Question

Explain the main organs of Municipal Corporation.

Hint:

To remember the organs of a Municipal Corporation, think of a parallel with a national government: \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{The Council is like the Parliament (makes policies).} \\ \bullet & \text{The Mayor is like the Speaker or a ceremonial President.} \\ \bullet & \text{The Standing Committees are like the Cabinet (makes key decisions).} \\ \bullet & \text{The Municipal Commissioner is like the head of the Civil Service (implements decisions).} \\ \end{array}\]

Answer 1

A Municipal Corporation is the highest form of urban local government in India, typically for cities with a large population. Its governance structure consists of three main organs or authorities:
\begin{enumerate} \item The Council (Legislative Wing): \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{This is the deliberative and legislative wing of the corporation.} \\ \bullet & \text{It consists of Councillors who are directly elected by the people from different wards of the city.} \\ \bullet & \text{The Council is headed by the Mayor, who is usually elected by the councillors from among themselves and is the ceremonial first citizen of the city.} \\ \bullet & \text{Its main function is to make policies, approve budgets, and pass by-laws for the city's governance.} \\ \end{array}\] \item The Standing Committees (Executive Wing): \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{To facilitate the work of the large Council, a number of Standing Committees are created to deal with specific areas like public works, health, education, taxation, etc.} \\ \bullet & \text{They exercise executive powers and are the main points of decision-making in their respective fields.} \\ \end{array}\] \item The Municipal Commissioner (Administrative Wing): \[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{The Municipal Commissioner is the chief executive officer of the corporation and is responsible for the day-to-day administration.} \\ \bullet & \text{He/she is usually an officer from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and is appointed by the state government.} \\ \bullet & \text{The Commissioner's role is to implement the decisions taken by the Council and its Standing Committees.} \\ \end{array}\] \end{enumerate}