74th Constitutional Amendment Act 1992

Also called: 74th Amendment, Part IXA, Nagarpalika Act · Topic: Urban Local Government: Municipalities and Cities · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"; Class 10, Ch 2 "Federalism"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Local Governments"; Class 11, Ch 9 "Constitution as a Living Document"

Meaning

The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 gave urban local bodies a place in the Constitution. Urban local bodies (ULBs) are the elected local governments that run towns and cities. The Act did this by adding Part IXA, "The Municipalities" (Articles 243P-243ZG) and the Twelfth Schedule [3]. Parliament passed it in December 1992, and it came into force on 1 June 1993.

It matters because municipalities no longer depend only on state laws. The Constitution now guarantees them regular elections, reserved seats, a five-year term and state bodies to run their elections and review their money. These are the same kinds of protections that the 73rd Amendment gave to rural panchayats.

Explanation

How it is built

• Part IXA (Arts. 243P-243ZG): the main rules on how municipalities are set up, elected and given powers [3].
• Twelfth Schedule: a list of subjects that a state may hand over to its municipalities, such as water supply, roads and sanitation.
• "In many ways a repetition of the 73rd" (NCERT Class 11). The 73rd Amendment covers rural panchayats. These features of it are repeated for towns and cities:
• Direct elections: voters elect all seats.
• Reservations: some seats are kept for SCs, STs and women.
• Transfer of subjects: the state may hand Twelfth Schedule subjects to municipalities.
• State Election Commission (SEC): a state body that conducts municipal elections.

• State Finance Commission (SFC): a state body that suggests how the state should share money with local bodies.

• Nagarpalika: the common Hindi word for a municipality. That is why this amendment is also called the "Nagarpalika Act".

Key definitions (Art. 243P) and the three types (Art. 243Q)

• Metropolitan area (Art. 243P(c)): an area that:
• has ten lakh or more people;
• lies in one or more districts;
• has two or more Municipalities or Panchayats next to each other; and

• is notified by the Governor through a public notice [3].

• Population (Art. 243P(g)): the count from the last census whose figures have been published [3].

• Three types of municipality (Art. 243Q) [2]:

Type	Area it serves	Common state names
Nagar panchayat	A transitional area, meaning an area changing from rural to urban	Nagar panchayat, notified area committee
Municipal council	A smaller urban area	Nagar palika, nagar parishad
Municipal corporation	A larger urban area (a big city)	Nagar nigam, mahanagar palika

• Who decides the type: the Governor, through a public notification. The Governor looks at [2]: 1. population; 2. population density; 3. revenue the area raises for local administration; 4. share of jobs outside farming (non-agricultural employment); 5. economic importance; 6. any other factor the Governor thinks fit.

• Industrial township proviso [2]:

• A municipality need not be set up in an area the Governor notifies as an industrial township.
• In such a township, a company provides the civic services, such as water and roads.

How a municipality works (Arts. 243R-243V)

• Members (Art. 243R):
• All seats are filled by direct election, one seat for each ward (the smallest unit of a municipality).
• A state law may add extra members who cannot vote at meetings:
  • experts in municipal administration;
  • Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs from the area;
  • Rajya Sabha MPs and MLCs registered as voters in the area;
  • chairpersons of wards committees.

• The chairperson (mayor or president) is chosen in the way state law says. Some states use direct election by the people. Others use indirect election by the councillors.

• Wards committees (Art. 243S): these are compulsory where a municipality has three lakh or more people.

• Reservation (Art. 243T): seats are reserved for SCs and STs. At least one-third of seats are reserved for women. Reservation of chairperson posts is left to state law.
• Term and dissolution (Art. 243U):
• Term: five years from the date of the first meeting.
• Elections: must be held before the term ends, or within six months of a dissolution.
• Dissolution (the state ending a municipality before its term is over): the municipality must first get a reasonable chance to be heard.
• If less than six months of the term is left at dissolution, no fresh election is needed.

• A body elected after an early dissolution serves only the rest of the original term.

• Disqualification (Art. 243V): a person under 21 cannot be a member.

Limits and exclusions

• Art. 243ZC: Part IXA does not apply to:
• Scheduled Areas (tribal areas under the Fifth Schedule, Art. 244(1));
• tribal areas (North-East areas under the Sixth Schedule, Art. 244(2)).

• It also does not affect the powers of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

• Parliament may extend Part IXA to these areas by law, with changes. Such a law is not counted as a constitutional amendment under Art. 368.

• Art. 243ZG: courts cannot question laws on ward boundaries or seat allocation. A municipal election can be challenged only through an election petition (a formal case filed after the election) under state law.
• Art. 243ZF: old state municipal laws that clashed with Part IXA could last for at most one year from 1 June 1993.
• So every state had to bring its laws in line with Part IXA by mid-1994.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits: Part IXA (Arts. 243P-243ZG) and the Twelfth Schedule, added by the 74th Amendment, 1992, in force from 1 June 1993 [3]. It comes just before Part IXB (Co-operative Societies), which was added by the 97th Amendment, 2011.
• Other key articles:

Article	Provision
243W	Powers and duties, including Twelfth Schedule subjects
243X	Power to levy taxes and receive grants
243Y	State Finance Commission reviews municipal finances
243ZA	State Election Commission conducts municipal elections
243ZB	Part IXA applies to Union Territories
243ZD	District Planning Committee
243ZE	Metropolitan Planning Committee

• Historical roots: urban local government in India is much older than the amendment. Chennai's corporation goes back to the Madras Corporation (1687), India's oldest. Ripon's resolution (1882) later supported local self-government.
• No Constituent Assembly debate: Art. 243Q was added only in 1992, so the Constituent Assembly never discussed it [2].
• Growth in numbers:
• NCERT Class 11 (c. 2005): 100+ corporations, about 1,400 town municipalities and 2,000+ nagar panchayats.
• A study for the 15th Finance Commission: 37 large metropolitan corporations, 172 other municipal corporations, 2,171 municipal councils and 1,879 nagar panchayats [5].

• Total today: about 4,800+ ULBs.

• In practice:

• Councillors (corporators) are elected, and the corporation is led by a mayor.

• Real executive power usually lies with a municipal commissioner. This is an officer appointed by the state government, often from the IAS.

• MESA Bill: this is the urban counterpart of PESA, 1996 (the Act that extended panchayat rules to Scheduled Areas).

• The Municipalities (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Bill, 2001 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 30 July 2001 [4].
• It went to a Standing Committee on 6 August 2001. The committee reported on 9 December 2003 [4].
• It is still pending and has never become law [4].

Don't confuse with

• 73rd Amendment (Part IX, panchayats): it covers rural local government. The 74th covers towns and cities. Under Art. 243U, a municipality must be heard before dissolution. Art. 243E, for panchayats, has no such hearing clause.
• Metropolitan area (Art. 243P(c)) vs municipal corporation (Art. 243Q): the 10 lakh figure in the Constitution defines a metropolitan area only. The Constitution sets no population cut-off for a corporation. NCERT Class 6 gives these figures only as a teaching guide: above 10 lakh for a corporation, 1-10 lakh for a council, below 1 lakh for a nagar panchayat.
• Nagar panchayat (urban) vs gram panchayat (rural): a nagar panchayat is an urban body under Part IXA. It serves a transitional area (rural to urban), not simply "the smallest town". A gram panchayat is a village body under Part IX.
• MESA Bill (2001) vs PESA (1996): PESA extended panchayat rules to Scheduled Areas and is in force. MESA, its urban version, has never been enacted [4].

Prelims Hooks

• 74th Amendment, 1992 → Part IXA (Arts. 243P-243ZG) + Twelfth Schedule; in force 1 June 1993 [3].
• Art. 243Q: three types of municipality are nagar panchayat (transitional area), municipal council (smaller urban area) and municipal corporation (larger urban area). The Governor classifies an area, not the State Election Commission or the state legislature [2].
• Trap: "10 lakh+ population, one or more districts, two or more Municipalities or Panchayats" defines a metropolitan area (Art. 243P(c)), not a corporation [3].
• Art. 243R: MPs, MLAs, MLCs and experts may sit on a municipality but cannot vote.
• Art. 243U: five-year term; election within six months of dissolution; hearing before dissolution (panchayats have no such right).
• Art. 243V: minimum age 21. Art. 243S: wards committees at 3 lakh+ population. Art. 243ZB: applies to UTs. Art. 243ZG: courts barred from electoral matters. MESA Bill, 2001: introduced in the Rajya Sabha and never enacted [4].

Mains Points

• Mayor vs commissioner:
• Voters elect councillors, but a state-appointed commissioner holds the real executive power.
• So the mayor is often only a ceremonial head, and the city's elected leaders have little control.

• Reform asked for: a directly elected mayor with a fixed five-year term and real executive powers.

• Weak transfer of the "3Fs" (funds, functions and functionaries):

• Art. 243W says states "may" hand over Twelfth Schedule subjects, so the transfer is not compulsory.
• Many states keep these functions with state bodies such as water boards and development authorities.

• Because the Governor has wide choice under Art. 243Q, states can also delay upgrading growing "census towns". These towns are then still run as rural panchayats, with poor planning and services.

• Tribal urban areas left out:

• Art. 243ZC keeps Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas out of Part IXA.
• The MESA Bill has been pending since 2001 [4].
• So towns in Scheduled Areas have no constitutional urban self-government suited to tribal self-rule. Rural tribal areas have this through PESA (1996).

Related concepts

• Urban local bodies
• Municipal corporation
• Municipal council
• Nagar panchayat

Read more

• The 74th Amendment: Part IXA and three types of municipalities