The institutions of urban local government originated and developed in modern India during the period of British rule. The major events in this context are as follows:
(i) In 1688, the first municipal corporation in India was set up at Madras.
(ii) In 1726, the municipal corporations were set up in Bombay and Calcutta.
(iii) Lord Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 on financial decentralisation visualised the development of local self-government institutions.
(iv) Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 has been hailed as the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government. He is called as the father of local-self government in India.
(v) The Royal Commission on decentralisation was appointed in 1907 and it submitted its report in 1909. Its chairman was Hobhouse.
(vi) Under the dyarchical scheme introduced in Provinces by the Government of India Act of 1919, local self-government became a transferred subject under the charge of a responsible Indian minister.
(vii) In 1924, the Cantonments Act was passed by the Central legislature.
(viii) Under the provincial autonomy scheme introduced by the Government of India Act of 1935, local self-government was declared a provincial subject.
Constitutionalisation
In August 1989, the Rajiv Gandhi government introduced the 65th Constitutional Amendment Bill (i.e., Nagarpalika Bill) in the Lok Sabha. The bill aimed at strengthening and revamping the municipal bodies by conferring a constitutional status on them. Although the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, it was defeated in the Rajya Sabha in October 1989 and hence, lapsed.
The National Front Government under V P Singh introduced the revised Nagarpalika Bill in the Lok Sabha again in September 1990. However, the bill was not passed and finally lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
P V Narasimha Rao’s Government also introduced the modified Municipalities Bill inthe Lok Sabha in September 1991. It finally emerged as the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 and came into force on 1 June 1992 .
