{"id":3506,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/municipal-government\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:01:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:31:36","slug":"municipal-government","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/municipal-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal Government"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"n-wrap\">\n<div class=\"n-shell\">\n<div class=\"n-crumb\"><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/\">PSIR Notes<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/#i-b\">I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><span>Municipal Government<\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"n-head\">\n<div class=\"n-eyebrow\">Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"n-title\">Municipal Government<\/h1>\n<div class=\"n-syl\"><b>Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 5<\/b> \u2014 Grassroots Democracy : Panchayati Raj and <span class=\"cur\">Municipal Government<\/span>; Significance of 73rd and 74th Amendments; Grassroot movements.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"n-grid\">\n  <main class=\"n-body\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"the-74th-amendment-1992-part-ix-a-urban\">The <span class=\"n-law\">74th Amendment<\/span>, 1992 \u2014 Part IX-A (Urban)<\/h3>\n<p>The 74th CAA constitutionalised urban local government \u2014 <span class=\"n-term\">Part IX-A<\/span>, in force <span class=\"n-term\">1 June 1993<\/span>, <span class=\"n-term\"><span class=\"n-law\">Articles 243P<\/span>\u2013243ZG<\/span> + <span class=\"n-term\"><span class=\"n-law\">Twelfth Schedule<\/span><\/span> (18 functions). Spur: rapid urbanisation; the <span class=\"n-term\">Charles Correa<\/span>-chaired National Commission on Urbanisation (1988).<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Three municipality types<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Municipal Corporation \u2014 larger urban area<\/li>\n<li>Municipal Council \u2014 smaller urban area<\/li>\n<li>Nagar Panchayat \u2014 transitional area<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\"><span class=\"n-law\">Twelfth Schedule<\/span> (18 fns)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>urban planning<\/li>\n<li>water supply<\/li>\n<li>sanitation<\/li>\n<li>fire services<\/li>\n<li>land-use regulation<\/li>\n<li>public health<\/li>\n<li>solid waste<\/li>\n<li>slum improvement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Core provisions<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>direct ward elections; nominated experts (by law)<\/li>\n<li>reservation: SC\/ST &amp; not less than 1\/3 women + chairpersons<\/li>\n<li>5-year tenure; SEC; State Finance Commission<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\"><span class=\"n-law\">Article 243W<\/span><\/span> \u2014 economic development &amp; social justice<\/li>\n<li>Ward Committees (larger cities)<\/li>\n<li>DPC (243ZD) \u00b7 Metropolitan Planning Cmte (243ZE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Why ULBs stay weak \u2014 the \u201cunfulfilled dream\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"n-tw\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Fault line<\/th>\n<th>Detail<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Incomplete functional devolution<\/td>\n<td>12th-Schedule functions not fully devolved; state agencies implement key services<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Financial weakness<\/td>\n<td>octroi abolished; weak property tax; ignored SFCs \u2014 <span class=\"n-term\">Isher Judge Ahluwalia<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Weak mayoral system<\/td>\n<td>ceremonial mayor; Municipal Commissioner holds real power; short tenures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Parastatal dominance<\/td>\n<td>BDA overshadows BBMP; DDA + MCD fragment Delhi governance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Special Purpose Vehicles<\/td>\n<td>Smart Cities SPVs bypass elected councils<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Delayed elections<\/td>\n<td>e.g. Maharashtra corporations left without elected bodies for a period<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>\u201cDemocratic decentralisation is barely alive\u2026 local governments remain hamstrung and ineffective; mere agents to do the bidding of higher-level governments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cite>T. R. Raghunandan<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p>\u201cunwillingness of the system to devolve responsibility and funding to the city level\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cite>Isher Judge Ahluwalia<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Reforms:<\/span> 3Fs + subsidiarity; property-tax reform, GIS assessment, municipal bonds (Pune\u2019s INR 200 crore water-supply bond), user charges; JNNURM (65 cities); convert 3,784 Census Towns to statutory ULBs; municipal ombudsman, public hearings, social audit. <span class=\"n-term\">China paradox:<\/span> India is democratic yet municipalities lack power; the Mayor of Shanghai holds status comparable to the Mayor of London.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2023 \u00b7 20m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">Major provisions of the 74th CAA; does it remain an \u2018unfulfilled dream\u2019?<\/span><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"district-planning-committees-integrated-planning\">District Planning Committees &amp; Integrated Planning<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Composition (Art. 243ZD)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>elected representatives from Panchayats &amp; Municipalities<\/li>\n<li>share based on rural\u2013urban population of the district<\/li>\n<li>chairperson elected\/appointed per state law<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">Functions<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>consolidate Panchayat + municipal plans<\/li>\n<li>prepare draft district development plan<\/li>\n<li>integrate rural &amp; urban priorities; spatial + sectoral<\/li>\n<li>prioritise projects, allocate resources, review<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Problems:<\/span> states delay constitution; DPCs lack real planning power; district administration dominates; departmental schemes run separately; peri-urban growth complicates planning. <span class=\"n-term\">Metropolitan Planning Committees<\/span> (Art. 243ZE) face similar problems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-next\"><a href=\"\/psir\/notes\/panchayati-raj\/\"><em>Previous<\/em><b>Panchayati Raj<\/b><\/a><a class=\"r\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/73rd-and-74th-amendments\/\"><em>Next<\/em><b>73rd and 74th Amendments<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"n-rail\">\n<h4>On this page<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"#the-74th-amendment-1992-part-ix-a-urban\">The 74th Amendment, 1992 \u2014 Part IX-A (Urban)<\/a><a href=\"#district-planning-committees-integrated-planning\">District Planning Committees &amp; Integrated Planning<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Municipal Government for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a Municipal Government Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics Municipal Governme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"fx_note_key":"I-B.5.2","fx_note_sec":"I-B","fx_note_point":"5","fx_note_desc":"Municipal Government for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-B Indian Government and Politics \u203a Municipal Government Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics Municipal Governme","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3506","psir_note","type-psir_note","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_note"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3699,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3506\/revisions\/3699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}