Local government in Maharashtra
Local govt. 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.
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Urban Local Governance
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 2001-11 period to 5.08 crores 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
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 3,00,000 | Municipal Corporation | |
| Smaller Urban Area | Type A | Population more than 1,00,000 | Municipal Council |
| Type B | Population of more than 40,000 but not more than 1,00,000 | ||
| 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 24 lakh | 145 | For every additional population of 1 lakh, one additional councillor | 221 |
| Above 12 lakh upto 24 lakh | 115 | For every additional population of 40,000 above 12 lakhs, one additional councillor | 145 |
| Above 6 lakh upto 12 lakh | 85 | For every additional population of 20,000 above 6 lakhs, one additional councillor | 115 |
| Above 3 lakh upto 6 lakh | 65 | For every additional population of 15,000 above 3 lakhs, one additional councillor | 85 |
| Municipal Council | |||
| Class 'A' Municipal Council | 38 | For every 8,000 of the population above 1,00,000, 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 | 17 | - | 17 |
Municipal Corporations
There are 27 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, as follows:
Municipal councils
There are 226 municipalities in Maharashtra. Some Municipal Councils are:
| Name | City | District | Established | Grade | Population (2011) | Party in Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sailu Municipal Council | Sailu[6] | 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 | |||
| Kopergaon Municipal Council | Kopergaon | Ahmednagar District | B | BJP |
|
Ward Committees
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 3 lakh.[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 3 lakh. 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 24 lakh | 13 | 6,00,000 | 25 |
| Above 12 lakh upto 24 lakh | 9 | 3,00,000 | 13 |
| Above 4.5 lakh upto 12 lakh | 4 | 1,50,000 | 9 |
| Above 3 lakh upto 4.5 lakh | 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.[7][8]
Rural Local Governance
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, Blocks at the middle level and Village Council at the lowest level. It is governed under the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Acts 1961 of Maharashtra State.[9]
Zilla parishad
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.
- Thane Zilla Parishad
- Palghar Zilla Parishad
- Raigad Zilla Parishad
- Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad
- Sindhudurg Zilla Parishad
- Nashik Zilla Parishad
- Dhule Zilla Parishad
- Nandurbar Zilla Parishad
- Jalgaon Zilla Parishad
- Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad
- Pune Zilla Parishad
- Satara Zilla Parishad
- Sangli Zilla Parishad
- Solapur Zilla Parishad
- Kolhapur Zilla Parishad
- Aurangabad Zilla Parishad
- Jalna Zilla Parishad
- Parbhani Zilla Parishad
- Hingoli Zilla Parishad
- Beed Zilla Parishad
- Nanded Zilla Parishad
- Osmanabad Zilla Parishad
- Latur Zilla Parishad
- Amravati Zilla Parishad
- Akola Zilla Parishad
- Washim Zilla Parishad
- Buldhana Zilla Parishad
- Yavatmal Zilla Parishad
- Nagpur Zilla Parishad
- Wardha Zilla Parishad
- Bhandara Zilla Parishad
- Gondiya Zilla Parishad
- Chandrapur Zilla Parishad
- Gadchiroli Zilla Parishad
Panchayat samiti
Panchayat samiti is a local government body at the simple block 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 355 panchayat samitis or block panchayats in Maharashtra.
Gram panchayat
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.
There are 28,813 gram panchayats in Maharashtra.[10]
Elections
After every five years, Maharashtra State Election Commission conducts elections in all local bodies.[11]
See also
- Local Governance in Kerala
- Decentralisation and Local Governace in Kerala
References
- "Census of India 2011 Press Release : Rural - Urban distribution of Population (Provisional)" (PDF). Press Information Burea Government of India. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Handbook of Urban Statistics 2019" (PDF). Ministry of Housing and Urban Administration, Government of India. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965" (PDF). India Code. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act" (PDF). Pune Municipal Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888" (PDF). MySocietyClub. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Sailu", Wikipedia, 2020-01-15, retrieved 2020-04-22
- "Ward Committees". Municipal Corproation of Greater Mumbai. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "BJP to head 11 of 15 ward committees in PMC". The Indian Express. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "Maharashtra Zilla Paris hads and Panchayat Samitis Act 1961" (PDF). Govt of India, Ministry of Panchayat Raj. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- - Panchayat raj Portal Archived 2007-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
- "SEC Milestones". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2014-15