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Local government in Maharashtra

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Local government. in Maharashtra State follows the general structure of Local Governance in India and is broadly classified into two categories: Urban Local Governance and Rural Local Governance.

Urban Local Governance

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Maharashtra is the third most urbanised state in India with 42.23% of its population living in urban areas, compared with the national average of 31.16%. The urban population grew by 23.7% in the 2001–2011 period to 50.8 million and now has the highest number of people living in urban areas.[1] Maharashtra has 255 Statutory Towns and 279 Census Towns.[2]

Municipal Acts

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There are three municipal acts in effect in Maharashtra;

Name of Act Area of Effect
Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965[3] All Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats, and Industrial Townships in Maharashtra
Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act[4] All Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, except Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888[5] Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Section 3 of Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act, and Sections 3,4, and 341A of Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965 create the following categories of urban areas based on their population.

Types of Urban Areas according to the Municipal Acts in Maharashtra
Type Population Criteria Type of Local Body
Larger Urban Area Population more than 300,000 Municipal Corporation
Smaller Urban Area Type A Population more than 100,000 Municipal Council
Type B Population of more than 40,000 but not more than 100,000
Type C Population of 40,000 or less but more than 25,000
Transitional Area 10,000 to 25,000 Nagar Panchayat

Further, depending on the population size, the Acts prescribes the minimum and maximum number of councillors/wards allowed within each type of local government.

Minimum and Maximum number of Councillors Allowed in Municipalities in Maharashtra
Population Range Minimum Incremental Number Maximum
Municipal Corporations
Above 2.4 million 145 For every additional population of 100,000, one additional councillor 221
1.2 million – 2.4 million 115 For every additional population of 40,000 above 1.2 million, one additional councillor 145
600,000 – 1.2 million 85 For every additional population of 20,000 above 600,000, one additional councillor 115
300,000 – 600,000 65 For every additional population of 15,000 above 300,000, one additional councillor 85
Municipal Council
Class 'A' Municipal Council 38 For every 8,000 of the population above 100,000, there shall be one additional elected Councillor 65
Class 'B' Municipal Council 23 For every 5,000 of the population above 40,000 there shall be one additional elected Councillor 37
Class 'C' Municipal Council 17 For every 3,000 of the population above 25,000 there shall be one additional elected Councillor 23
Nagar Panchayat
Nagar Panchayat 126 - 126[6]

Municipal Corporations

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There are 29 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, as follows:

Rank Name City District Established Grade Population (2011) Party Power
1 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Mumbai Mumbai City District,
Mumbai Suburban District
1888 A+ 11,914,398 Shiv Sena
2 Pune Municipal Corporation Pune Pune 1950 A 3,115,431 BJP
3 Nagpur Municipal Corporation Nagpur Nagpur 1951 A 2,405,421 Shiv Sena
4 Thane Municipal Corporation Thane Thane 1982 B 1,818,872 Shiv Sena
5 Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Pune Pune 1982 A 1,729,359 Shiv Sena
6 Nashik Municipal Corporation Nashik Nashik 1982 A 1,486,973 Shiv Sena
7 Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation Kalyan-Dombivli Thane 1982 C 1,246,381 Shiv Sena
8 Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation Vasai-Virar Palghar 2009 C 1,221,233 Shiv Sena
9 Aurangabad Municipal Corporation Aurangabad Aurangabad 1982 C 1,171,330 Shiv Sena
10 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Navi Mumbai Thane 1992 C 1,119,477 NCP & INC
11 Solapur Municipal Corporation Solapur Solapur 1964 D 951,118 BJP
12 Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation Mira-Bhayandar Thane 2002 D 814,655 BJP
13 Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation Bhiwandi-Nizampur Thane 2002 D 711,329 INC
14 Amravati Municipal Corporation Amravati Amravati 1983 D 646,801 Shiv Sena
15 Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation Nanded Nanded 1997 D 550,564 INC
16 Kolhapur Municipal Corporation Kolhapur Kolhapur 1972 D 549,283 INC & NCP
17 Akola Municipal Corporation Akola Akola 2001 D 603,000 Shiv Sena
18 Panvel Municipal Corporation Panvel Raigad 2016 D 509,901 Shiv Sena
19 Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation Ulhasnagar Thane 1998 D 506,937 Shiv Sena
20 Sangali-Miraj-Kupwad Municipal Corporation Sangli-Miraj & Kupwad Sangli 1998 D 502,697 Shiv Sena
21 Malegaon Municipal Corporation Malegaon Nashik 2003 D 471,006 INC & Shiv Sena
22 Jalgaon Municipal Corporation Jalgaon Jalgaon 2003 D 460,468 Shiv Sena
23 Latur Municipal Corporation Latur Latur 2011 D 382,754 INC
24 Dhule Municipal Corporation Dhule Dhule 2003 D 376,093 BJP
25 Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation Ahmednagar Ahmednagar 2003 D 350,905 Shivsena
26 Chandrapur Municipal Corporation Chandrapur Chandrapur 2011 D 321,036 BJP
27 Parbhani Municipal Corporation Parbhani Parbhani 2011 D 307,191 INC & NCP
28 Ichalkaranji Municipal Corporation Ichalkaranji Kolhapur 2022 D 377730 New
29 Jalna Municipal Corporation Jalna Jalna[7] 2023 D New

Municipal councils

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There are 226 municipalities in Maharashtra. Some Municipal Councils are:

Name City District Established Grade Population (2011) Party in Power
Jawhar Municipal Council Jawhar Palghar 1918 B 50000
Sailu Municipal Council Sailu Parbhani 1951 B 46,915
Gondia Municipal Council Gondia Gondia District A BJP
Tirora Municipal Council Tirora Gondia District 1957 C 27,515 BJP & INC
Katol Municipal Council Katol Nagpur District A NCP
Kopargaon Municipal Council Kopargaon Ahmednagar District B BJP
Chikhli Municipal Council Chikhli Buldhana District B BJP
Rahata Municipal Council Rahata Ahmednagar District 1987 B BJP
Karjat Municipal Council Karjat Raigad district 1992 C 29,663 Shivsena

Ward Committees

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Section 66A of Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965 mandates the setting up of wards committees in municipal areas with a population more than 300,000.[3] Thus, Nagar Panchayats, and Type B and C Municipal Councils are automatically relieved of setting up Wards Committees, as well as Type A Municipal Councils with population less than 300,000. More than one ward may constitute one Wards Committee and it is left to the discretion of the municipal body to decide upon the number of such wards.

Section 29A of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act mandates the setting up of wards committees in areas with Municipal Corporations.[4] It gives more details about the number of wards committees to be formed according to population size:

Number of Wards Committees allowed according to Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act
Population Minimum Number of Ward Committees Additional Wards Committees for Additional Population Maximum Number of Ward Committees
Above 2.4 million 13 600,000 25
1.2 million – 2.4 million 9 300,000 13
450,000 – 1.2 million 4 150,000 9
300,000 – 450,000 3 - 4

While bigger cities like Mumbai and Pune have formed Wards Committees which are active, smaller cities are yet to have active wards committees.[8][9]

Rural Local Governance

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Rural governance in India is based on the Panchayati Raj system. It is a three tier system, with the Zilla Parishad at the district level, Taluka panchayat at the Taluka or sub-district level and Grampanchayat (Village Council) at the lowest level. Maharashtra was one of the first states to implement the three tier system under the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Acts 1961 of Maharashtra State. That act was amended with Act XXI to bring it in line with 73rd amendment to the Indian constitution in 1994.[10][11]

Zilla parishad

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Zilla Parishad (commonly known as ZP) is a local government body at the district level in India. It looks after the administration of the rural area of the district and its office is located at the district headquarters.

There are 34 Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra which are as follows.

  1. Thane Zilla Parishad
  2. Palghar Zilla Parishad
  3. Raigad District Council
  4. Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad
  5. Sindhudurg Zilla Parishad
  6. Nashik Zilla Parishad
  7. Dhule Zilla Parishad
  8. Nandurbar Zilla Parishad
  9. Jalgaon District Council
  10. Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad
  11. Pune Zilla Parishad
  12. Satara Zilla Parishad
  13. Sangli Zilla Parishad
  14. Solapur Zilla Parishad
  15. Kolhapur Zilla Parishad
  16. Aurangabad Zilla Parishad
  17. Jalna Zilla Parishad
  18. Parbhani Zilla Parishad
  19. Hingoli Zilla Parishad
  20. Beed Zilla Parishad
  21. Nanded Zilla Parishad
  22. Osmanabad Zilla Parishad
  23. Latur Zilla Parishad
  24. Amravati Zilla Parishad
  25. Akola Zilla Parishad
  26. Washim Zilla Parishad
  27. Buldhana Zilla Parishad
  28. Yavatmal Zilla Parishad
  29. Nagpur Zilla Parishad
  30. Wardha Zilla Parishad
  31. Bhandara District Council
  32. Gondia Zilla Parishad
  33. Chandrapur Zilla Parishad
  34. Gadchiroli Zilla Parishad

Panchayat samiti

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Panchayat samiti is a local government body at the Taluka (sub-district)( level in India. It works for the villages that together are called a Block. The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad.

There are 351 panchayat samitis or block panchayats in Maharashtra.

Gram panchayat

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Gram panchayat office at Chinawal village in Maharashtra

Gram panchayats are local self-government bodies at the village level. They are a cornerstone of the panchayati raj system. A gram panchayat can be set up in villages with a population of more than five hundred. There is a common gram panchayat for two or more villages if the population of these villages is less than five hundred, whereupon it is called a group-gram panchayat. The panchayat members are elected by the voters in the village but seats are reserved for different categories. 33% of the seats are reserved for women. The scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes(ST), and other backward classes (OBC) get seats allocated in proportion to their population in the village. The office holder positions (sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch positions) are rotated between different demographics such as women, SC, ST. , general category etc.[12]

There are 28,813 gram panchayats in Maharashtra.[13]

Elections

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All elected officials in local bodies serve for five years. Elections are for the positions are conducted by the Maharashtra State Election Commission[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Census of India 2011 Press Release : Rural - Urban distribution of Population (Provisional)" (PDF). Press Information Burea Government of India. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Handbook of Urban Statistics 2019" (PDF). Ministry of Housing and Urban Administration, Government of India. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965" (PDF). India Code. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act" (PDF). Pune Municipal Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888" (PDF). MySocietyClub. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  6. ^ Number of Nagar Panchayats in Maharashtra. "Number of Nagar Panchayats in State of Maharashtra".
  7. ^ "Jalna : जालना ही महाराष्ट्रातील 29 वी महापालिका म्हणून घोषित; राज्य सरकारची घोषणा". 10 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Ward Committees". Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. ^ "BJP to head 11 of 15 ward committees in PMC". The Indian Express. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Maharashtra Zilla Paris hads and Panchayat Samitis Act 1961" (PDF). Govt of India, Ministry of Panchayat Raj. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  11. ^ Patil, R B; Mathew, George (Editor); Baviskar, B S (Editor) (2009). Inclusion and Exclusion in Local Governance: Field Studies from Rural India. New Delhi: sage Publications India. pp. 317–318. ISBN 978-81-7829-860-3. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ Patil, R B; Mathew, George (Editor); Baviskar, B S (Editor) (2009). Inclusion and Exclusion in Local Governance: Field Studies from Rural India. New Delhi: sage Publications India. p. 40. ISBN 978-81-7829-860-3. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ - Panchayat raj Portal Archived 2007-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "SEC Milestones". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2013.

Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2014-15