CLASS 6TH | URBAN LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT | REVISION NOTES

Summary

The urban local governments provide services to the people of their region.
The 3 types of local governments are :

• Nagar Panchayat
• Municipal Council
• Municipal Corporation

Nagar Panchayat
The rural areas are fast developing into urban areas due the  population growth. The local government of these developing regions  are  called the ‘Nagar Panchayats’.

Municipal Council
Small cities are looked after by Municipal Councils. There are many Municipal Councils in every state which are also known as Nagar Committee or Nagar Sabha in different states. Members of a Municipal Council are called Councillors, they are elected by the voters of the area of the Municipal Council.

The complete area is divided into wards. One Councillor is elected from each ward. The MLAs falling in the area of that Municipal Council are also the members of the Municipal Council.

Functions of the Municipal Council

• It provides public services such as electricity, water supply, cleanliness, maintenance of roads and bridges, schools, libraries and transport facilities.
• It also prepares the statistics of birth and death registrations and helps open health centres and hospitals.

Municipal Corporations
In larger cities the institutions of local administration are called Municipal Corporation. If the Municipal Corporation is located in the capital of the country and in the union territories, then it is under the direct control of the Central Government.Members of the Municipal Corporation are directly elected by the voters of the city.

Municipal Corporations are divided into wards and one member is elected from each ward. The MLAs of a city are also the members of the Municipal Corporation. The Municipal Corporation performs both compulsory and discretionary functions.

The compulsory functions of Municipal Corporations
Construction and maintenance of roads and sewage system, supply of drinking water, health and sanitation, registration of births and deaths, and establishment of schools.

The discretionary functions of the Municipal Corporation
The establishment and maintenance of art galleries, museums, play parks and libraries.

Composition of  the Municipal Corporation
The Municipal Corporation consists of the Mayor, the Municipal Commissioner and the Committee.The Mayor is the head of the Municipal Corporation. He is elected from amongst the members of the Corporation and his term is two and a half years. The Municipal Commissioner, or the Chief Executive Officer, is appointed by the state government and belongs to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Committees
Various committees, including the Standing Committee, Education Committee and Transport Committee, serve a term of two years. They carry out the activities of the Municipal Corporation. They utilise the funds from taxes such as house tax, entertainment tax and property tax. Fees from passing of house plans, fees from issuing licenses for cycles, rickshaws and carts, and penalties from violators of the Municipal Corporation rules also contribute to the funds and the Government also provides grants to the Corporation.

Elections
The election for all the levels of the urban local self government takes place every five years. There are reserved seats for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the urban local government. The urban local government is elected by the people and provides many services to them