Home » Indian Polity » Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein. » Devolution of Powers and Finances up to Local Levels and Challenges Therein. » 74th amendment act- Municipalities » Types of urban governments in India
- Municipal corporation
- It is created for the administration of big cities
- They are established by an act of state legislatures and in the case of UTs, it is by an act of Parliament
- The corporation has three organs- council, standing committees and commissioner
- The council is the deliberative body consisting of elected and few nominated representatives. They enact laws and policies. The council is headed by a mayor who is to preside over the council meetings. He is elected by the members amongst themselves. He has a renewable one-year term
- Standing committees are created to simplify the working of the council. They take decision in their respective fields for which they have been made responsible. Ex: Health, education, public works etc
- Municipal commissioner is responsible for implementing the policies and decisions taken by the council and the committees
- Municipality
- It is established for administration of smaller towns and cities
- They are established by an act of state legislatures and in the case of UTs, it is by an act of Parliament
- It also has three authorities- council, standing committees and chief executive officer
- The council is the deliberative and legislative body. It is headed by a chairperson.
- Unlike the mayor in a municipal corporation, chairperson here has executive powers
- The CEO is responsible for day-to-day administration
- Notified area committee
- It is created for fast-developing areas that have not yet achieved the numbers to become a municipality
- It is notified by state government gazette
- Only those provisions which are specified in the gazette apply to this area
- It is entirely a nominated body
- Town area committee
- It is setup for the administration of a small town
- It is created by a separate act of the state legislature
- It may be a wholly elected, wholly nominated or party elected and nominated as specified by the state government
- Cantonment board
- It is setup for the civic administration for civilian population living in cantonment areas
- It is setup under the provisions of the cantonment act, 2006
- It works under the administrative control of the Union defence ministry
- It consists of partly elected and partly nominated representatives
- The commanding officer of the station is the ex-officio chairperson
- The board will also consists of an executive engineer, health officer, first class magistrate, chief executive officer
- The nominated members hold office as long as they are part of the station
- Elected members have a tenure of 5 years
- Township
- It is established by a public sector enterprise to ensure civic administration of their workers in the region
- The township has no elected members
- It is an extension of bureaucratic structure of the PSE
- Port trust
- It is established in port areas
- Functions of these bodies: to manage ports and to provide civic amenities
- It consists of both elected and nominated members
- Special purpose Agency
- These are setup to address specific issues which are usually the domain of municipalities
- They are also known as single-purpose or uni-purpose because of the singular role based on which they are created for
- They are established by an act of state legislature or as departments by an executive resolution
- They function as autonomous bodies