are public vaccination and inoculation; maintenance of hospitals and dispensaries including maternity and child welfare centres; checking food adulteration; removal of slums; supply of electricity; maintenance of cremation and burial grounds; and town planning. In some States some of these functions may be taken over by State Government.
ii. Discretionary Functions: The discretionary functions are those that a municipal body may take up if funds permit. These are given less priority. Some of the discretionary functions are construction and maintenance of rescue homes and orphanages, housing for low income groups, organizing public receptions, provision of treatment facilities, etc.
Powers, Authority and Responsibilities of Municipalities
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State may, by law, endow –
a) The Municipalities with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government and such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon Municipalities, subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, with respect to:
i. the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;
ii. the performance of functions and the implementation of schemes as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to the matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule;
b) the Committees with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to carry out the responsibilities conferred upon them including those in relation to the matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule.
Twelfth Schedule
Every local municipal issue falls within the purview of the Municipal Corporation, whose policies are set forth in the 74th Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution of 1992. According to the Constitution’s Twelfth Schedule, the work of municipal corporation are as follows:
1. Town planning and infrastructure development.
2. Regulation of building and other property construction as well as land use.
3. The creation of programmes for social fairness and economic prosperity.
4. Having the right to impose, collect, and use these taxes, charges, tolls, and fees in the proper manner.
5. Water supply for residential, commercial, and industrial uses.
6. Solid waste management, sanitation conservation, and public health.
7. Assisting with emergency assistance and fire services.
8. Urban forestry, environmental preservation, and ecological awareness.
9. Defending the rights of society’s most vulnerable groups, such as the physically and psychologically ill
10. Slum upgrading and renovation.
11. Reduction of urban poverty.
12. Providing urban conveniences and amenities including playgrounds, gardens, and parks.
13. Promotion of aesthetic, educational, and cultural elements.
14. Maintenance of cremation grounds, and electric crematoriums.
15. Animal cruelty prevention by cattle pounding.
16. Birth and death registrations.
17. Maintenance of street illumination, parking spaces, bus stations, and public restrooms.
18. Regulation of tanneries and slaughterhouses
Municipal Corporations are essential to the growth of the city. Therefore, civic bodies need to communicate with the general public. Municipal organisations, therefore, have the power to make or break a city. I’d like to conclude my answer here about the functions of municipality.
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