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 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. Maharashtra has 255 Statutory Towns and 279 Census Towns.
Municipal Acts There are three municipal acts in effect in Maharashtra; Name of Act Area of EffectMaharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965All Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats, and Industrial Townships in MaharashtraMaharashtra Municipal Corporations ActAll Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, except Brihanmumbai Municipal CorporationMumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888Brihanmumbai 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 MaharashtraTypePopulation CriteriaType of Local BodyLarger Urban AreaPopulation more than 300,000Municipal CorporationSmaller Urban AreaType APopulation more than 100,000Municipal CouncilType BPopulation of more than 40,000 but not more than 100,000Type CPopulation of 40,000 or less but more than 25,000Transitional Area10,000 to 25,000Nagar 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 MaharashtraPopulation RangeMinimumIncremental NumberMaximumMunicipal CorporationsAbove 2.4 million145For every additional population of 100,000, one additional councillor2211.2 million – 2.4 million115For every additional population of 40,000 above 1.2 million, one additional councillor145600,000 – 1.2 million85For every additional population of 20,000 above 600,000, one additional councillor115300,000 – 600,00065For every additional population of 15,000 above 300,000, one additional councillor85Municipal CouncilClass 'A' Municipal Council 38For every 8,000 of the population above 100,000, there shall be one additional elected Councillor65Class 'B' Municipal Council 23For every 5,000 of the population above 40,000 there shall be one additional elected Councillor37Class 'C' Municipal Council 17For every 3,000 of the population above 25,000 there shall be one additional elected Councillor23Nagar Panchayat Nagar Panchayat 126- 126
Municipal Corporations There are 29 Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra, as follows:
Rank Name City District Established Grade Population (2011) Party Power1 Brihanmumbai Municipal CorporationMumbaiMumbai City District, Mumbai Suburban District1888A+11,914,398BJP2 Pune Municipal CorporationPunePune1950A3,115,4313 Nagpur Municipal CorporationNagpurNagpur19512,405,4214 Thane Municipal CorporationThaneThane1982B1,818,872Shiv Sena5 Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal CorporationPunePune 1982A1,729,359BJP6 Nashik Municipal CorporationNashikNashik19821,486,9737 Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal CorporationKalyan-DombivliThane 1982C1,246,381Shiv Sena8 Vasai-Virar City Municipal CorporationVasai-VirarPalghar 20091,221,233BJP9 Aurangabad Municipal CorporationAurangabadAurangabad19821,171,33010 Navi Mumbai Municipal CorporationNavi MumbaiThane19921,119,47711 Solapur Municipal CorporationSolapurSolapur1964D951,11812 Mira-Bhayandar Municipal CorporationMira-BhayandarThane 2002814,65513 Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal CorporationBhiwandi-Nizampur711,32914 Amravati Municipal CorporationAmravatiAmravati1983646,80115 Nanded-Waghala City Municipal CorporationNandedNanded1997550,56416 Kolhapur Municipal CorporationKolhapurKolhapur1972549,28317 Akola Municipal CorporationAkolaAkola2001603,00018 Panvel Municipal CorporationPanvelRaigad2016509,90119 Ulhasnagar Municipal CorporationUlhasnagarThane 1998506,937Shiv Sena20 Sangli, Miraj and Kupwad City Municipal CorporationSangli-Miraj & KupwadSangli502,697BJP21 Malegaon Municipal CorporationMalegaonNashik2003471,006ISLM22 Jalgaon City Municipal CorporationJalgaonJalgaon460,468BJP23 Latur City Municipal CorporationLaturLatur2011382,754INC24 Dhule Municipal CorporationDhuleDhule2003376,093BJP25 Ahmednagar Municipal CorporationAhmednagarAhmednagar350,90526 Chandrapur City Municipal CorporationChandrapurChandrapur2011321,03627 Parbhani City Municipal CorporationParbhaniParbhani307,191SS (Shinde)28 Ichalkaranji Municipal CorporationIchalkaranjiKolhapur2022377730BJP29 Jalna City Municipal CorporationJalnaJalna2023
Municipal councils There are 226 municipalities in Maharashtra. Some Municipal Councils are:
Name City District Established Contact No Population (2011) Party in PowerVadgaon Municipal CouncilPeth VadgaonKolhapur1887C37200Jawhar Municipal CouncilJawharPalghar1918B50000Sailu Municipal CouncilSailuParbhani1951B46,915Gondia Municipal CouncilGondiaGondia DistrictABJPTirora Municipal CouncilTirora1957C27,515BJP & INCKatol Municipal CouncilKatolNagpur DistrictANCPChikhli Municipal CouncilChikhli Buldhana DistrictBBJPKopargaon Municipal CouncilKopargaonAhmednagar DistrictBRahata Municipal CouncilRahata 1987Karjat Municipal CouncilKarjatRaigad district1992 C29,663Shivsena
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 300,000. 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. 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 ActPopulationMinimum Number of Ward CommitteesAdditional Wards Committees for Additional PopulationMaximum Number of Ward CommitteesAbove 2.4 million13600,000251.2 million – 2.4 million9300,00013450,000 – 1.2 million4150,0009300,000 – 450,0003-4
While bigger cities like Mumbai and Pune have formed Wards Committees which are active, smaller cities are yet to have active wards committees.
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, 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.
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. Each Zilla Parishad (ZP) is headed by an elected president and Vice President, while its administrative head is the chief executive officer (CEO) appointed by the state government.
There are 34 Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra which are as follows.
Thane Zilla Parishad Palghar Zilla Parishad Raigad District Council Ratnagiri Zilla Parishad Sindhudurg Zilla Parishad Nashik Zilla Parishad Dhule Zilla Parishad Nandurbar Zilla Parishad Jalgaon District Council 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 District Council Gondia Zilla Parishad Chandrapur Zilla Parishad Gadchiroli Zilla Parishad
Panchayat samiti 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
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.
There are 28,813 gram panchayats in Maharashtra.- Panchayat raj Portal
Elections All elected officials in local bodies serve for five years. Elections are for the positions are conducted by the Maharashtra State Election Commission
See also
Local Governance in Kerala
References Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2014-15