Recently, the Supreme Court declared that State Election Commissions across the country are bound by their constitutional obligation to conduct polls to Local Bodies every five years. Election commissions cannot miss out on this duty due to ongoing delimitation or formation of new wards. There had been an alarming 23,000 rural local bodies and 321 urban local bodies within Madhya Pradesh that had not held elections since 2019-2020.
Defining Local Government
Local Self-Government is the management of local affairs by elected bodies by the local people. It includes both rural and urban governance and represents the third level of government. There are two types of local governments in operation – panchayats in rural areas and Municipalities in urban areas.
Rural Local Governments: Panchayati Raj Institution
The Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) functions as a system of rural local self-government in India. Constitutionalized through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, it aims to build democracy at grassroots levels and promote rural development. This act added a new Part-IX, ‘The Panchayats’, and a new Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Despite achieving 30 years of existence, there is still a requirement for more work to further decentralize and fortify grassroots democracy.
urban local governments in india
Set up for democratic decentralisation, urban local governments come in eight types: Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Notified Area Committee, Town Area Committee, Cantonment Board, township, port trust, special purpose agency. The government handles ‘urban local government’ through three Ministries: the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Defense (in case of cantonment boards), and the Ministry of Home Affairs (in case of Union Territories). The 74th Amendment Act relating to urban local government was enacted on June 1st, 1993.
Salient Features of 73rd Constitutional Amendment
This amendment introduced compulsory provisions such as the organisation of Gram Sabhas, a three-tier Panchayati Raj Structure at the Zila, Block and Village levels, direct elections for almost all posts, and reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes and women. It also set up a State Election Commission in each State to conduct elections and brought a State Finance Commission every five years. Voluntary features include voting rights to members of the Central and State legislatures in these bodies and financial autonomy for Panchayats.
Salient Features of 74th Amendment Act
This act made it mandatory to constitute nagar panchayats, municipal councils and municipal corporations in small, big and very big urban areas respectively. It reserves seats in urban local bodies for Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes and women. The State Election Commission, formed to conduct elections in Panchayati Raj bodies, would also lead elections to the urban local self-governing bodies. This act fixed tenure of urban local self-governing bodies at five years. It also encouraged voluntary provisions like voting rights for Union and State Legislatures members in these bodies, financial powers in relation to taxes, duties, tolls and fees, and making the municipal bodies autonomous.
Previous Year Questions from UPSC Civil Services Examination
For instance, one question in 2017 asked to explain the concept of local self-government, and the answer was Democratic decentralisation. Another question in 2015 aimed to identify the fundamental object of the Panchayati Raj system, and the correct answer was People’s participation in development and Democratic decentralization.
