Power

sofSt
ateGover
nori
nIndi
anCons
tit
uti
on
Arti
cle157inTheCons t
it
utionofI
ndia1949saysthatnoper s
ons hal
lbeeligi
blef
or
appointmentasGovernorunlessheisacit
izenofIndiaandhascompl et
edt heage
ofthirt
yfiveyears.Governorisalsothechiefexecuti
veheadoft hes tate,who
exerci
seshisfuncti
oninaccordancewiththeadviceofcouncilofminist
ersofthe
stat
econcerned.Inadditi
ontothis
,thegovernorholdsdualrol
eashef uncti
onsas
anagentofcent r
algovernmental
so.

Arti
cle157inTheCons t
it
ut i
onofI ndia1949saysthatnoper s
ons hal
lbeeligi
blef
or
appointmentasGovernorunl esshei sacit
izenofIndiaandhascompl et
edt heage
ofthirt
yfiveyears.Gover norisal s
ot hechiefexecuti
veheadoft hes tate,who
exerci
seshisfuncti
oninaccor dancewi ththeadviceofcouncilofminist
ersofthe
st
ateconcerned.Inadditiontot hi
s,thegovernorholdsdualrol
eashef uncti
onsas
anagentofcent r
algovernmental so.

UnderAr t
icl
e153ther
eshallbeGovernorofeachs tateandal sonot hinginthi
s
art
icl
es hallpr
eventt
he appoint
mentoft he same person to be appoint
ed as
Governoroftwoormorest
ates.Theexecut
ivepoweroft hes t
ates hal
lbeves tedi
n
theGovernorandshal
lbeexerci
sedbyhim directl
yorthroughofficer
ss ubor
dinat
e
tohim.

Appoi
ntmentofGover nor
Qual
if
icat
ionforappointmentasgovernor(
Art
icl
e157)–
Theconst
itut
ionhaslaiddownfoll
owingquali
fi
cati
onst
obeappoi
ntedasGover
nor
:

•Noper
sons
hal
lbeel
i
gibl
etobeappoi
ntedasGover
norunl
esshei
sci
ti
zenofI
ndi
a

•Hes
houl
dhavecompl
etedt
heageof35year
s.

•Hes houl
dbes
uchaper
sonwhoi
sout
sidet
hes
tat
esoast
onoti
ndul
gei
nlocal
pol
i
tics

•When t he same per

son i
sappointed asgovernorfor2 ormorest
ates
,the
emolumentsandall
owancespayabletotheGovernorshal
lbeal
l
ocat
edamongthe
st
atesi
ns uchamannerasthePres
identbyorderdeter
mine.

•Theemolument
sandal
l
owancesoft
heGover
nors
hal
lnotbedi
mini
sheddur
inghi
s
t
erm ofof
fi
ce.

PowersofGover
nor
TheGovernorofthes
tat
es hal
lposs
es sexecuti
ve,legi
sl
ati
ve,fi
nanci
alandjudi
cial
powers.Buthedoesnotpossessdi
plomatic,mil
it
aryoremer gencypowerswhich
Pres
identofI
ndi
ahas.

Thepower
sandf
unct
ionsofGover
norcanbecl
ass
ifi
edunderf
oll
owi
ngheads
:

1
.Execut
ivepower
s

2.
Legi
sl
ati
vepower
s

3.
Financi
alpower
s
4.
Judi
ci
alpower
s

Execut i
vePowers
Ass tatedabovetheexecut i
vepower srefertothosepower swhi chareexerci
sedby
thecounci lofmini
ster
si nthenameofGover nor.HenceGover norisonl
ynomi nal
headandcounci lofminister
sistherealexecuti
ve.Thefollowi
ngpos tsareappointed
byGover norand hold offi
ce duri
ng histerm:Chi efMi ni
steroft he st
ate,other
ministersofthes t
ateont headviceofChi efMi ni
ster
,Advocat eGeneral
.Hecan
recommendt heimposit
ionofcons tit
uti
onalemer gencyinas tatetothePresi
dent.
During the per
iod ofPr esi
dent’
sr uleinas t
ate,t he governorenjoysextensive
execut i
vepowersasanagentoft hePresi
dent.

Legi
sl
ati
vePowers
:
Thi
spowerofGovernorcanbecl
ass
ifi
edf
urt
heri
nto2s
ubgr
oupsi
.
e.wr
ttobi
l
lsand
wrtl
egis
lat
ure.

Wi t
hRespecttoBil
l
s
•Whenabi llot
herthanmoneybi lli
spresentedbefor
eGovernorforhisas s
ent,he
eit
hergivesas s
enttot hebil
l,withholdhi sassenttothebil
l
,retur
nt hebillf
or
reconsi
derat
ionofhouses,butift
hebi l
lispassedagainbyst
atelegi
slaturewithor
withoutamendment s
,hehastogivehisas s
entorreser
vethebi
llf
orconsiderati
onof
Presi
dent.

However,theGovernorals
ocannots endmoneybi l
lbackforreconsi
derat
ion.Thi
sis
becausethemoneybi llwouldusuall
ybei ntr
oducedwithpriorassentofGovernor
onl
y.Incasethemoneybi l
lreser
vedforPresi
dentsass
ent,thePresi
denthastos t
ate
whetherheisgi
vingassentorwithhol
dinghisass
ent.

WithRespectt
oLegi
sl
atur
e:
Hehast hepowertosummon,proroguethestat
elegi
slat
ureandcanal
sodi
ssol
ve
thel
egis
lati
veass
emblywheni
tlosestheconf
idence(
art176)
.

Fi
nanci
alPower
s

•Hel
aysbef
oret
hel
egi
sl
atur
eannual
financi
als
tat
ement(
stat
ebudget
)

•Moneybi
l
lcanonl
ybei
ntr
oducedi
nst
atel
egi
sl
atur
eonhi
spr
iorr
ecommendat
ion

•Nodemandf
orgr
antcanbemadeexceptonhi
srecommendat
ion

•Moneyfrom cont
ingencyf
undcanbewi
thdr
awnaf
terhi
srecommendat
ionf
or
meet
ingt
heunfores
eenexpendi
tur
es

•He consti
tut
esf i
nance commi
ssi
on f
orever
y 5 year
stor
evi
ew t
he f
inanci
al
s
ituat
ionofmunici
pal
it
yandpanchayat
s.

Judi
cialPower
s–
Pres
identcons
ult
stheGover
noroft
heconcer
neds
tat
ewhi
l
emaki
ngappoi
ntmentt
o
thej
udgesofStateHi
ghCourt.

Par
doni
ngpower
s-

Hehast
hebel
ow par
doni
ngpower
sagai
nstanyof
fencest
owhi
chs
tat
epower
 ex
tends
.

 Pardon-compl etel
yabsolvetheoff
ender
 Reprieve-stayonexecuti
onofs entence
 Respite-awardi
nglesserpunishmentinsomes peci
alci
rcumst
ances
 Remi ssi
on-reducti
onofsentencewi t
houtchangingthechar
acter
 Commut ati
on-subst
it
uti
onofonef orm wit
hother
Discreti
onaryPower s
-
Ordinancemaki ngpower

Removal ofGover nor

 Presidentinef fectofcent ralgovernmenthast hepowert or emovegover norofany
stateatanyt i
meevenwi t
houtgivinganyr easonsf orhisremoval
 Howevert hispowercannotbeexer cisedinarbitr
ar ymanner .Iti
st obeexer ci
sedin
rareandexcept ional ci
rcums t
ancesf orvali
dandcompel l
i
ngr easons
 Themer er eas ont hatGovernorisatvar iancewi t
ht hepol i
ci
esandi deol
ogiesofthe
centralgover nmentorcent r
algovernmenthasl ostconf i
dencei nhim cannotbet he
reasonf orhi sremoval .
 Changei ncent r algovernmentcannotbet hereasonf orhisremoval
 Thedeci siont or emoveaGover norcanbechal lengedi nanycour toflaw.Thecourt
i
nanycas er equi redcanas kt hecentralgovernmentt opr oducet hemat er
ialsonthe
basisofwhi cht hedeci sionwasmadet overif
ythepr esenceofcompel li
ngreasons.
 Chi
efMi
nis
teri
nIndia:Appoi
ntment
,Power
sand
Functi
ons
TheGover norisastate'
sdej urehead,butdef act
oexecuti
veaut hori
tyrest
swi ththe
Chi
efMi nist
er.So,ChiefMini
s teri
sther ealexecuti
veoftheGover nment.Arti
cle164
oftheCons ti
tuti
onsaysthatt heChiefMi ni
stershal
lbeappointedbyt hegover nor
.
Aft
ertheabol it
ionofthear t
icle370from theI ndi
anConstit
uti
onnow t henumberof
sat
esinI ndi
ar emained28whi let
henumberofUni onter
ri
tori
es( UTs)hasincreased
to9.Therear e3UTs( Delhi
,Puducher r
yandJ ammu&Kas hmir)thathavebi camer al
l
egisl
ati
veas sembli
es.

Appoi
ntmentofChi
efMi
nis
ter

Ourcons ti
tuti
on does nots peci
fi
call
y menti
on aboutt he quali
fi
cation to be
appoint
edasChi efMi ni
ster(CM).Arti
cl
e164oft heCons t
it
utionenvisagesthatthe
ChiefMini
stershallbeappointedbythegovernor.However,thisdoesnotimplythat
thegovernorisfr
eet oappointanyoneastheChiefMini
sterofthestateorUT.

Powersandfunct
ionsoft
heChiefMini
ster
Thepowersandfuncti
onsofCM canbeclass
ifi
edunderf
oll
owi
ngheads
:

•Wit
hrespectt
ocounci
lofmi
nis
ter
s–
Thef
oll
owingaret
hepowersofCMwit
hres
pectt
ost
atecounci
lofmi
nis
ter
s–

1).Headvi sest heGover nort oappoi ntanyper sonasami ni

ster.I
tisonlyaccording
tot headvi ceofCM t heGover norappoi nt smi nist
ers.
2).Al l
ocat i
onandr eshuf fli
ngofpor t
foliosamongmi nisters.
3).Incas eofdi f
ferenceofopi ni
on;hecanas kmi nist
ert or esi
gn.
4).Direct s,gui desandcont rol
sact ivi
tiesofal lthemi nisters.
5).IftheChi efMi nisterr es i
gnst henf ullcabi nethast or esi
gn.
Wi thRes pectt oGover nor-
UnderAr ti
cle1 67ofourcons ti
tut i
on:TheChi efMi ni
steract sasa l i
nkbet ween
Gover norands tatecounci lofmi nisters .Thef unctionswi threspecttotheGover nor
areasf ollows :
1).CM hast o communi cat etot he Gover noral lthe deci sionsoft he councilof
mi nis
t ersrel ati
ngt ot headmi ni
s t
rat i
onoft hes tates.
2).Whenevert heGover norcal l
sf oranyi nformat ionr elati
ngt othedecisi
onstakenor
regar dingt headmi nist
rat i
on,theCMhast opr ovidehi mt hes ame
3).TheGover norcanas kf orcons ider at ionofcounci lofmi nister
swhenadeci sion
hasbeent akenwi thoutt hecons iderat i
onoft hecabi net.
4).CM advi s es Gover norr egarding t he appoi nt
mentofi mpor tantoffi
ci
alsl i
ke
AttorneyGener al,StatePubl i
cSer viceCommi ssion( ChairmanandMember s)
,State
ElectionCommi ssi
onet c.
•Wi thRes pectt oStateLegi s
lature–
1)Allthepol ici
esareannouncedbyhi m ont hef l
ooroft hehous e.
2)Her ecommendsdi ssol
utionoflegislati
veas semblyt otheGover nor.
3)He advi ses the Gover norr egarding s ummoni ng,pr or
ogui ng t he sessi
ons of
StateLegi sl
at i
veAs s
embl yfrom timet otime.
•Ot herFunct i
ons
1)Att hegr oundl evelhei stheaut hor i
tytobei ncont actwi t
ht hepeopl eregul
ar l
y
andknow aboutt heirproblemss oast obr i
ngaboutpol ici
esont hefl
ooroft he
assembl y.
2)Heact sast hechairmanofSt atePlanningCommi ssion.
3)Hei st hevi cechair
manofconcer nedzonalcounci linr ot
ationf oraper i
odofone
year.
4)Dur ingemer genci
esheact sasthecr i
sismanageri nthes tate.
Sf r
om t heaboveexpl anat i
onitcanbeconcl udedt hatt heChi efMi nis
terofastate
haswi der angeoff unctions.Hei sthel eaderoft heMLAsel ect edbyt hegener al
publicoft hes tat
e.

Chi
efMi
nis
ter(
Indi
a)
I
n t heRepubli
c of I ndia, achief mini
steri
st he electedhead of
gover nmentoft heeachs t
ateoutof28s tatesandsomet i
mesauni on
terr
itory(curr
ently,onlytheUTsofDel hiandPuducherryhaves ervi
ng
ChiefMi nis
ter
s).Accordi
ngt otheConsti
tut
ionofIndi
a,theGovernorisa
state's head,butde f actoexecuti
ve authori
tyrest
s wi t
ht he chief
minister.
Foll
owi ngelect i
onstot heSt at
eLegi sl
ati
veAs s
embl y(VidhanSabha)i n
as tate,t
hes t at
e'sgover norus ual
lyinvi
testhepar ty(orcoalit
ion)witha
maj ori
tyofs eatstof ormt hegover nment.Thegover norappoi ntsand
swear sint hechi efmi nister,whos eCouncilofMi nist
ersarecol l
ecti
vel
y
respons i
bletot heas s embl y.Basedont heWes tminst
ers ystem,given
thather etainst heconf idenceoft heas s
embl y,thechiefmi ni
s t
er'
sterm
canl astfort helengthoft heas sembly'
slif
e—amaxi mum off iveyears.
Ther earenol i
mitstot henumberoft ermsthatt hechi efmi nis
tercan
serve.Achi efmi ni
sterheadsas tategovernment 'scouncilofmi nis
ter
s
andcanbedeput edint hatr ol
ebyadeput ychiefmi ni
ster.

Sel
ect
ionpr
oces
s
El
i
gibi
l
ity
TheConst
it
uti
onofIndias
etsthepri
nci
plequali
fi
cati
onsonemustmeet
tobeel
igi
blet
otheoffi
ceoft
hechiefmi
nist
er.Achiefmi
nis
termus
tbe:

 aci
ti
zenofI
ndi
a.
 shouldbeamemberoft hestat
elegi
sl
atur
e.Ifaper s
oni sel
ect
ed
chi
efmi ni
sterwhoisnotamemberoft helegis
lat
ure,thenhe/s
he
mus tt
akesignfr
om gover
nor
.

 of25year
sofageormor
e.
Anindivi
dualwhoi snotamemberoft hel egi
sl
aturecanbecons i
der
ed
asthechiefmini
sterprovi
dedhe/s
heget shimself
/her
s el
felect
edt ot
he
StateLegi
slat
urewithi
ns i
xmonthsfrom thedateoft heirappoint
ment.
Fail
i
ngwhi ch,
he/s
hewoul dceas
et obethechiefminis
ter.
El
ect
ion
Thechi efmi nis
teriselectedt hr
oughamaj ori
tyint hestatelegisl
ati
ve
assembl y.Thisisprocedurallyestabl
is
hedbyt hevot eofconfidencein
thelegislat
iveas sembly,assugges t
edbyt hegovernoroft hestatewho
i
st heappoi nti
ngaut hori
ty.Theyar eelectedforfiveyear s.Thechief
minist
ers hallholdoff
iceduringthepleasureofthegovernor .
Oat
h
Since,accor
dingt
ot heconst
it
uti
on,t
hechiefmi
nist
erisappoi
ntedby
thegovernor,t
hesweari
ngini
sdonebefor
ethegovernoroft
hest
ate.
Theoat
hofof
fi
ce.
I
,dos wearinthenameofGod/ sol
emnl yaff
ir
mt hatIwillbeart ruef ai
th
andal legi
ancetotheCons t
it
uti
onofI ndi
aasbyl aw es tabli
shed,t hatI
willupholdthesovereigntyandi
ntegri
tyofIndia,thatIwi llf
aithf
ullyand
cons ci
enti
ousl
ydischar gemydut i
esasaMi nisterfortheSt ateofand
thatIwi l
ldo ri
ghtt o allmannerofpeopl ei n accordance wi tht he
Cons ti
tuti
onandthel awwi t
houtfearorfavour,affect
ionori l
l-wi
ll.
— Cons
tit
uti
onofI
ndi
a,Schedul
e3,
Par
a5
Theoat
hofs
ecr
ecy
I
,<NameofMi ni
ster
>,doswearint
henameofGod/ sol
emnl
yaff
ir
mt hat
Iwil
lnotdirectl
yorindi
rect
lycommuni cat
eorrevealtoanypers
onor
personsanymat terwhi
chs hal
lbebr oughtundermycons i
der
ati
onor
shal
lbecomeknownt omeasaMi nis
t erfort
heStateof<Nameoft he
Stat
e>exceptasmayber equir
edfortheduedi s
chargeofmydutiesas
suchMini
ster.
— Cons
tit
uti
onofI
ndi
a,Schedul
e3,
Par
a6
Res
ignat
ion
I
nt he eventofa Chi efMinis
ter
'sr
es i
gnati
on,whi
ch convent
ional
ly
occur
saf t
erageneralelect
ionordur
ingaphas eofass
embl ymajori
ty
tr
ansi
tion,the out
going Chiefmini
ster hol
ds t
he i
nformaltitl
e of
"car
etaker"chi
efmi nis
terunt i
ltheGover norei
therappoi
ntsanew chief
mini
sterordissol
vest heas sembly.Sincethepos ti
snotconsti
tuti
onal
ly
defi
ned,thecaretakerchiefmi ni
sterenjoysal
lthepowersaregularchi
ef
mini
ster,butcannott o make anymaj orpolicydeci
si
onsorcabi net
changesdur i
nghis/hershorttenureascar et
aker.

Remuner
ati
on
ByAr ti
cle164oft hecons ti
tut
ionofI ndia,remunerati
onoft hechief
mini
steraswel lasothermi nistersaret obedeci dedbyt her especti
ve
st
atelegisl
atur
es.Untilthelegis
latureoft hes t
atedecidessalary,i
tshall
beass peci
fi
edinthes econds chedule.Thes al
ari
esthusvar yfrom st
ate
tostate.Asof201 9,t hehighes tsalaryisdr awnbychi efmi nist
ersof
Tel
angana,whi ch is₹410,000( US$5,700) and l owes t by t hechi
ef
mini
stersofTri
purawhi chis₹105,500( US$1 ,
500)l
egall
y.

Deput
ychi
efmi
nis
ter
Vari
ouss tat
est hroughoutt he hist
or y have appointed Deput y Chief
Minis
ters.Des pit
ebei ngnotment i
onedi nthecons ti
tuti
onorl aw,the
Deputy-Chiefmi nis
terof f
iceisof t
enus edt opacif
yf acti
onswi thinthe
partyorcoal it
ion.Itissimil
artot her arelyusedDeput y-Pr
imemi ni
ster
postinCent ralgover nmentofI ndia.Dur i
ngt heabs enceoft heChi ef
minist
er,t he deput y-
CM may chai rcabi netmeet i
ngsand l ead the
Assemblymaj ori
ty.Variousdeput ychi efmi ni
ster
shaveal sotakent he
oathofs ecrecyi nli
newi tht heonet hatchiefminist
ert akes.Thisoat h
hasalsos parkedcont r
over s
ies.
 St
ateCounci
lofMi
nis
ters
:For
mation,
Cat
egor
ies
andOtherDet
ail
s
StateCouncilofMinisters:Format i
on,CategoriesandOt herDet ail
s!
The Cons ti
tuti
on ofI ndia provides fora par l
iamentar ys ystem of
governmentatt hes t
at elevel.TheGover noract sast hecons t
it
utional
andnomi nalexecutiveheadoft hes t
ate.Ther ealexecuti
vepower sar e
i
nt hehandsoft heSt ateCounci lofMi ni
stersheaded byt heChi ef
Minist
er.TheCons ti
tutionpr ovidesforeachs t
ateaCounci lofMi ni
sters
withtheChi efMinis
terasi t
sheadf oraidi
ngandadvi si
ngt heGover nor
i
nt heexerciseofhisfunct i
ons. However,inrealit
yt heChiefMinisterand
hi
sCounci lofMinis
tersactast herealexecutiveintheStat e.

1.For
mat i
onoftheStateCouncilofMini
sters:
Thepr ocedur ef
ortheformati
onoft heCounci lofMinis
ter
satt hes t
ate
l
evelist hes ameasi nthecaseoft heUni onCouncilofMini
sters.Aft
er
eachgener alel
ect
ion,thepart
yort hegr oupwhi chsecur
esmaj ori
tyin
the State Legis
lat
ive Assembl
y electsitsleader.The Governort hen
s
ummonshi
mtof
ormt
hemi
nis
try.

I
n otherwor ds,the leaderoft he majori
tyi nthe Stat
e Legisl
ative
Assemblyisappoi nt
edast heChiefMinis
terwhos el
ectshisteam of
minis
ters
.Hes ubmit
st helisttotheGover norwhof ormall
yappoi nts
them asmini
sters.
Nor mal
ly,allmi
nis
ter
saret akenfr
om themember sof
thestat
elegi
slatur
e.

However ,theChi
efMi ni
stercanappointevena non- memberofthe
Assemblyasami nis
ter.Butsuchapersonhast os ecur
eas eatint
he
st
atel egi
slat
urewit
hin a peri
od ofsi
xmont hsfrom thedateofhi s
appointmentasminis
ter.I
ncas ehefai
lstodos o,hehastor esi
gnhis
minis
ter-s
hip.

Thes t
rengthoftheStateCounci
lofMinisterscannotbemor ethan15%
ofthes t
rengthofStateLegi
sl
ati
veAs sembl y.Ori
ssaAss emblyhas1 47
member s.Assuchthemax i
mum s t
rengthofOr i
ssaCouncilofMinis
ters
canbe22.I nMay2009,t heBij
uJ anataDal( BJD)Pres i
dentNaveen
Patt
naikwass wornin asthe ChiefMi nis
terofOr is
saf orthe t
hird
consecuti
veterm.A21-memberCouncilofMinist
erswasf ormed.

2.Categor i
esofMi ni
stersintheStateCouncilofMinist
ers:
(a)Cabi netMini
sters:
CabinetMi nist
ersar ethosemi ni
sterswhoar egivencabinetrank.They
holdi ndependentchar geoft hei mportantdepartments,li
kef i
nance,
LocalBodi es,home af f
airs
,health etc.Theyt ogetherdetermine the
poli
cies oft he s t
ate.The CM and t he cabi
netmi ni
ster
st ogether
constitutetheSt ateCabinet.Iti
st hemos tpowerfulpartoftheSt ate
Counci lofMini
sters.

(b)Minis
tersofState:
Theyenj oynumbert wos tat
usintheMinis
t r
y.Theydonotat tendt he
meet i
ngsoft he Cabinet.They hel
pt he cabinetminis
ter
sand ar e
attachedtothem int heirdepart
ments
.Currentl
y,sever
alPar
li
ament ary
Secretar
iesareappoint edbyt heChi
efMini
s t
erfrom amongsthisparty
MLAs .
I
tisdonetopl easet
hem wi t
houtvi
olati
ngl egalcondit
ionwhi chli
mits
themaximum s i
zeoft hestatemini
stryto15% oft hetot als
trengt
hof
Stat
eLegisl
ati
veAs sembly.ThePar l
iamentarySecr et
ariesdonotget
anysal
ary.
However ,
t heyenjoysomepar ksandperforms omef unct
ions
fort
hedepartmentst
owhi cht heyar
eat t
ached.

3.Tenure:
Theoretical
lyt he mini sters hol d of f
ice dur i
ng t he pl
easure oft he
Governor .I
tmeanss ol ongast heycont i
nuet ohaveamaj ori
tysupport
i
nt heSt at
eLegi sl
ativeAs sembl y.Inf actt heyhol doffi
cedur i
ngt he
pleasureoft heChiefMi nis t
er .TheChi efMi ni
s t
ercanas kanymi ni
sterto
resi
gnandhi sdesi
rei sal waysf ulf
il
ledbyt heconcer nedminist
er.Ifhe
resi
sts,theChi efMinistercanadvi set heGover nortodismisshim.The
Governoral waysaccept ss uchanadvi ce.TheChi efMini
stercancaus e
thefallofthemi ni
strybyt ender i
nghi sownr esi
gnat i
ontotheGover nor
.
Ass uch virtuall
y a mi nisterhol dsof fi
ce s olong ashe enj oyst he
confi
denceoft heChiefMi ni
s ter.

4.Responsi
bili
tyofSt ateCounci lofMi ni
sterstot heStateLegi
slat
ive
Assembly:
The minist
ers arei ndividual
lyr esponsi
blet ot he St
ate Legi
sl
ature
Assembly.I
ncas ethel atterpassesacens uremot i
onagainstaminist
er
foranylapsei nthewor kingofhi sdepartment,hehast oresi
gnf r
om
off
ice.A mi ni
sterremai nsi n off
ice onl
ys ol ong ashe enjoyst he
confi
denceofmaj or
ityint heStateLegisl
ati
veAs sembly.

TheStateCounci lofMinist
ersisalsocol l
ectivelyr es
pons ibl
ebeforet he
Stat
e Legisl
ati
ve As sembly.In caset he lat t
erpas sesa vot e ofno-
confi
denceagains ttheCouncilofMi ni
stersoragai nsttheChi efMinist
er
orrej
ectsanybillsponsoredbyt heMi nistr
yorr ej
ectsthebudgetoft he
Government,orr ej
ectsanypol i
cyoft heGover nment ,orcutsthef unds
ofthes tat
egover nment,theent ir
eCounci lofMi nistersresi
gns.The
Council
ofMi ni
stersremainsinoffi
ces olongasi tenjoyst hesupportand
confi
denceofthemaj or
it
yintheSt ateLegislativeAs sembl y.

5.PowersandFuncti
onsoftheStateCounci
lofMi
nis
ters
:
The St
ate Counci
lofMi ni
ster
si sthe r
ealexecut
ive oft
he s
tat
e.I
t
exer
cis
esvas
texecut
ivepower
s.

(a)Formulati
onofStatePoli
cies:
TheCounci lofMini
ster
sinrealit
ythes t
at ecabi
nethastherespons i
bil
i
ty
offormulati
ngt hepoli
ci
esoft hestat
e.Allthepoli
ci
esarediscussedand
decidedupont heStateCabinet(Notbyt heenti
reCounci
lofMi ni
sters
.)

(b)Runni ngofAdmi nistr

at i
on:
The St ate Counci lofMi nis
ter
sr uns the state admi ni
strat
ion.The
minist
er sarer esponsibl
ef orthi
swor k.Theydos oinaccor dancewith
thepol i
ciesoft hegover nmentasappr ovedandpas sedbyt hest
ate
l
egisl
atur e.Theirdutyistos eeandens ur
ethatt headmi nist
rati
onofthe
stat
ei sruni naccor dancewi ththesepoli
cies
.Eachmi nis t
erhasoneor
mor e depar t
ment sunderhi scont r
oland he i sr es
pons ibleforthe
administrati
onoft hese.

(c)Co-ordi
nati
onFuncti
on:
TheSt ateCabinetisals
oresponsibl
efors ecuri
ngco-ordi
nationinthe
wor ki
ngofvar i
ousgovernmentaldepart
ment s.I
thast heresponsi
bil
i
ty
toresolveconfl
ict
sanddeadlocksbetweenvar i
ousdepartment s
.Al
lthe
minist
ersarecommi t
tedtofol
lowthedecisi
onsoft hecabi
net.

(d)Appointment -
maki ngPower s:
The Cabi netmakes al limpor t
antappoi ntmentsi nt he st
ate.The
appoint
ment soft heAdvocat eGener al,ViceChancel l
orsorPr o-Vi
ce
Chancell
or s(asincas eofPunjab)oftheUni versi
ti
esinas tat
e,Chairman
and member soft he Stat
e Publ i
cSer vice Commi s
sion,Chairmen of
vari
ousCor porat
ionsandBoar ds
,etc.,areallmadebyt heGover noron
theadviceoft heChi efMini
sterandhisCounci lofMini
sters.

(e)RoleinLaw-maki ng:
Law- makingist hef unctionoft hes tat
el egisl
aturebutt hemi nis
ters
playsakeyr oleint hisspher e.I
tisthemi nistr
ywhi chreal
lydecidest he
l
egislati
veagenda.Mos toft hebills
,near l
y95%,ar eintroduced and
pil
otedbyt hemi ni
stersint hes tat
el egi
slature.Thebil
lsmovedbyt he
minister
sar e mos t
lypas sed byt he legisl
ature becauset he mini
stry
enjoyst he s
uppor toft he maj ori
ty.A pr i
vat e memberbi llhaslittl
e
chanceofget ti
ngpas sed,unlessiti
ss upportedbyt hemini
stry.
Whent hes tatelegi
s l
aturei snotins essi
on,theCouncilofMi ni
ster
scan
sati
sfytheneedf orlaw- maki ngbyget tingor di
nancesissuedfrom the
Governor.Thes e ordinanceshave t he force oflaw and can be got
convert
ed i nt
ol awsf r
om t he Stat
e Legi sl
atur
e when i tcomesi nto
sessi
on.The Gover nor ,summons ,proroguesand di s
solvesthe state
l
egisl
atureupon t headvi ceoft heChi efMi nis
terand hi sCouncilof
Mini
sters.Thus,theCounci lofMi ni
stersplaysani mportantrol
ei nlaw-
makingpr ocess.

(f)FinancialFuncti
ons :
TheCounci lofMinistersmanagesthefi
nancesofthes t
at e.TheCabi
net
really determinest he fi
scalpoli
ci
esoft he s
tate.Itf ormulatesand
i
mpl ement s alldevelopmentalpoli
ci
es and plans.I tmanages t he
fi
nancesoft hes t
at einaccordancewiththepol i
ci
esandbudgetas
pr eparedbyt heStat eCounci
lofMinis
ter
sandappr ovedbyt hest
ate
l
egi slat
ure.

6.Posi
ti
onoft heStateCouncilofMi nist
ers:
Asther ealexecutive,theStateCounci lofMinist
ersenjoysadomi nant
and power fulpos i
tion.It“ist he s tr
ongestand t he mos tpower ful
i
nsti
tuti
on int he state.Itr eall
yr uns the state adminis
trati
on by
exerci
si
ngal lthepower svest
edi nt heGover noroft hestat
e.However ,
i
nanemer gencyunderAr ti
cl
e356,t heGovernorr unstheadmi ni
str
ation
ofthes tat
ei ndependent l
yandwi t
houtt hehel pandpr esenceofSt ate
CouncilofMinister
s.

Stat
eLegis
lat
ure:Or
ganizat
ion,
Power
sand
Limit
ati
onsonthePowersofStat
eLegi
sl
atur
e
St
ateLegi
sl
atur
e:Or
gani
zat
ion,
Power
sandLi
mit
ati
onsont
hePower
sof
StateLegis
lature!
I
. St
ateLegisl
at ur
e:
TheCons ti
tutionofI ndiapr ovi
desf oral egis
lat ureineachSt ateand
entrus
tsitwi thther esponsibi
li
tyt omakel awsf orthes t
ate.However ,
thecompos i
tionofas t
ateLegi s
laturecanbedi fferentindi
fferentstat
es.
I
tcan be ei therbi camer aloruni camer al
.Pr es entl
y,onlys ixstates
(AndhraPrades h,Bihar,J&K,Kar nat akaMahar as htr
aandUP)havebi -
camerallegis
latures
. Twent ytwoSt at esandTwoUni onTerri
tories(
Delhi
andPuducher ry)haveuni -
camer al Legisl
atures.

I
ncas eofabi cameralstatelegisl
ature,theupperhouseisknownas
St
at eLegi
slat
iveCouncil(VidhanPar i
s had)andthelowerhouseasthe
St
at eLegis
lati
veAs s
embly( Vidhan Sabha).Wheret hereisonl
yone
House ofthe St at
e Legi
s l
ature,itisknown ast he Stat
e Legi
sl
ati
ve
Assembly.Ori
s sahasauni camerall egis
lat
urewithOriss
aLegisl
ati
ve
Assemblyasitsallpowerf
ul house.

(I)Met hodofAbol i
tionorCr eati
onofaSt ateLegi sl
ativeCounci l:
The powert o est
ablish orabol i
sht he Legislati
ve Counci linas tate
belongst ot heUni onPar l
i
ament .Itcandoi tbyenact i
ngal aw.The
Par l
iament ,however ,act s when t he Legi sl
ative As sembl y of t he
concer neds tatepas sesades i
redr esoluti
onbyamaj ori
tyofi t
st otal
member ship and by a maj ori
ty ofnotl esst han t wo-thir
dsoft he
member soft heStateLegislati
veAs sembl ypresentandvot ing.
Or gani sati
onofaSt at eLegisl
ature:
(A)Compos it
ionoftheSt ateLegislati
veAs sembl y(VidhanSabha) :
TheSt ateLegi sl
ati
veAs sembl y,
popul arl
yknownasVi dhanSabha, isthe
l
ower ,di rectly el
ected,popul arand power f
ulhous e oft he s tate
l
egi slature.I
tsmember shipisinpropor t
iontot hepopul ati
onoft hestate
andhencei tdiff
ersfrom statetos t
ate.Themember sar edirectlyelected
byt hepeopl eoft hes tatethroughas ecretbal l
ot,simpl emaj orit
yvot e
victory and s i
ngl
e member t erri
tori
alcons ti
tuency s ystem.Or i
ssa
Legis lati
veAs semblyhas1 47member s.

Acit
izenofIndi
a,whoi snotlessthan25year
sofageandwhof ul
fi
ll
s
ever
yotherquali
fi
cati
onaslaiddownbyal aw canbecomeitsmember
bywinninganelect
ionfrom anyconst
it
uencyi
nt hest
ate.However,no
per
son can si
mult
aneous
ly be a member oft
wo Hous
es oft
he
Par
li
amentorofanyot
herStat
eLegi
sl
atur
e.

Thenormalterm ofLegis
lati
vei s5years.However,itcanbedi s
solved
bytheGovernoratanyt i
me.Itcanbes uspendedordissol
vedwhenan
emergencyunderArt.356isproclai
medi nthestat
e.I
nMay2009,i nthe
Ori
ssaLegis
lat
iveAss emblyelecti
onstheBJ D won103s eatswhil
et he
Congres
sgot26,theBJ P6andi ndependentsandother12seats
.

(B)Compos i
ti
onofStateLegisl
ati
veCouncil:
Atpresentonly6States— AndhraPradesh,UP,Maharasht
ra,Karnat
aka,
J&K and Bihar—have Legisl
ati
ve Council
s.The popul
arname oft he
StateLegis
lati
veCouncili
sVidhanPar i
shad.Thetotalmembershipofa
Legisl
ati
vecounci
lcannotbenor mallylessthan40andmor ethanl/3rd
ofthetotalmembershipoftheStateLegis
lati
veAssembl
y.

AndhraPr adeshVidhanPar i
shadhas90member sUPVi
dhanParishad
100,Mahar asht
raVidhanPar ishad78,J &KVi dhanPari
shad36,Bihar
VidhanPar i
shad75andKar natakaVi dhanPar i
shad75members .The
member s
hi pofVidhanPar i
shadi ncl
udeselect
edaswel lasnominated
repres
entati
vesfrom sever
altypesofconsti
tuencies.

Thefol
lowingf
ormul
aisus
ed:
(i
)1/3r
d membersare el
ect
ed by t
he member
sofSt
ate Legi
sl
ati
ve
Assembly.

(
ii
)1/
3rdmember
sar
eel
ect
edbyl
ocal
bodi
esoft
hes
tat
e.

(i
ii
)1/
12t
h member sareelected byteachersofatleas
tthr
eeyear
s
s
tandi
ng,ser
vingeducat
ionali
nsti
tut
ionsoft
hestat
e.

(
iv)1
/12membersareelect
edbys
tat
euni
ver
sit
ygr
aduat
esofnotl
ess
t
hanthreeyear
s-s
tandi
ng.

(
v)1
/6t
hmember
sar
enomi
nat
edbyt
heGover
noroft
hes
tat
e.

Anyci
ti
zenofI ndi
awhoisnotles
sthan30yearsofage,whoposs
esses
al
lthe qual
i
ficati
onsaslai
d down bythe Parl
i
ament,who isnota
memberofanyot herl
egis
lat
ureorUnionParli
amentcanbecomea
memberoft heStat
eLegisl
ati
veCouncilei
therbywinninganelect
ionor
by securi
ng Governor
’s nominati
on.Legisl
ati
ve counci
lisa s emi
-
permanentHouse.I
tisneverdissol
vedasawhol e.1/
3rdofit
smember s
ret
ir
eafterever
y2years.Eachmemberhasat er
m of6years.

PowersandFunct i
onsofaSt ateLegislat
ure:
EachStateLegislatureexerci
seslaw-makingpower sovert hes ubj ectsof
theStateListandt heConcurrentLi
s t
.Incaseas tatehasauni camer al
l
egisl
ature,i
.e.
,incas eithasonl ySt ateLegisl
ati
veAs s
embl y,al lthe
powersar eexercisedbyit.However ,evenincaseitisabi camer alstate
l
egisl
aturewiths tateLegisl
ati
veCounci l(
VidhanParishad)ast heupper
houseands tateLegi sl
ati
veAs semblyast helowerhous e,almos tal lthe
powersar eexercisedbyt helatter
.TheLegi sl
ati
veCounci lplaysonl ya
secondaryandmi norrol
e.

Power sofStat
eLegislature:
1.Legis
lati
vePower s
:
TheSt ateLegisl
aturecanmakel awsont hesubjectsoftheStateList
andt heConcurrentList
.Itcanenactanybi l
lonanys ubj
ectofStateLis
t,
whi chbecomesanActwi ththes i
gnatur
esoft heGovernor.Normall
y,
theGover noractsasanomi nalandcons ti
tut
ionalheadandass uch
foll
owst headvi
ceoft heSt ateChiefMini
sterandhisCouncilofMini
ster
s.

However,hecanr eservesomebi ll
spas sedbyt heSt at
eLegi s
lat
urefor
theapprovalofthePr esi
dentofIndia.
Fur ther,i
ncas eal awmadebyt he
StateLegisl
atureona concur rentsubjectcomesi nt oconfli
ctwitha
UnionLaw ont hes ames ubject,thelatt erget sprecedenceoverthe
former
.Inor di
narylaw- making,botht heHous es(Legislat
iveAssembly
andLegislat
iveCounci lwher evertheseexi stt oget
her )haveco-equal
powers.I
npr act
icethe

Legisl
ati
veAssemblydominatesthelaw-makingwor k.Mostofthenon-
moneyor di
narybil
lsareintr
oducedint heLegisl
ati
veAs semblyandit
playsamajorrolei
ntheirpassi
ng.TheLegis
lati
veCouncilactsonl
yasa
revis
inganddelayi
ngsecondchamber .

Abil
lpas
sedbytheLegi
sl
ati
veAs
sembl
yandrej
ectedbyt
heLegi
sl
ati
ve
As
semblyornotdeci
deduponbythel
att
erwit
hin3months
,whenre-
pass
edbyt heLegis
lat
iveAss
emblybecomesanActaftertheexpi
ryof
onemonthfrom t
hedat eonwhi
chitwassentt
otheLegisl
ati
veCounci
l
asecondt
ime.

Abil
lfi
rstpassedbytheLegis
lati
veCouncil
becomesanActonl ywhenit
get
stheappr ovaloftheLegis
lati
veAssembly.Thus
,Legi
sl
ativeCounci
l
canonlydelaythepassi
ngofanor di
narybi
llbyamaximum of4mont hs
.
I
ncas etheSt ateLegi
sl
atur
ei saunicameralbody,al
lthelaw-making
powersareexercis
edbytheLegisl
ati
veAssembly.

2.Fi
nancialPower s
:
The Stat
e Legislatur
e hast he powert ol evyt axesi nrespectofal l
subj
ectsoft heStateList.Itisthecus todianoft hefinancesofthestate.
Mor evenuecanbecol l
ect edort axcanbel evi
edorcol l
ectedbyt he
stat
egover nmentwi thoutt hecons entoft heSt ateLegisl
ature.The
budgetand al lotherf i
nanci alpol i
ci
esand pr ogrammesoft hes t
ate
governmentbecomeoper ationalonlyaf t
erget ti
nganappr ovalfr
om the
Stat
eLegi s
latur
e.

However ,i
nemergenciesdeclar
edunderAr t
icl
es352,or356or360,t he
fi
nancialpowersofthes t
atebecomes ubordi
natetot heUnion.When
the s
t ateisundera cons ti
tut
ionalemergency (Ar
t.356),t he St
ate
Legi
slaturest
andseithersuspendedordi ss
olved.I
nt hiss
ituati
on,the
fi
nancialpowersf
orthestateareexerci
sedbytheUnionParli
ament .

When a St
ateLegisl
atureisuni cameral
,allt hefinanci
alpowersare
nat
ural
l
yexercis
edbyt heLegislati
veAs sembly.However,evenwhenit
i
sbi-
cameral
,therealf
inanci
alpower sareinthehandsoft heLegi
sl
ati
ve
Ass
embly.A money bi l
lcan be i ntr
oduced onl yi nthe Legi
sl
ati
ve
Ass
emblyandafterpassageitgoestotheLegi sl
ati
veCouncil
.

Thelatt
ercandel ayit
spas s
agef oronly1 4days .Incas e,i
trejectsor
amendst hebil
l,t
hedecisi
onoft heLegi sl
ati
veAs semblypr evail
s.When
theLegi
slati
veCounci
lreturnsafinancialbil
ltotheLegislati
veAs sembly
withsomeamendment s,i
tist hepoweroft heLegi sl
ati
veAs semblyt o
acceptorr ej
ectthes
e.Thus ,i
nr espectoff inancialpower s
,t hereal
author
it
yi si
nthehandsoftheSt ateLegislat
iveAs sembly.
3.Powertocontrolt
heExecuti
ve:
ControlovertheSt at
eCouncilofMi ni
stersisexercis
ed bytheStat
e
Legisl
ati
ve Assembly.Lit
tl
er ole has been as si
gned tothe Stat
e
Legisl
ati
veCouncil
.TheStateChiefMinist
eristheleaderofmajori
tyi
n
the State Legi
sl
ati
ve Assembly.The St ate CouncilofMinis
ter
sis
coll
ecti
vel
yresponsi
blebef
oretheLegisl
ati
veAs sembly.

Thelattercancaus ethefalloftheminis
trybypas si
ngavot eofno-
conf
idenceorbyr ejecti
ngabi l
lorpoli
cyorbudgets ponsoredbythe
CouncilofMini
sters
.TheSt ateLegi
sl
ativeCouncilcanexerci
seonl
ya
l
imit
edcont r
olovertheminis
trybyputt
ingquest
ionsandsupplement
ary
questi
onstotheminist
ers.

4.OtherPower s
:
The State Legislatur
e,parti
cular
lyit
sLegisl
ative Assembl y,exerci
ses
severalotherpower s
.Theelect
edmember soft heLegisl
ativeAs sembly
(MLAs )parti
cipatei ntheelect
ionofthePresidentofI ndia.Theyal so
elect representati
ves of the s t
ate i
n the Raj ya Sabha.Cer t
ain
consti
tuti
onalamendment scanbemadebyt heUni onPar li
amentonl y
withther ati
fi
cationbyatleasthal
foftheSt
ateLegis l
atures
.

Thes t
atelegisl
aturecons i
dersthereport
soft heStat
ePubli
cSer vice
Commi ss
ion,StateAuditorGeneral
,andot her
s.Ital
soact
sasaf or um
forventi
lati
onoft hegr ievancesofthepeople.TheStat
eLegislative
Assemblyhast he r
ightofadopt i
ng a resol
uti
on f
orthe cr
eat
ion or
aboli
ti
onoft heStat
eLegi sl
ati
veCouncil
.

Posit
ionofaStateLegi s
lat
ure:
TheSt ateLegisl
atureoccupiesthes amepos it
ioninas tateasi sthe
posit
ionoftheParliamentintheUnion.Therei
s,however ,adiff
erenceof
degreeint hei
rrelati
vepower s.I
ndianUnitar
ianFeder al
ism makest he
UnionPar l
iamentmor epowerfulthaneachs t
at elegi
sl
at ur
e.Further
,
thereareseveralspeci
fi
cli
mitati
onsont hepower sofastatelegi
slat
ure.

SomeLimitati
onsont hePowersofStat
eLegi sl
atur
e:
(1)Pr
iorconsentoft
hePr es
identofI
ndiaforint
roduct
ionofsomeBill
s:
Therearecertai
nbil
lswhichcanbeintroducedinas t
atelegi
sl
atur
eonly
withthepri
orconsentofthePresi
dentof.I
ndia.
(2)Reser
vationofbil
l
sbyt heGovernorf
orPresi
dent’
sAs sent
:
Therear ecertai
nbi l
ls
,whichafterhavingbeenpas sedbyt hestate
l
egisl
ature,can ber eser
ved bytheGover norforthecons entoft he
Presi
dent.Suchbil
lsbecomelawsonl yaftert
hePresidenthasgivenhis
assent.

(3)Limitati
onthatcanbeimposedbytheRajyaSabha:
TheUni onPar l
iamentget
sthepowertopas slawsontheStateLi
st,(
for
oneyear )ift
heRaj yaSabhaadoptsar es
oluti
on(suppor
tedby2/ 3rd
maj ori
ty ofthe memberspr es
entand voting)and decl
aresa state
subjectment i
onedintheres
olut
ionasasubj
ectofnati
onali
mportance.

(4)Limit
ati
onsduri
ngnat i
onalEmer
gency:
When a nat i
onalemer gency (
UnderAr t
.352)isin operat
ion,the
Parl
iamentisempoweredt opassalaw onanysubj
ectoftheStateLi
st.
Thelaw sopassedoperatesduri
ngtheperi
odofemergencyandf orsi
x
mont hsaft
ert
heendoft heemergency.

(5)Limitat
ionsduri
ngaCons t
it
ut i
onalEmergency:
Duringt heoperati
onofcons ti
tuti
onalemergencyinas t
ateunderArt
356,t heUni onParl
iamentgetst heauthori
tyofmakinglawsforthat
state.TheStateLegisl
atur
est
andsei t
herdissol
vedors
uspended.

(
6)Di scr et
ionaryPower softheGovernor
:
Discretionary power soft he Governorofa s tate als
o const
it
utea
l
imitationont heSt ateLegisl
atur
e.Wheneverheact si
nhi sdi
scr
eti
on,he
i
sbeyondt hejuri
sdict
ionoftheStateLegi
slat
ure.Acti
nginhisdi
scret
ion,
theGover norcanevendi ssolvet
heStateLegis
lat
iveAs s
embly.

(7)PrecedenceofUni onLawsont heConcurrentSubject

:
They St ate Legi
sl
ature and the Union Parli
ament ,both have the
concurrentpowert omakelawsont hesubj
ectsoftheConcur rentLi
st.I
f
botht heUni onParli
amentandaSt at
eLegisl
aturepas sal aw onthe
sames ubj
ectoftheConcurrentLi
s tandthereisinconsi
stencybetween
thetwo,t helaw passedbytheUni onParli
amentget sprecedenceover
thecorrespondingstatel
aw.
Thuseachs t
at elegis
laturei nIndi
aexer ci
seslaw-makingpower sover
thesubjectsgivent oitbyt heCons ti
tuti
on.However,eveninrespectof
thes
e,i texerci
sesl aw- makingpower sundert heabovecons ti
tuti
onal
l
imit
ations.Never thelessi n generalt he State Legi
slat
ures act as
i
mpor t
antandpower fullegis
latur
esi nallthe28St atesand2Uni on
Terr
it
oriesofIndia.

St
atusofUni
onTer
ri
tor
iesi
ntheI
ndi
anUni
on

I
ntr
oduct
ion

I
ndiaisafederalpol
i
tywithtwotypesofconst
it
uentuni
ts-s
tat
esanduni
on
ter
ri
tori
es.Toget
herthes
ecompr i
sethecurr
entareal
ext
entoft
hecount
ry.Ther
ear
e
29statesand7unionterr
it
ori
es.

Thes
esevenar
eli
stedasunder
:

1
.AndamanandNi
cobarI
sl
ands

2.Laks
hwadeepI
sl
ands

3.Dadr
aandNagarHavel
i

4.DamanandDi
u

5.Puducher
ry

6.Chandi
gar
h

7.Nat
ional
Capi
tal
Ter
ri
tor
yofDel
hi

Whati
sauni
ont
err
itor
y?

Art
icl
e1oftheConst
itut
ionofI
ndi
asayst
hatt
het
err
it
oryofI
ndi
acompr
isest
hree
cat
egori
esofter
ri
tor
ies:

1
.St
ates

2.Uni
onTer
ri
tor
ies

3.Ter
ri
tor
iest
hatmaybeacqui
redbyt
heGover
nmentofI
ndi
aatanyt
ime.

Uni
ont
err
it
ori
esar
ethus
,cons
tit
uti
onal
l
yrecogni
seds
egment
soft
heI
ndi
anpol
i
ty.
Theyaredir
ect
lyundert
hecontroloft
heCentr
eandarethusals
ocall
edcent
rall
y
admini
ster
edterr
it
ori
es.Theyr
epresentauni
quer
elat
ionshi
pinthef
eder
alsetupof
I
ndia.

Whatar
etheor
igi
nsofuni
ont
err
it
ori
es?

Theconceptofter
ri
tori
esadmi ni
s t
eredbytheCentr
eextendstot hepre-
I
ndependenceera.In1874,cert
ainareaswereconst
itut
edass cheduleddis
tri
cts
.
Theselat
ercametobeknownasChi efCommissi
onersprovi
ncesthatwere
essent
ial
lyadmi
nist
eredbyaChi efCommissi
onerdi
rectl
yresponsibl
etothe
GovernorGener
al/
ViceroyofIndia.

Whent hecountrybecameindependent,thevariousterr
it
ori
est hatcamet ocreate
theUnionofIndiaweredi
videdintof
ourcat egori
es-PartA,B,CandD. Ther
ewas
norecognit
ionofStat
esandUni onTerri
tori
esass eparat
e.Mos tofthepr ovi
nces
underPartCandDwer et
heer s
t whi
l
eChi efCommi ssi
onersprovinces.
Thes ewere
l
aterreconsti
tut
edundert
heSevent hCons ti
tuti
onalAmendmentAct ,1956and
Stat
esReorganisat
ionAct
,1956asUni onterri
tori
es.

I
n1 956, t
herewer es i
xuniont erri
tor i
es-AndamanandNi cobarIslands,Delhi,
Himachal Pr
ades h, Manipur,TripuraandLaccadi ve,MinicoyandAmi ndi
vi I
sl
ands .
Note,theabs enceofvar iouster r
itori
eslikeDadr aandNagarHavel i
,DamanandDi u
andPuducher r
y.Thes eregionsgai nedi ndependencef rom theiri
mper i
alpower s
l
aterandwer ethenaddedasuni ont err
itori
es.Al
so,notet hatpres ent-
days tat
eslike
Himachal Pr
ades h, ManipurandTr ipurawer eearl
i
erli
stedasUni onTer ri
tori
es.These
wereel evat
edt ot hestatusofs tatest opr ovi
deformor edemocr at icgovernanceby
agover nmentel ectedbyt helocal populace.Thefoll
owi ngtables howst heyearof
for
mat ionoftheuni onter r
it
ories:

AndamanandNi
cobarI
sl
ands 1
956

Laks
hwadeep 1
956

NCTofDel
hi 1
956

Dadr
aandNagarHavel
i 1
961

DamanandDi
u 1
962

Puducher
ry 1
962

Chandi
gar
h 1
966
Whati
sther
eas
onbehi
ndt
hecr
eat
ionofpr
esent
-dayUni
ont
err
it
ori
es?

Thesevenuni
ont
err
it
ori
esi
npr
esent
-dayI
ndi
ahavebeencr
eat
edduet
oanumber
ofr
easons:

1
.St
rat
egi
cImpor
tance-AndamanandNi
cobarI
sl
ands
,Laks
hwadeep

2.Cult
uralDi
sti
nct
ivenes
s-Dadr
aandNagarHavel
i
,DamanandDi
uand
Puducherr
y

3.Pol
i
ticalandAdmini
str
ati
veReas
ons-Chandi
gar
handNat
ional
Capi
tal
Ter
ri
toryofDelhi

Thes t
atesofManipurandTri
purahadbeenmadeUni onterr
it
or i
esduet othe
speci
al t
reatmentr
equir
edforthepeopl
eresi
dingintheseregions.Today,part
sof
thesestatescomeunderSchedul
eareasei
therinScheduleVorVI .

Whati
sther
elat
ionoft
heCent
ret
otheUni
onTer
ri
tor
ies
?

TheCent rehaspower stoadmi nist

ertheUni onterri
tori
es.Hence, underAr ti
cl
e239
thePres i
dentappointsanadmi nist
ratortoactast heheadt heuni ont er
ri
tory's
execut i
ve.Theadmi nis
trator
'spos i
ti
onisquitedist
inctfrom thepos iti
onofa
Gover norofaSt at
e.He/Shedoesnothavet hediscret
ionaccor dedt otheGover nor
,
whos eisani ndependentpos it
ionundert heCons t
ituti
on.ThePr es i
dentcanal so
appointt heGovernorofanei ghbour i
ngs tat
east headmi nistr
at orofaUni on
Terri
tory.Theadmi nis
tratori
sei t
hercalledaLieutenantGover nororAdmi nist
ratori
n
dif
ferentuni onter
ri
tori
es.

UnderAr t
icl
e240,
Presi
denthasthepowertomakeregulat
ionsf
orthepeace,
pr
ogr essandgoodgovernanceofAndamanandNicobarIs
lands
,Lakshwadeep,
DadraandNagarHavel i
,DamanandDi uandPuducher
ry.I
ncaseofPuducherry,
the
Pr
esidentcanmakear egulat
iont
olegi
sl
ateonl
ywhent heassembl
yissuspendedor
di
ssolved.

TheUni onter
ri
tori
es,exceptPuducher
ryandDel
hi,
donothaveanylegi
sl
atur
esof
thei
rown. Thus,t
hepowert omakelawsonanyofthes
ubject
sunderal
ll
is
ts
mentionedintheSevent hSchedul
eresi
deswi
ththePar
li
ament.Thi
spoweral
so
coversPuducherryandDel hi
.

TheMi nis
tryofHomeAf f
air
satt heCent r
eisthenodalmini
str
yforallmatter
srel
ated
toUnionTer ri
tori
esrelati
ngt olegis
lat
ion,fi
nanceandbudget,ser
vicesand
appoi
nt mentofAdmi nist
rators
. Al
lthefi
veunionterr
it
ori
eswithoutalegis
lat
ure
havethef orum ofHomeMi nister'
sAdvisoryCommitt
ee(HMAC)t odiscus
sgeneral
i
ssuesr el
atedt osoci
al andeconomi cdevelopment.

UnderArt
icle239AB, i
ncas eoffai
l
ureofCons t
it
uti
onalmachiner yi
nthecaseofNCT
ofDel
hi,
thePr es
identcans uspendtheoperati
onofanypr ovi
sionofArti
cl
e239AA
andmakes uchpr ovis
ionsasarenecessary.
foradminis
ter
ingtheNCTofDel hiunder
theConst
itution.Thisissi
milart
oAr t
icl
e356wi t
hrespectt
os t
at es.
Whatarethepr
ovi
si
onsr
elat
edt
ojudi
cialmat
ter
sper
tai
ningt
otheUni
on
Ter
rit
ori
es?

Art
icl
e241s t
atesthatt
hePar l
iamentmaybyl awcons
t i
tut
eaHi ghCourtforaUnion
Ter
rit
oryordeclar
eanycour tinanyter
ri
tor
yt obeaHighCour tf
oralloranyoft
he
purposesoftheConsti
tut
ion.OnlyNCTofDelhihasaseparat
eHi ghCourt.

AndamanandNi
cobarI
sands Cal
l cut
taHi
ghCour
t

Chandi
gar
h Punj
abandHar
yanaHi
ghCour
t

Dadr
aandnagarHavel
i BombayHi
ghCour
t

DamanandDi
u BombayHi
ghCour
t

NCTofDel
hi Del
hiHi
ghCour
t

Laks
hwadeep Ker
alaHi
ghCour
t

Puducher
ry Madr
asHi
ghCour
t

Whatar
ethei
ssuesr
elat
edt
othes
tat
usofNCTofDel
hi?

TheCons t
itutionunderAr ticle239AAment i
onss peci
alprovi
s i
onsf ortheNCTofDel hi
.
Thesepr ovisionswer einser tedthroughtheSixty-ni
nthCons t
ituti
onal Amendment
Act.Thear ticleprovidesforanel ect
edlegis
latureof70member sdir
ect l
yelectedby
thepeopl e.Theas s
embl ycanmakel awsonal lmat t
ersment i
onedi nt heStateLis
t
andt heConcur rentListexceptl and,poli
ceandpubl icorder
.Lawsoft hePar l
iament
prevailoverl awsmadebyt heas semblyinall
cas esexceptthosewher ethelawhas
beenr eservedf orcons i
derat ionofthePresi
dentandhasr eceivedhi sassent.

Ther
eexi
stt
woout
standi
ngi
ssuesr
elat
edt
otheNCTofDel
hi:

1
.Theexclusi
onofland,poli
ceandpubli
corderfr
om t
helaw-
maki
ngpower
sof
theas
semblycurt
ail
sitseff
ort
stoprovi
deademocrati
copti
ont
oit
s
popul
ati
onandleavesthem atthemercyoftheUni
on.

2.I
ncas eofadi ff
erenceofopi ni
onbet weentheLieutenantGovernorandthe
ChiefMini
ster,t
hemat terisrefer
redtothePr es
ident.However,i
fthematter
requir
esimmedi ateacti
ont hentheLieutenantGovernorcantakewhatact i
on
hedeemsneces sary.
Thisisineffectacompleteabrogati
onofthepower sof
theelect
edr epresent
ativei.
e.theChiefMinis
ter.I
thasbeenarguedt hatt
his
provi
sionisusedbyt heCent retobypasstheelectedmachineryatitsown
whims .
Ont heabovemat terpert
aini
ngt oadmini
str
ativecont
roloverDel
hi,
theHighCourt
ofDelhihasgivenajudgementt hattheLi
eutenantGovernorandnottheChief
Minist
eristheadminist
rati
veheadoft heGovernmentofDelhi.
Thi
sisinconsonance
withtheCons t
it
uti
onal pr
ovis
ions.However,
anappeal hasbeenmadeandt he
matterissubjudi
ceintheSupr emeCourtofIndia.

Concl
usi
on

Thus,ass eenUni onTerri

tori
eshaveapos i
ti
onquitediff
erentf r
om thatofthes t
ates
undert heIndianUni on.
Whi l
ecert
ainuni onter
ri
tori
esdohavel egisl
atur
es,the
ul
timateaut hori
ty, i
neit
hercase,r
emai nstheCentre.Thes it
uat i
onofDelhi i
sunique
becaus eitals
os ervesasthecapit
al ofthenati
onandhencer equir
escertainspeci
al
provi
sions .
Thejudgement softheSupr emeCour t
,pertaini
ngt othemat tersofthe
administrati
onofDel hiwil
lbecoveredindet ai
li
nourcur rentaffair
s.

I
ndi
anFeder
alSys
tem –Pol
i
tical
Sci
ence
Governmentshavebeencl as
sif
iedint
oUni t
aryandFeder albasedondi s
tri
buti
onof
powerbetweennat i
onalandregionalgover
nment s
.Inafederalsetupthereisatwo
ti
erofGover nmentwith wellassi
gned powersandf unctions
.Int hi
ss yst
em the
centr
algovernmentandt hegover nmentsoft heregionactwi t
hinawel ldefi
ned
sphere,
co-
ordinat
eandatt hesamet i
meacti ndependentl
y.

Thef
ederalpol
i
ty,i
notherwor ds,pr
ovi
desacons
tit
uti
onaldevi
ceforbri
nginguni
ty
i
ndiver
sit
yandf ortheachievementofcommonnat i
onalgoal
s.Hence,Indi
awas
madeaFederalsys
tem ofgovernment.
Feat
uresofI
ndi
anFeder
ali
sm

Feat
uresofI
ndi
ancons
tit
uti
ont
hatmakesi
tfeder
alar
eli
stedi
nthef
oll
owi
ngpoi
nts
:

 Wr
it
tenCons
tit
uti
on:Themos
timpor
tantf
eat
ureofaf
eder
ati
oni
sthati
tshoul
d
haveawrit
tenconst
it
uti
on,sothatboththeUni
onGover
nmentaswel
last
heSt
ate
canref
ertothatwheneverconfl
i
ctari
ses
.TheCons
tit
uti
onofI
ndi
aisawri
tt
enand
mostel
aborat
eConsti
tut
ionoftheworl
d.
  Supr
emacyofCons
tit
uti
on:Thecons
tit
uti
oni
sthes
upr
emebecaus
ebot
htheuni
on
and the s tat
esar e gi
ven power
sby the Const
it
uti
on asto be i
ndependenti n
thei
rspher es ofgovernance.Bot
h make l
aws conforming tothe provi
si
ons of
const
itut
ionot her
wisetheycanbedecl
aredinval
i
dbyt hesupremecourtthr
oughits
powerofj udici
alr
eview.

 Ri
gidCons
tit
uti
on:Thepr
ocedur
eofamendi
ngt
heCons
tit
uti
oni
naf
eder
als
yst
em i
s
normal l
yr i
gid.IndianConst
it
uti
on providesthatpr ovisi
onsr egardi
ng t
he f ederal
attr
ibutescanbeamendedbyas pecialmajori
ty,i
.
e.suchanamendmenthast obe
passedbymaj orit
yoftotalmembersofeachhous eoft hePar l
iamentaswel las,by
two-thir
dsmaj ori
tyofthemember spresentandvot ingthere.Also,i
naddi
tiont othis
process,suchamendment smus tbeappr ovedbyatl east50% oft hestates.After
thi
spr oceduretheamendmenti ssi
gnedbyt hePr esi
dent.

 Di
vis
ionofPower
s:I
nourCons
tit
uti
on,
ther
eisacl
eardi
vis
ionofpower
ssot
hatnone
vi
olatesitsli
mitsandt ri
estoencroachupont hef uncti
onsoft heot herandfuncti
ons
withi
nowns phereofr esponsi
bil
i
ties
.Ther earet hreeli
stsenumer atedintheSeventh
Scheduleofcons t
ituti
on, –theUni on li
st,theSt at
el i
stand t heConcur r
entLi s
t.
TheUni on Lis
tcons i
stsof1 00 subj
ect sofnat i
onali mpor tance such asDef ence,
Rail
ways ,Pos tandTel egraph,etc.TheSt ate Listconsi
stsof61s ubj
ectsofl ocal
i
nterests uch as Publ i
c Healt
h,Pol i
ce et c.TheConcur rentLi sthas 52 subjects
i
mpor tanttobot htheUni onandtheSt ate.SuchasEl ectri
ci
t y,TradeUnion,Economi c
andSoci alPl
anning,etc.

 Supr
emacy and I
ndependence oft
he J
udi
ci
ary:A ver
yimpor
tantf
eat
ure ofa
feder
at i
onisani
ndependentj
udi
ciar
ytointerpr
ettheConsti
tut
ionandtomaintainit
s
sanct
ity.TheSupremeCourtofIndi
ahast heori
ginal
juri
sdi
cti
ontos et
tledi
sputes
betweent heUnionandt heStates
.Itcandecl areal aw asuncons
tit
uti
onal,ifi
t
contr
avenesanypr ovi
si
onoft
heCons t
it
uti
on.

Nat
ureofI
ndi
anf
eder
ati
on

I
nspiteoft hefactthattheI
ndianConsti
tut
ionestabl
is
hesaf ederals
truct
ure,i
tis
i
ndeedverydi ff
erentthenatruefeder
ati
on.Thef ramersoftheConsti
tuti
onhave
modif
ied the true natur
e ofIndi
an federat
ion by incor
porat
ingcert
ainunit
ary
f
eaturesi
nit .
Theseare:

 TheCons
tit
uti
onofI
ndi
ahasf
eder
alf
eat
uresbuti
tdoesnotcl
aimt
obeaf
eder
ati
on.
I
tcal l
sIndi
aa“ UnionofStates”.Arti
cleIoft heCons t
it
uti
ondes cri
besIndiaasa
‘
Uni onofSt
ates’,whichi
mpliestwot hings:f
ir
stl
y,i
tisnottheresul
tofanagr eement
amongt heSt at
esands econdly,theSt at
eshavenof reedom tosecedeors epar
ate
fr
om t heUnion.Bes i
des
,thef ederati
onisauni onbecaus eitisindest
ruct
ibl
eand
helpstomaintai
nt heuni
tyofthecount ry.

 TheCent
reappoi
ntst
heGover
nor
soft
heSt
ateswhoenj
oysext
ens
ivepower
sin
speci
alci
rcumst
ances.
Gover
nori
stheagentoftheCentr
eintheStates
.Inthepast
heGovernorhasact
edmoreasCent
re’
srepr
esent
ati
vethanastheheadoftheSt
ate.
 Thi
senabl
est
heUni
ongover
nmentt
oexer
cis
econt
rol
overt
heSt
ateadmi
nis
trat
ion.

 Unequalr
epr
esent
ati
oni
nupperhous
e:Theequal
i
tyofuni
tsi
naf
eder
ati
oni
sbes
t
guaranteed by theirequalrepresent
ati
on int heUpperHous
e ofthe feder
al
l
egis
lature(Par
li
ament )
.However,t
hisdoesnothappenincas
eofI
ndi
anStat
es.They
haveunequal r
epresentat
ioni
ntheRajyaSabha.

 Appoi
ntmentofi
mpor
tantor
gani
zat
ionheads
:Al
limpor
tantappoi
ntment
ssuchas
t
heChi
efEl
ecti
onCommis
sioner
,theCompt
rol
l
erandAudi
torGener
alar
emadeby
t
heUni
onGovernment
.

 Si
ngl
eci
ti
zens
hip:Ther
eisno pr
ovi
si
on f
ors
epar
ateCons
tit
uti
onsf
ort
hes
tat
es.
TheSt
atescannotpropos
eamendment
sto,t
heCons
tit
uti
on.Amendment
scanonl
y
bemadebyt heUni
onParli
ament
.

 Al
lIndi
aSer
vices
:Inor
dert
oens
ureuni
for
mit
yoft
headmi
nis
trat
ives
yst
em andt
o
maintai
nmi ni
mum commonadmi ni
str
ati
ves
tandar
dswi
thouti
mpair
ingthefeder
al
sys
tem,AllIndiaSer
vicessuchasI
ASandIPShavebeencreatedwhichar
ekept
underthecontr
oloft
heUnion.

 Emer
gencyPr
ovi
si
ons
:Dur
ingFi
nanci
alEmer
gency,t
heCent
erexer
cis
esf
ullcont
rol
overtheState’
sfinances.I
ncas eofdisturbancesi
nanySt at
eorpartther
eof
,the
UnionGovernmenti sempower edt odeput eCentr
alForceintheStat
eort othe
dis
tur
bedpar toft
heSt ate.I
nallt
hreetypesofemergenci
es;Cent
rei
sempoweredto
excer
cis
efull
controloverthest
atemachi nery.

 Par
li
amentcont
rolovers
tat
e:I
tcanmakel
awst
oincr
eas
eordecr
eas
ethear
eaof
anyStateandmayal
teri
tsnameandboundar
ies
.Itmayal
ters
ubj
ect
s’nt
hes
tat
e
l
istal
so.

 Uni
fi
edJ
udi
ci
ary:Cont
rar
ytot
hef
eder
alpr
inci
plewhi
chhasaduals
yst
em ofCour
ts,
I
ndi
ahasuni
fi
edJ
udi
ci
arywi
tht
heSupr
emeCour
tatt
heapex
.

Henceitcanbeconcludedt hattheConstit
uti
onofI ndi
aestabl
i
shesas t
rongCentre
byshower i
ngall-
import
ants ubject
st ot
heCent reaspert heUnionList
.TheState
Governments have limited power s whil
e largely bei
ng dependent on t he
Centr
e.Especi
all
y,theStat esar edependentont heCentr
ef i
nanci
all
y.TheStates
havetowor ki
ncloseco-oper at
ionwi t
htheCentre.

PanchayatRaj
Athree-t
ierst
ructur
eoftheIndi
anadmini
str
ati
onforr
uraldevelopmentiscal
led
PanchayatiRaj.
Theaim oft
hePanchayat
iRaji
stodeveloplocalsel
f-
governmentsi
n
di
str
icts
,zonesandvi l
l
ages.

I
ntr
oduct
iont
oPanchayat
iRaj
Ruraldevel
opmenti soneofthemai nobj
ecti
vesofPanchayat
iRajandt hi
shasbeen
est
ablis
hedi nall
statesofI
ndiaexceptNagal
and,MeghalayaandMi zoram,i
nall
UnionTerri
tori
esexceptDelhi
.andcertai
notherar
eas.Theseareasi
nclude:

a.Thes cheduledareasandt het

ri
balar
easinthes t
ates
b.Thehi l
lareaofMani purf
orwhichadist
ri
ctcouncilexi
stsand
c. Dar
jeeli
ngdistr
ictofWestBengalf
orwhichDarjeeli
ngGor khaHi
l
lCounci
lexi
sts

Evol
uti
onofPanchayat
iRaj
ThePanchayat isys t
em i nI ndiai snotpurelyapos t
-independencephenomenon. I
n
fact,
thedomi nantpol itical i
nstituti
oninruralIndiahasbeent hevi l
lagepanchayat
forcenturi
es .
Inanci entI ndia,panchayat swer eus ual l
yelectedcounci lswit
h
executiveandj udicial power s.Foreigndomi nation,es peci
all
yMughal andBrit
ish,
andt henat uralandf or ceds ocio-economicchangeshadunder minedt he
i
mpor tanceoft hevi ll
agepanchayat s
.Inthepr e-i
ndependenceper iod,however,the
panchayat swer eins trument sfort hedomi nanceoft heuppercas tesovertherestof
thevill
age,whi chf urther edt hedi videbasedonei t
hert hes ocio-economicstatusor
thecas tehi
erar chy.
Theevolut
ionoft hePanchayatiRajSyst
em, however,gotafil
li
paft
ert
he
att
ainmentofindependenceaf t
erthedrafti
ngoft heConsti
tuti
on.
TheConsti
tut
ion
ofI
ndiainArti
cle40enjoined:“
Thes tat
es hal
ltakestepstoorgani
sevi
l
lage
panchayatsandendowt hem withsuchpower sandauthori
tyasmaybeneces s
ary
toenablet
hem t ofunct
ionasunitsofself
-government”.
Ther
ewer eanumberofcommi t
teesappoi
ntedbytheGover
nmentofI
ndi
atos
tudy
thei
mplementati
onofsel
f-
governmentatt
her ur
all
evel
andals
orecommends
teps
i
nachievi
ngthisgoal
.
Thecommi
tt
eesappoi
ntedar
easf
oll
ows
:

 Bal
wantRai
Meht
aCommi
tt
ee

 As
hokMeht
aCommi
tt
ee

 GVKRaoCommi
tt
ee

 LM Si
nghvi
Commi
tt
ee

Bal
wantRai
Meht
aCommi
tt
ee&Panchayat
iRaj
Thecommitteewasappointedi
n1 957,
toexami neands uggestmeasur
esforbet
ter
worki
ngoftheCommuni tyDevelopmentProgrammeandt heNati
onalExt
ensi
on
Ser
vice.
Thecommitteesuggestedtheest
ablis
hmentofademocr ati
cdecent
ral
is
ed
l
ocalgover
nmentwhi chcametobeknownast hePanchayati
Raj.
Recommendat
ionsbyt
heCommi
tt
ee:
  Thr
ee-
ti
erPanchayat
iRajs
yst
em:Gr
am Panchayat
,PanchayatSami
tiand Zi
l
a
Par
ishad.

 Di
rect
lyel
ect
ed r
epr
esent
ati
vest
o cons
tit
utet
hegr
am panchayatand i
ndi
rect
ly
el
ect
edr
epr
esent
ati
vest
ocons
tit
utet
hePanchayatSami
tiandZi
l
aPar
ishad.

 Pl
anni
nganddevel
opmentar
ethepr
imar
yobj
ect
ivesoft
hePanchayat
iRaj
sys
tem.

 PanchayatSami
tis
houl
dbet
heexecut
ivebodyandZi
l
aPar
ishadwi
l
lactast
he
advi
sor
yands
uper
vis
orybody.

 Di
str
ictCol
l
ect
ort
obemadet
hechai
rmanoft
heZi
l
aPar
ishad.

 I
tal
sor
eques
tedf
orpr
ovi
si
oni
ngr
esour
cess
oast
ohel
pthem di
schar
get
hei
rdut
ies
andr
espons
ibi
l
iti
es.
TheBal wantRai MehtaCommi t
teef urt
herr evit
ali
sedt hedevelopmentof
panchayat sinthecount ry,t
her eportrecommendedt hatthePanchayatiRaj
i
ns ti
tut
ionscanpl ayas ubs t
anti
al rol
eincommuni t
ydevel opmentprogrammes
throughoutt hecountr
y. Theobject i
veoft hePanchayat sthuswasthedemocr atic
decentrali
sationthr
ought heeff
ect i
vepar ti
cipati
onofl ocalswitht
hehelpofwel l
-
plannedpr ogrammes .Event het henPrimeMi ni
sterofIndia,Pandi
tJawaharlal
Nehr u,
def endedthepanchayats yst
em bys aying,“...authori
tyandpowermus tbe
giventot hepeopleinthevi ll
ages…. Letusgi vepowert ot hepanchayats
.”

As
hokMeht
aCommi
tt
ee&Panchayat
iRaj
Thecommi t
teewasappoint
edin1977tosugges
tmeas
urest
orevi
veands
trengt
hen
thedecl
i
ningPanchayat
iRajsys
tem i
nIndi
a.
Thekeyr
ecommendat
ionsar
e:

 Thet
hree-
ti
ers
yst
em s
houl
dber
epl
acedwi
that
wo-
ti
ers
yst
em:Zi
l
aPar
ishad
(
dis
tri
ctl
evel
)andt
heMandal
Panchayat(
agr
oupofvi
l
lages
).

 Di
str
ictl
evel
ast
hef
ir
stl
evel
ofs
uper
vis
ionaf
tert
hes
tat
elevel
.

 Zi
l
aPar
ishads
houl
dbet
heexecut
ivebodyandr
espons
ibl
eforpl
anni
ngatt
he
di
str
ictl
evel
.

 Thei
nst
it
uti
ons(
Zil
aPar
ishadandt
heMandal
Panchayat
)tohavecompul
sor
y
t
axat
ionpower
stomobi
l
iset
hei
rownf
inanci
alr
esour
ces
.

GVKRaoCommi
tt
ee&Panchayat
iRaj
Thecommi t
teewasappointedbyt heplanni
ngcommi ssi
oni n1985.I
trecognised
thatdevel
opmentwasnots eenatt hegrass
rootl
evelduet obureaucrati
sati
on
resul
ti
nginPanchayatRaji
nsti
tut
ionsbeingaddress
edas‘ grasswithoutroots’
.
Hence,itmadesomekeyrecommendat i
onswhichareasf ol
lows:

 Zi
l
aPar
ishadt
obet
hemos
timpor
tantbodyi
nthes
chemeofdemocr
ati
c
decentr
ali
sat
ion.
Zil
aPari
shadtobet
hepr
inci
pal
bodyt
omanaget
hedevel
opment
al
progr
ammesatt hedis
tri
ctl
evel
.
  Thedi
str
ictandt
hel
owerl
evel
soft
hePanchayat
iRaj
sys
tem t
obeas
signedwi
th
speci
fi
cpl
anni
ng,
impl
ement
ati
onandmoni
tor
ingoft
her
ural
devel
opment
al
progr
ammes.

 Pos
tofDi
str
ictDevel
opmentCommi
ssi
onert
obecr
eat
ed.
Hewi
l
lbet
hechi
ef
execut
iveof
fi
ceroft
heZi
l
aPar
ishad.

 El
ect
ionst
othel
evel
sofPanchayat
iRaj
sys
temss
houl
dbehel
dregul
arl
y.

LM Si
nghvi
Commi
tt
ee&Panchayat
iRaj
Thecommi tt
eewasappointedbyt heGovernmentofIndi
ain1986wit
hthemai
n
obj
ecti
vet orecommendstepstorevi
tali
sethePanchayat
iRajsys
temsfor
democracyanddevelopment.Thefoll
owingrecommendationsweremadebyt
he
committee:

 Thecommi
tt
eer
ecommendedt
hatt
hePanchayat
iRaj
sys
temss
houl
dbe
consti
tuti
onal
lyr
ecogni
sed.
Ital
sorecommendedconst
it
uti
onal
provi
si
onst
o
recognis
efreeandfai
rel
ect
ionsfort
hePanchayat
iRajs
yst
ems.

 Thecommi
tt
eer
ecommendedr
eor
gani
sat
ionofvi
l
lagest
omaket
hegr
am
panchayatmor
evi
abl
e.

 I
trecommendedt
hatvi
l
lagepanchayat
sshoul
dhavemor
efi
nancesf
ort
hei
r
act
ivi
ti
es.

 J
udi
ci
alt
ri
bunal
stobes
etupi
neachs
tat
etoadj
udi
cat
emat
ter
srel
ati
ngt
othe
elect
ionstothePanchayat
iRaj
ins
tit
uti
onsandot
hermat
ter
srel
ati
ngt
othei
r
functi
oning.
Allthes ethi ngsf ur thert hear gumentt hatpanchayat scanbever yef fecti
vei n
i
dent ifyi
ngands olvi ngl ocal problems ,involvet hepeopl ei nthevi ll
agesi nthe
devel opment al act ivities,impr ovet hecommuni cationbet weendi ff
er entlevelsat
whi chpol iti
csoper at es ,developl eader ships kil
lsandi ns horthel pt hebas i
c
devel opmenti nt hes tateswi thoutmaki ngt oomanys tructural changes .Rajasthan
andAndhr aPr ades hwer ethef irs
tt oadoptPanchayat iraj i
n1 959, others tates
fol
lowedt hem l ater .Thought her ear evar iati
onsamongs tates, ther ear esome
feat ur esthatar ecommon. I
nmos toft hes tates,forexampl e,at hr ee-t i
erstructure
i
ncl udi ngpanchayat satt hevi ll
agel evel ,panchayats ami ti
satt hebl ockl evel and
thezi l
apar ishadsatt hedi str
ictlevel -hasbeeni nstitutional i
zed. Duet ot hes ustained
effor toft heci vils ociet yor gani sations ,i
ntell
ectual sandpr ogres sivepol i
ti
cal l
eader s
,
thePar l
iamentpas sedt woamendment stot heCons ti
tution–t he73 Cons
r
d
tit
ution
Amendmentf orr ural l
ocal bodi es( panchayat s)andt he74 Cons
t
h
tit
ut i
onAmendment
forur banl ocal bodi es( municipal i
ti
es )maki ngt hem ‘ instit
ut i
onsofs elf-government ’.
Wi thinayearal lthes tatespas sedt heirownact sinconf ormityt ot heamended
cons t i
tutional pr ovis ions .

73rd Cons
tit
uti
onal
AmendmentActof1
992
Si
gni
fi
canceoft
heAct

 TheActaddedPar
tIXt
otheCons
tit
uti
on,
“ThePanchayat
s”andal
soaddedt
he
El
event
hSchedul
ewhi
chcons
ist
soft
he29f
unct
ional
itemsoft
hepanchayat
s.
  Par
tIXoft
heCons
tit
uti
oncont
ainsAr
ti
cl
e243t
oAr
ti
cl
e243O.

 TheAmendmentActpr
ovi
dess
hapet
oAr
ti
cl
e40oft
heCons
tit
uti
on,
(di
rect
ive
pri
nci
plesofs
tat
epolicy)
,whi
chdi
rect
sthest
atetoorgani
sethevi
ll
agepanchayats
andprovidet
hem powersandaut
hori
tysot
hattheycanfuncti
onassel
f-
government.

 Wi
tht
heAct
,Panchayat
iRaj
sys
temscomeundert
hepur
viewoft
hej
ust
ici
abl
epar
t
oftheConsti
tut
ionandmandatesstatest
oadoptthesys
tem.Further
,theelect
ion
processi
nthePanchayat
iRaj
insti
tuti
onswil
lbeheldi
ndependentofthestate
government’
swi l
l
.

 TheActhast
wopar
ts:compul
sor
yandvol
unt
ary.
Compul
sor
ypr
ovi
si
onsmus
tbe
addedtost
atel
aws,whi
chincl
udesthecreat
ionofthenewPanchayati
Rajsys
tems.
Vol
untar
yprovi
si
ons
,ontheotherhand,i
sthedis
creti
onoft
hestategover
nment.

 TheActi
saver
ysi
gni
fi
cants
tepi
ncr
eat
ingdemocr
ati
cins
tit
uti
onsatt
hegr
ass
root
s
l
eveli
nt hecount
ry.
TheActhast
rans
for
medt
her
epr
esent
ati
vedemocr
acyi
nto
par
ti
cipator
ydemocracy.

Sal
i
entFeat
uresoft
heAct

1. Gram Sabha:Gr am Sabhai sthepr i

mar ybodyoft hePanchayat iRajs ystem. I
tisa
vil
lageas sembl ycons isti
ngofal lt
her egis
teredvot er
swi t
hint heareaoft he
panchayat .I
twi llexer ci
sepower sandper for
ms uchf uncti
onsasdet er minedbyt he
statelegisl
ature. Candi datescanr efertot hefunct i
onsofgr am panchayatandgr am
panchayatwor k, ont hegover nmentof fi
cialwebs ite–ht t
ps :/
/grammanchi t
ra.
gov.in/
.
2. Three- t
iersystem:TheActpr ovidesf orthees tabli
shmentoft hethree- t
iersystem of
Panchayat iRaj int hes t
ates(vi l
l
age, i
ntermedi ateanddi strictlevel
).St ateswitha
popul ati
onofl es st han20l akhsmaynotcons tit
utet heintermedi atelevel .
3.El ecti
onofmember sandchai rperson:Themember stoallthel evel
soft he
Panchayat iRaj ar eel ecteddirect l
yandt hechai rper s
onst ot heintermedi at
eandt he
distri
ctlevelareel ectedindirectlyfrom theelectedmember sandatt hevi ll
agelevel
theChai rpersoni sel ectedasdet erminedbyt hes tategover nment .
4.Res ervati
onofs eat s:

 ForSCandST:Res
ervat
iont
obepr
ovi
dedatal
lthet
hreet
ier
sinaccor
dance
wi
tht
hei
rpopul
ati
onper
cent
age.

 Forwomen:Notl
esst
hanone-
thi
rdoft
het
otal
numberofs
eat
stober
eser
ved
forwomen,f
urt
hernotles
st hanone-
thi
rdoft
hetotalnumberofof
fi
cesf
or
chai
rper
sonatal
ll
evelsofthepanchayatt
obereservedforwomen.

 Thes
tat
elegi
sl
atur
esar
eal
sogi
vent
hepr
ovi
si
ont
odeci
deont
her
eser
vat
ion
ofseat
sinanyl
evelofpanchayatorof
fi
ceofchai
rper
soni
nfavourof
backwardcl
ass
es.

Dur
ationofPanchayat:
TheActprovi
desforafi
ve-yeart
erm ofof
fi
cetoallt
hel
evel
s
ofthepanchayat.
However ,
thepanchayatcanbedis
solvedbefor
ethecompleti
onofi
ts
ter
m. Butf
reshel
ecti
onstoconsti
tut
ethenewpanchayats hal
lbecompleted–

 bef
oret
heexpi
ryofi
tsf
ive-
yeardur
ati
on.
  i
ncas
eofdi
ssol
uti
on,
bef
oret
heexpi
ryofaper
iodofs
ixmont
hsf
rom t
hedat
e
ofi
tsdi
ssol
uti
on.

Di
squal
if
icat
ion:Apersonshal
lbedisqual
i
fiedf
orbei
ngchos
enasorf
orbei
nga
memberofpanchayatifhei
ss odi
squal
i
fied–

 Underanyl
awf
ort
het
imebei
ngi
nfor
cef
ort
hepur
pos
eofel
ect
ionst
othe
l
egi
sl
atur
eoft
hes
tat
econcer
ned.

 Underanyl
awmadebyt
hes
tat
elegi
sl
atur
e.However
,noper
sons
hal
lbe
di
squal
i
fiedonthegroundthathei
sles
sthan25year
sofagei
fhehas
at
tai
nedt heageof21year
s.

 Fur
ther
,al
lques
tionsr
elat
ingt
odi
squal
i
ficat
ions
hal
lber
efer
redt
oan
aut
hor
it
ydet
ermi
nedbyt
hes
tat
elegi
sl
atur
es.

St
ateel
ecti
oncommi s
sion:
 Thecommi ss
ioni sr
esponsi
blefors
uper
int
endence,di
rect
ionandcontr
olof
theprepar
ationofelector
alrol
l
sandconduct
ingelect
ionsfort
hepanchayat
.

 Thes
tat
elegi
sl
atur
emaymakepr
ovi
si
onswi
thr
espectt
oal
lmat
ter
srel
ati
ng
t
oel
ect
ionst
othepanchayat
s.

8.PowersandFuncti
ons:Thestatel
egi
sl
aturemayendowt hePanchayat
swithsuch
powersandauthori
tyasmaybeneces sar
ytoenablethem tofuncti
onasi
nsti
tuti
ons
ofsel
f-
government
.Suchas chememaycont ai
nprovi
sionsrel
atedtoGram
Panchayatworkwit
hr es
pectto:

 t
hepr
epar
ati
onofpl
ansf
oreconomi
cdevel
opmentands
oci
alj
ust
ice.

 t
hei
mpl
ement
ati
onofs
chemesf
oreconomi
cdevel
opmentands
oci
alj
ust
ice
asmaybeent
rustedt
ot hem,i
ncl
udi
ngt
hos
einr
elat
iont
othe29mat
ter
s
l
is
tedi
ntheEl
eventhSchedul
e.

Fi
nances
:Thes
tat
elegi
sl
atur
emay–

 Aut
hor
izeapanchayatt
olevy,
col
l
ectandappr
opr
iat
etaxes
,dut
ies
,tol
l
sand
f
ees
.

 As
signt
oapanchayatt
axes
,dut
ies
,tol
l
sandf
eesl
evi
edandcol
l
ect
edbyt
he
s
tat
egover
nment
.

 Pr
ovi
def
ormaki
nggr
ant
s-i
n-ai
dtot
hepanchayat
sfr
om t
hecons
oli
dat
ed
f
undoft
hes
tat
e.

 Pr
ovi
def
ort
hecons
tit
uti
onoff
undsf
orcr
edi
ti
ngal
lmoneyoft
hepanchayat
s.

1
0.FinanceCommi ss
ion:Thes t
atefinancecommis
sionreviewsthefi
nanci
alposi
ti
onof
thepanchayatsandpr ovi
desr ecommendati
onsfortheneces s
aryst
epstobetaken
tosupplementresourcestothepanchayat.
1
1.AuditofAccounts:St
atelegisl
aturemaymakepr ovi
sionsfort
hemaintenanceand
 audi
tofpanchayataccounts.
1
2.Appli
cati
ontoUnionTerri
tor
ies:ThePresi
dentmaydi rectt
hepr ovisi
onsoft
heActto
beappli
edonanyuni onterr
itorysubj
ecttoexcepti
onsandmodi fi
cati
onshespeci
fi
es.
1
3.Exemptedst
atesandar eas:
TheActdoesnotappl ytothes t
atesofNagaland,
MeghalayaandMi zor
am andcer t
ainotherareas.
Thes eareasincl
ude,

 Thes
chedul
edar
easandt
het
ri
bal
areasi
nthes
tat
es

 Thehi
l
lar
eaofMani
purf
orwhi
chadi
str
ictcounci
lexi
sts

 Dar
jeel
i
ngdi
str
ictofWes
tBengal
forwhi
chDar
jeel
i
ngGor
khaHi
l
lCounci
l
exi
sts.
However ,
Par
li
amentcanext
endt hi
sparttothes
eareass
ubj
ecttothe
excepti
onandmodif
icat
ioni
tspecif
ies
.Thus,
thePESAActwasenacted.

Continuanceofexi st
inglaw:Al lthes tatelawsr elat
ingt opanchayat sshallcontinue
tobei nforceunt i
l t
heexpi r
yofoneyearf rom thecommencementoft hisAct.Inotherwor ds,
thestateshavet oadoptt henewPanchayat irajsystem basedont hi
sActwi thinthe
maximum per i
odofoneyearf rom 24Apr il1993,whi chwast hedat eoft hecommencement
ofthisAct .
However ,allthePanchayat sexistingimmedi at
elybef or
et hecommencementof
theActs hallcontinuet i
lltheexpir
yoft heirterm, unlessdissolvedbyt hes tatelegisl
ature
sooner.
Bartointerferencebycour t
s :TheActbar sthecourtsf rom interferi
ngi ntheelect oral
mat t
ersofpanchayat s.
Itdeclaresthatt heval i
dityofanyl awr el
atingt othedel imit
ationof
constit
uenciesort heal l
ot mentofs eatst os uchcons tit
uenciescannotbeques tionedinany
court.I
tfurtherlaysdownt hatnoel ecti
ont oanypanchayati st obeques ti
onedexceptby
anelect i
onpet i
ti
onpr esentedtos uchaut horityandi nsuchmanneraspr ovidedbyt hes t
ate
l
egisl
at ure.

PESAActof1
996
Theprovis
ionsofPartI
Xarenotappli
cabletotheFi
fthScheduleareas.
The
Parl
i
amentcanext endthi
sParttosuchareaswithmodifi
cati
onsandexcepti
onsasi
t
mays peci
fy.Undert
heseprovi
si
ons,Parl
i
amentenact edProvis
ionsoft
he
Panchayats(Ext
ensi
ontotheScheduledAreas
)Act,popularl
yknownasPESAActor
theextensi
onact.
Obj
ect
ivesoft
hePESAAct
:

1. Toextendtheprovi
sionsofPar tI
Xtot hescheduledareas.
2. Toprovidesel
f-
rul
ef orthetri
bal populati
on.
3.Tohavevi l
l
agegover nancewi thpar t
ici
patorydemocracy.
4.Toevol veparti
ci
patorygover nancecons ist
entwiththet r
adit
ionalpract
ices
.
5.Topr eserveandsafeguar dtr
adi t
ionsandcus tomsoftribalpopulat
ion.
6.Toempowerpanchayat swithpower sconducivetotri
balrequir
ement s.
7.Topr eventpanchayat satahi gherlevelfr
om assumingpower sandaut hori
tyof
panchayatsatalowerl evel
.

Asaresul
toftheseconst
ituti
onal s
tepstakenbyt heunionands t
at egovernment s,
I
ndiahasmovedt owardswhathasbeendes cr
ibedas‘ mul
ti
-levelfederal
ism’,
and
moresi
gnif
icant
ly,i
thaswi denedthedemocr aticbaseoftheI ndi
anpol i
ty.Before
theamendments,theI
ndiandemocr at
icstr
ucturethroughelectedr epr
esentatives
wasrest
ri
ctedtothetwohous esofParl
iament,stat
eas sembliesandcer tai
nuni on
t
errit
ori
es.Thesyst
em hasbr
oughtgover
nanceandis
sueredres
salt
othegrassr
oot
l
evelsinthecountr
ybutther
ear eot
heri
ssuest
oo.
Theseis
sues,i
faddr
essed,wi
llgo
alongwayi ncreat
inganenvir
onmentwheresomeofthebasi
chumanr i
ghtsar
e
r
es pect
ed.
Afterthenewgener at i
onofpanchayat shads tartedfunctioning,severaliss
ueshave
comet othef ore,whi chhaveabear ingonhumanr i
ght s.
Thei mpor tantfactorwhich
hascont r
ibutedtot hehumanr ight
ss i
tuat i
onvis-a-visthepanchayats ystem isthe
natureofIndians ociety,whichofcoursedet erminest henat ureoft hestate.Indi
an
societ
yisknownf oritsinequali
ty,s
ocial hi
erarchyandt her i
chandpoordi vide.The
socialhi
erarchyisther esultoft
hecas tes ystem, whichisuni quetoI ndi
a.Ther ef
ore,
casteandcl assaret het wofactors
,whi chdes erveat tenti
oni nthi
scont ext.
Thus
,thelocalgover
nancesys
tem haschall
engedtheageol
dpract
icesofhi
erar
chy
i
ntheruralareasoft
hecountr
yparti
cul
arlythoser
elat
edtocas
te,r
eli
gionand
di
scr
iminati
onagainstwomen.

Whoi
sthef
atherofPanchayat
iRaj
?
Bal
wantRaiMehtawasapar
li
ament
ari
anwhoi scr
edi
tedforpioneer
ingtheconcept
oft
hePanchayat
iRaj
inI
ndi
aandwasalsoknownasthe‘FatherofPanchayat
iRaj’
.

Whati
sthei
mpor
tanceofPanchayat
iRaj
?
Panchayati
Raj i
nsti
tut
esvill
agelocal
governmentthatpl
aysas i
gnif
icantr
oleint
he
devel
opmentofvi l
l
ageses peci
all
yinareasli
kepr
imaryeducat
ion,healt
h,
agri
cul
turaldevel
opment s,
womenandchi l
ddevel
opmentandwomenpar tici
pat
ion
i
nlocalgovernment,etc.

Whi
chs
tat
einI
ndi
ahasnoPanchayat
iRaj
ins
tit
uti
on?
Al
lst
atesofI
ndiahavePanchayatiRajs
yst
emsexceptNagal
and,
Meghal
ayaand
Mi
zoram,i
nallUni
onTerri
tor
iesexceptDel
hi;andcer
tai
not
herar
eas
.

Whatar
ethef
eat
uresofPanchayat
iRaj
?

1
. Gr
am Sabha:Gr
am Sabhai
sthepr
imar
ybodyoft
hePanchayat
iRaj
sys
tem.
Iti
sa
vi
ll
ageassemblycons ist
ingofal l
theregist
eredvoter
swi t
hintheareaoft
he
panchayat.
2. ThreeTi
erSystem:vill
age, i
ntermediateanddist
rictl
evels
.
3.Electi
onofmember sandchai rperson:Themember stoallthel
evel
softhe
Panchayat
iRaj ar
eel ect
eddi rect
lyandt hechai
rpersonstothei
ntermedi
ateandt
he
di
stri
ctl
evelsareelectedindir
ectly.
Muni
ci
pal
Cor
por
ati
on(
Indi
a)
Amuni cipalcor
por ati
onisalocalgover
nmentinIndiathatadminister
surbanareas
withapopul ati
onofmor et hanonemi l
l
ion.
Thegrowi ngpopulati
onand
urbanizati
oninvar i
ousciti
esofIndi
awer ei
nneedofal ocal
governingbodythat
canwor kf
orprovidingnecessarycommunityser
vicesli
kehealthcare,educat
ional
i
ns t
it
ution,housi
ng, tr
ansportet
c.bycoll
ecti
ngpropertytaxandfixedgrantfr
om the
StateGover nment.
The74thamendmentactl
aiddownt
het
ypeoff
ormat
ionsofur
banl
ocal
gover
nmentsandthei
ract
ivi
ti
es. [
1]

Ot
hernamesf
ormuni
ci
pal
cor
por
ati
ons
Munici
pal corporationsarerefer
redt obydiff
erentnamesi ndif
ferents t
ates(dueto
regi
onallanguagevar i
ati
ons )
,al
l ofwhicharetranslatedto"municipal cor
porati
on"
i
nEnglish.Thes enamesi udeNagarNi
ncl gam (i
nDel hi,Ut
tar
Prades
h, Uttarakhand, Bi
har,Jharkhand,Rajasthan,andHar yana) ,Nagara
Nigama( i
nPunj ab), MahanagarPal i
ka(inGoaandMahar ashtr
a),Mahanagar a
Pali
ke(i
nKar nat aka),MahanagarSevaSadan( i
nGuj arat
),Pouro
Nigom (
inAs sam) ,PouroNigam (inWes tBengal),PurPori
shod( i
nTr ipura)
,Nagar
Pali
kaNigam ( i
nMadhyaPr ades h),NagaraPalakaSams t
ha( i
nAndhr a
Prades
handTel angana),NagaraSabha( i
nKerala)andMaanagar aatchi(i
nTamil
Nadu).
TheVadodar aMunicipalCorporati
onofthecityofVadodarainGuj arati
stypical
ly
call
edbyt hename" Vadodar aMahanagarSevaSadan"andt heGr eaterBengaluru
MunicipalCor
porati
onoft hecityofBengalur
uinKar nat
akaistypicall
ycall
ed" Br
uhat
BengaluruMahanagar aPalike"
.Thedetai
ledstruct
ureoftheseurbanbodi esvaries
fr
om statetostat
e,aspert helawspassedbyt hestatel
egisl
atures,butthebas i
c
str
uctureandfuncti
onisal mostthesame.
Compos
iti
on:

Admi
nis
trat
ives
truct
ureofI
ndi
a

Thear eaadmi ni
steredbyamuni ci
palcorporat i
onisknownasamuni cipalar
ea.
Eachmuni ci
pal areaisdivi
dedintoterri
tori
al consti
tuenci
esknownaswar ds.A
municipalcor porati
oni smadeupofawar dscommi tt
ee.Eachwardhasones eatin
thewar dscommi ttee.Member sareelectedtot hewar dscommitt
eeont hebasisof
adultfranchiseforat erm off
iveyears.Thes emember sareknownascounci l
lor
sor
corporators.Thenumberofwar dsinamuni cipal ar
eaisdetermi
nedbyt he
populationoft hecity.Someseat sarereservedf orschedul
edcastes
,s chedul
ed
tri
bes,backwar dclassesandwomen. [
1]

As t
at ecanchoos et ocons t
it
ut eaddi t
ionalcommi tteest ocarryfuncti
onsofur ban
l
ocal gover nance, i
naddi ti
ont ot hewar dscommi ttees .I
naddi t
iontot hecouncill
ors
el
ectedf rom t hewar ds,thelegislatureofas t
atemayal sochoos etomake
provisi
onsf ort herepresentationofper sonshavi ngs pecialknowledgeorexper i
ence
i
nmuni cipaladmi nist
rati
on, t
heMPsorMLAsr epres entingthecons ti
tuencieswhi ch
compr isewhol lyorpar tl
ythemuni cipalarea,and/ ort hecommi ss
ionersofaddi t
ional
commi tteest hatthes tatemayhavecons t i
tuted.I
fas tatelegisl
atureappoi nt
sa
personf rom thef i
rstcategoryt oawar dscommi tt
ee, t
hatindividualwi l
lnothavet he
ri
ghtt ovot eint hemeet ingsoft hemuni cipalcorpor ation,whileMPs ,MLAsand
commi ssioner sdohavet herightt ovoteinmeet i
ngs
[
1]
.

Super
lat
ives
Thelar
gestcorpor ationsar ei
nt hef ourteenmaj ormet r
opoli
tanciti
esofIndia,
vi
z.Mumbai, Delhi,Kolkata,Chennai ,Bengal uru, Hyderabad,Ahmedabad, Pune, Kan
pur,
Lucknow, Visakhapat nam, Sur at,Jaipur,Bhubanes warandNagpur .
TheBri
hanmumbai Muni cipalCorpor ati
on( BMC)oft hecit
y
ofMumbai i
nMahar ashtraistheriches tmuni cipalcorporati
oninIndia. Gr
[
2][
eat
3]
er
ChennaiCorporationoft hecityofChennai inTami lNadui stheoldestmunicipal
cor
porati
oninIndi aands econdol des tmuni ci
pal corporat
ioninthewor l
donl y
behi
ndCityofLondonCor porationi nUni tedKingdom.
Admi
nis
trat
ion
TheMayori stheheadoft hemuni cipalcor poration,butinmos tstatesandt erri
tor
ies
ofIndiather oleislargelycer emoni alasexecut i
vepower sareves tedin
theMuni cipal Commi ssioner .
Theof ficeoft heMayorcombi nesaf unctionalrol
eof
chairi
ngt heCor porationmeet ingaswel lascer emoni alroleassociatedwithbeing
theFirstCitizenoft heci ty. AspertheamendedMuni cipalCorporat i
onActof1 888,a
Deput yMayori sappoi ntedbyt heMayor . Thet enureoft heMayorandDeput y
Mayori sfiveyear s.However ,inseven
states;Bi
har ,Chhat t
isgar h,Jharkhand, MadhyaPr adesh, Odis
ha, Uttar
Prades handUt tar
akhand;Mayor sar edirect l
yel ect
edbyt hepeopl eandt hushold
theexecut ivepower soft hemuni cipalcorpor ations.
Execut
iveof
fi
cer
smonit
orthei
mpl
ementat
ionofal
ltheprogr
amsrel
atedto
planni
nganddevel
opmentoft
hecor
por
ati
onwiththecoordi
nat
ionofmayorand
counci
lor
s.

Funct
ions
TheTwelft
hScheduletotheConst
it
uti
onlist
st hesubj
ect
sthatmunicipal
cor
porat
ionsarerespons
ibl
efor
.Corpor
ationsmaybeent rus
tedtoper f
ormfunct
ions
andimpl
ements chemesincl
udi
ngthoseinrelati
ontothematter
sli
stedinthe
Twelf
thSchedul
e. [
1]

 Ur
banpl
anni
ngi
ncl
udi
ngt
ownpl
anni
ng.

 Regul
ati
onofl
and-
useandcons
truct
ionofbui
l
dings
.

 Pl
anni
ngf
oreconomi
cands
oci
aldevel
opment
.

 Wat
ers
uppl
yfordomes
tic,
indus
tri
alandcommer
cial
pur
pos
es.

 Publ
i
cheal
th,
sani
tat
ioncons
ervancyands
oli
dwas
temanagement
.

 Fi
res
ervi
ces
.

 Ur
banf
ores
try,
prot
ect
ionoft
heenvi
ronmentandpr
omot
ionofecol
ogi
cal
aspect
s.

 Saf
eguar
dingt
hei
nter
est
sofweakers
ect
ionsofs
oci
ety,
incl
udi
ngt
hehandi
cappedand
ment
all
yret
arded.

 Sl
um i
mpr
ovementandupgr
adat
ion.

 Ur
banpover
tyal
l
evi
ati
on.

 Pr
ovi
si
onofur
banameni
ti
esandf
aci
l
iti
ess
uchaspar
ks,
gar
dens
,pl
aygr
ounds
.

 Pr
omot
ionofcul
tur
al,
educat
ional
andaes
thet
icas
pect
s.

 Bur
ial
sandbur
ial
grounds
;cr
emat
ions
,cr
emat
iongr
oundsandel
ect
ri
ccr
emat
ori
ums
.

 Cat
tl
epounds
;pr
event
ionofcr
uel
tyt
oani
mal
s.
 Vi
tal
stat
ist
icsi
ncl
udi
ngr
egi
str
ati
onofbi
rt
hsanddeat
hs.

 Publ
i
cameni
ti
esi
ncl
udi
ngs
treetl
i
ght
ing,
par
kingl
ots
,buss
topsandpubl
i
cconveni
ences
.

 Regul
ati
onofs
laught
erhous
esandt
anner
ies