6.Class.Chapter24.Civics.Our Urban Government

Chapter 24.Civics.

Our Urban Government We all know that the city life and the village life are quite different from each other.  The cities are more populated than the villages.  As a result, those who have to look after the management of the cities have to make adequate provisions for drinking water, electricity, transport, health - care centers / hospitals, etc.  In addition to the above, there are big markets, mills and production centers in the cities.  More and more people are migrating from the rural to urban areas making cities over crowded.  This leads to greater strain on the provision of the civic amenities.  The responsibility of providing the amenities and their maintenance is entrusted to the urban self - governing bodies.  It would be useful to study how these bodies are composed and how they perform their various functions.  The Seventy Fourth Amendment Act of 1992 has provided three types of urban local bodies.  They are Nagar Panchayats for semi - urban areas which are gradually developing into cities.  Municipal Councils or Nagar Parishad for cities with population between 20,000 to 10 lakhs and Municipal Corporations for big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur, etc.  , where the population is more than 10 lakhs.  The urban local bodies, popularly known as municipalities, are elected by the people directly through regular elections.  Members elected in this way are called Municipal Councillors.  Each city is divided into wards.  The number of wards depends upon the population of a particular city or town.  If a city has a large population, then the number of wards is more.  The voters elect one representative from each ward for a period of five years.  The age to become a member cannot be less than 21 years.  Some wards are reserved for Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and Other Backward Classes One - third seats, in each municipality, are reserved for women.  NAGAR PANCHAYAT Towns which are smaller than a city but bigger than a village have Nagar Panchayats.  It is the smallest local body in urban areas.  The number of members depends upon the population of the town.  The Chairperson of a Nagar Panchayat is elected directly by the people and the Vice Chairperson is elected by the members themselves.  Functions The prime functions of Nagar Panchayat are to solve local problems and to provide better living conditions.  to provide civic amenities like water and electricity

to ensure sanitation, hygiene and healthcare facilities.  to maintain parks, primary schools and public buildings, to keep record of births and deaths.  GUDRUGE SCHOOLIJO Sources of Income A Nagar Panchayat gets funds through taxes like water tax, octroi, house tax, vehicle tax, building do you know?  tax and rent from municipal buildings and properties.  But, most of the money comes from Octroi is a tax levied on goods entering a city financial assistance from the State Government These days, it has been abolished in Delhi, Haryana, etc.  in the form of grants and loans.  MUNICIPAL COUNCIL Municipal Councils or Nagar Parishads are also called Municipal Boards or Municipal Committees They are established in the cities with population between 20,000 to 10 lakhs.  The number of members vary from 15 to 60 and are directly elected by the people for five years.  The Chairperson is also elected directly by the people.  His term is for five years.  The Deputy Chairperson is also elected by the elected members.  The meetings of the Municipal Council are held regularly and are presided by the Chairperson.  An Executive Officer, who is appointed by the State Government, looks after the general administration of the city.  He acts as a link between the Council and the State Government Functions with the fast changing life in the cities, the functions and responsibilities of Municipal Councils are increasing day by day.  Some of them are as given below: It ensures proper supply of drinking water and electricity It maintains hygienic and sanitary conditions.  State.  200

.  etc.  it constructs and maintains roads, bridges, markets, water tanks, parks, child welfare centers ,.  .  .  It adopts measures to prevent epidemics and other infectious diseases.  It opens primary schools, hospitals, community centers, shopping complexes, etc.  It keeps a record of births and deaths.  It penalizes those hawkers and shopkeepers who adulterate eatables and other items.  Sources of Income The Municipal Councils collect money from various taxes, and get rent from municipal buildings, they also receive annual financial grant from the State Government.  MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ti The big cities with a large population have a Municipal Corporation or Nagar Nigam.  Since the problems of such cities are more complicated in nature and are difficult to solve, the responsibility of a Municipal Corporation increases.  Therefore, the day - to - day work is looked after by various committees consisting of five to twelve members headed by a Chairperson from among the members.  For example, the education committee looks after the primary schools, whereas it is the duty of the water supply committee to manage efficient supply of drinking water.  Municipal Corporation is headed by a Chairperson who is called the Mayor or Mahapaur.  The Deputy Mayor, who is elected by the members, performs all the functions of the Mayor in his absence.  A Chief Executive Officer implements the decision of the Municipal Corporation.  He is called Municipal Commissioner.  He is appointed by the State Government.  He implements the decisions taken by the House and supervises the work of the Municipal Corporation.  Functions 2.2.  .  Important functions performed by the Municipal Corporation Sanitation and cleanliness including removal of garbage and cleaning of drains.  Vaccination and inocculations against diseases or epidemics.  Maintenance of hospitals or dispensaries.  Supply of fresh drinking water.  Construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, flyovers, streets, subways, community centers, parks, etc.  Supply of electricity.  201

Opening of schools, libraries and museums.  Fire fighting services.  Demolition of unsafe buildings.  Construction and maintenance of orphanage, night - shelters, children's homes, rest houses and cremation grounds / graveyard.  Cheap and convenient public transport service.  Registration of births and deaths.  Plantation of trees and plants in order to provide pollution - free environment.  Sources of income The fulfillment of all these functions is really a tough task.  The local sources of income include water tax, Do You Know?  octroi, property tax, entertainment tax, toll tax, rent toll tax is collected to recover from municipal properties, license fee, etc.  The annual the cost of newly constructed financial grants and loans from the state governments roads and bridges or towards the go a long way in providing facilities for the welfare of the maintenance of existing ones.  people.  DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION Though most of our day - to - day problems are solved by the local bodies, yet many more problems need special administrative control and supervision.  India has been divided into aver 676 districts.  Every district is an important unit of administration.  The head of the district is called District Officer, or Deputy Commissioner or District Collector or District Magistrate.  He is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) whose selection is made on the basis of an All India Competitive Examination.  's the basic of theia setecti 07) Do You Know?  .  A Tehsildar looks after the maintenance of land records and collection of land revenue at tehsil level.  A tehsil is a sub-division of a district.  A Kanungo is an official who works under a Tehsildar but supervises the work of some patwaris under him.  A Patwari maintains the revenue records pertaining to land of a particular area - be it a village or a city or part of a city ,.  Functions The main functions of a Deputy Commissioner are to maintain law and order in the district.  .  202

to collect revenue, maintain land records and promote developmental activities.  to co-ordinate the activities of different departments in the district which are headed by Special District Officers.  For example, the District Education Officer looks after the educational activities, Superintendent of Police is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the district.  Collector or Deputy Commissioner Maintenance of Law and Order 1 Jailor Superintendent of Police + Deputy Jailor Deputy Superintendent of Police + Maintenance of Land Civic Amenities Records and Realization and Development of Land Revenues Naib - Tehsildor District Civil Surgeon Kanungo Education Officer Patwari District or Planning Lekhpal Officer  Executive Engineer Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions Inspector 1 Sub Inspector Assistant Sub Inspector.  Head Constable Constable.  Chaukidar Keywords amendment: the change made in the Constitution of India.  Financial assistance: helping with money, revenue: the source of income to meet public expenses.  203

God.  Hindu philosophy preaches that soul is immortal.  other body.  This is called the cycle of birth and rebirth.