Twelfth Schedule

Topic: Urban Local Government: Municipalities and Cities · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 8 "Local Governments"

Meaning

The Twelfth Schedule is the list of 18 subjects (such as urban planning, water supply, public health, slum improvement and fire services) that a state legislature may hand over to municipalities (elected local governments of towns and cities) by law, under Article 243W [2][3]. It matters because it shows what a city government is meant to do. But it is only a list of suggestions. The state decides how many of these subjects a city really gets, so real city powers differ a lot from state to state.

Explanation

How it works: Article 243W and the word "may"

• The 74th Amendment (1992) added both Article 243W and the Twelfth Schedule. The amendment came into force on 1 June 1993 [2][3].
• Under Art. 243W, the state legislature may, by law, give powers to [2]:
• (a) municipalities, so they can work as "institutions of self-government" (bodies that govern themselves, not just offices that carry out state orders). These powers cover:
  • (i) making plans for economic development and social justice;
  • (ii) carrying out functions and schemes, including the matters in the Twelfth Schedule.

• (b) Committees, such as Wards Committees, for the work given to them, including Twelfth Schedule matters [2].

• The key word is "may".

• No state is forced to transfer even one item.
• The Schedule becomes real power only when a state municipal Act turns an item into a legal duty.
• The Constitution has no "municipal list" of its own like the Union or State Lists.

The 18 items, in six groups

• Planning (1–3):
• 1. Urban planning, including town planning [3]
• 2. Regulation of land use and construction of buildings [3]
• 3. Planning for economic and social development [3]

• Core infrastructure (4–7):

• 4. Roads and bridges [3]
• 5. Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes [3]
• 6. Public health, sanitation, conservancy (keeping streets and drains clean) and solid waste management [3]
• 7. Fire services [3]

• Environment (8): urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects.

• Welfare and equity (9–11):
• 9. Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections, including persons with disabilities. The Schedule still uses the old words "handicapped" and "mentally retarded".
• 10. Slum improvement and upgradation
• 11. Urban poverty alleviation

• Civic life (12–15):

• 12. Urban amenities such as parks, gardens and playgrounds
• 13. Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects
• 14. Burials and burial grounds; cremations, cremation grounds and electric crematoriums
• 15. Cattle pounds; prevention of cruelty to animals

• Records and regulation (16–18):

• 16. Vital statistics, including registration of births and deaths
• 17. Public amenities such as street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences
• 18. Regulation of slaughterhouses and tanneries

• Memory hook: planning → pipes and roads → green city → the poor → public spaces and rites → records and rules.

• Item 3 links back to Art. 243W(a)(i). Cities are meant to plan for development and social justice, not just run services.

Types of functions under state law

• Each state municipal Act splits the transferred work into two kinds:
• Obligatory functions: the body must do these. Examples are water supply, sanitation and drainage, garbage collection, street lighting, registration of births and deaths, and fire services where they have been transferred.

• Discretionary functions: the body may do these if it has the money. Examples are parks, libraries, cultural activities, low-cost housing and tree planting.

• Result: two cities in different states can have very different powers, even though the Schedule is the same for both.

Limits: what the Schedule leaves out

• Policing: "Police" and "public order" are in the State List of the Seventh Schedule. They are not in the Twelfth Schedule.
• School education: this usually stays with the state education department. Item 13 covers only educational "aspects".
• Hospitals: these usually stay with the state. Cities mainly handle sanitation, disease control and dispensaries (item 6).
• Urban transport: state corporations often run metro and city bus systems. City bodies keep bus stops and parking (item 17).
• Parastatals (bodies such as water boards and development authorities that the state sets up) often do the work of items 1, 2 and 5. This leaves the elected council with less control.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits:
• The Twelfth Schedule works through Article 243W in Part IXA (Municipalities).

• Both were added by the 74th Amendment (1992) [2][3].

• Rural twin: the 73rd Amendment (1992) added Article 243G and the Eleventh Schedule, which has 29 items for panchayats.

• Who uses it: state legislatures, through their municipal Acts. Municipalities and Wards Committees then carry out the transferred work [2].
• What city bodies do in practice (NCERT):
• They maintain roads, drains and street lights.
• They look after burial and cremation grounds.
• They collect and dispose of garbage.
• They check how government schemes are carried out.

• They collect local taxes and fines, such as property tax and littering penalties.

• Indore Municipal Corporation:

• It handles water supply and sanitation, property tax, and trade and building licences.
• It runs a CRM (Citizen Relationship Management) grievance system, where residents file complaints and track them online.
• It collects door to door waste that households have already sorted, charges households a small fee for collection, and turns wet waste into compost or biogas.
• It was the cleanest city seven years in a row (2017–2023). In 2023 it shared the title with Surat.

• Lesson: clear functions (items 6 and 17), some money of its own and active citizens together produce results.

• Swachh Survekshan (yearly cleanliness ranking of cities):

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) runs it under the Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban, and has done so since 2016.
• It tests how well cities carry out items 6 and 17. It grew from 73 ULBs (urban local bodies) in 2016 to 4,500+ cities in 2024-25 [4][5].
• 2024-25 (9th edition): the theme was "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". The President gave the awards on 17 July 2025 [4][5][6].
• In the new Super Swachh League (a separate group for cities that have topped the survey before), the 10-lakh-plus category was led by Indore, then Surat and Navi Mumbai [4].

Don't confuse with

• Eleventh Schedule: it has 29 items for panchayats (rural), under Art. 243G and the 73rd Amendment. The Twelfth Schedule has 18 items for municipalities (urban), under Art. 243W and the 74th Amendment.
• Seventh Schedule (State List): it divides law-making power between the Union and the states, and it binds them. The Twelfth Schedule only lists subjects a state may pass on to cities. Police and public order are in the State List, not in the Twelfth Schedule.
• Obligatory functions: these are made compulsory by a state municipal Act, not by the Twelfth Schedule. The Schedule itself makes no function compulsory.
• Parastatals: these are state-created bodies (water boards, development authorities) that often do Twelfth Schedule work. They are not elected municipalities and do not answer to voters.

Prelims Hooks

• Twelfth Schedule = 18 items (urban, 74th Amendment, Art. 243W). Eleventh Schedule = 29 items (rural, 73rd Amendment, Art. 243G).
• Art. 243W says the state legislature "may" give powers. Transfer is at the state's discretion, not compulsory. It also covers Committees such as Wards Committees [2].
• Trap: Police, school education and hospitals are NOT in the Twelfth Schedule. Fire services (item 7), registration of births and deaths (item 16) and regulation of slaughterhouses and tanneries (item 18) ARE in it.
• Item 5 covers water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes, not just drinking water [3].
• Item 1 = urban planning, including town planning. Item 2 = regulation of land use and construction of buildings [3].
• Swachh Survekshan 2024-25: run by MoHUA, with the theme "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". In the Super Swachh League 10-lakh-plus category, the top three were Indore, Surat and Navi Mumbai [4][5].

Mains Points

• Devolution on paper, not in practice.
• Art. 243W only allows states to transfer functions [2]. Many states keep planning (items 1–2) and water (item 5), or give them to parastatals.
• Elected councils then answer to voters for services they do not control. This weakens accountability.

• Reform: make core items obligatory, and bring metropolitan planning under elected bodies.

• The "3Fs" gap: functions, funds, functionaries.

• A transferred function means little without the city's own funds (property tax, user charges) and functionaries (staff the city controls).

• Indore shows the fix: clear functions, user charges and active citizens working together.

• Gaps in the Schedule and in competitive federalism.

• Transport, school education, health care and policing shape city life the most, but they stay with the state. One reform idea is to give mayors a real say over transport.
• Rankings like Swachh Survekshan push cities to compete and bring citizens in (about 14 crore took part in 2024-25 [5]).
• The risk is that cities chase the ranking rather than lasting service quality.

Related concepts

• Swachh Survekshan

Read more

• Functions: the Twelfth Schedule and city services