MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS

TOPIC: Polity

Context- R. Priya, a 28-year-old councillor of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is set to become Chennai Mayor on Friday.

Concept-

About Municipal Corporation:

A municipal corporation is a type of local government in India that administers urban areas with a population of more than one million.
The 74th Amendment Act defined the formations of urban local governments and their activities.

Composition:

The area administered by a municipal corporation is known as a municipal area.
Each municipal area is divided into territorial constituencies known as wards.
A municipal corporation is made up of a wards committee. Members are elected to the wards committee on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years.
These members are known as councillors or corporators.
The number of wards in a municipal area is determined by the population of the city.
Some seats are reserved for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and women.

Administration:

The Mayor is the head of the municipal corporation, but in most states and territories of India the role is largely ceremonial as executive powers are vested in the Municipal Commissioner.
As per the amended Municipal Corporation Act of 1888, a Deputy Mayor is appointed by the Mayor.
The tenure of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor is five years.
In most Indian states mayors are elected indirectly among the council members themselves.
However, in Nine states: Haryana, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand; Mayors are directly elected by the people and thus hold the executive powers of the municipal corporations.

Functions:

The Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution lists the subjects that municipal corporations are responsible for.
Corporations may be entrusted to perform functions and implement schemes including those in relation to the matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule.