8.7 Why Two Amendments Were Needed

In 1989 the central government introduced two constitutional amendments. They aimed at strengthening local governments and ensuring an element of uniformity in their structure and functioning across the country. Three years later, in 1992, Parliament passed the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. Both came into force in 1993. The 73rd Amendment deals with rural local government — the Panchayati Raj Institutions^? or PRIs. The 74th Amendment deals with urban local government — the Nagarpalikas.

8.8 The 73rd Amendment — Articles 243 to 243-O

The 73rd Amendment inserted Part IX into the Constitution, containing Articles 243 to 243-O, and added the new Eleventh Schedule. Together these provisions created an architecture that all States must follow.

8.8.1 The Three-Tier Structure

All States now have a uniform three-tier Panchayati Raj^? structure. The base, the middle and the apex have specific names and roles.

8.8.2 Direct Elections, Five-Year Term, Six-Month Rule

All three levels of Panchayati Raj institutions are elected directly by the people. The term of each Panchayat body is five years. If the State government dissolves a Panchayat before the end of its five-year term, fresh elections must be held within six months of such dissolution. This is an important safeguard. Before the 73rd Amendment, in many States, district bodies had only indirect elections, and there was no provision compelling the State to hold fresh elections after dissolution.

8.8.3 Reservations — The Most Radical Provision

One-third of the positions in all Panchayat institutions are reserved for women. Reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are also provided at all three levels, in proportion to their population. If States find it necessary, they can also provide reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). These reservations apply not just to ordinary members but also to the positions of Chairpersons or Adhyakshas — including the Sarpanch.

Crucially, the one-third reservation for women is not only in the general category but also within the seats reserved for SCs, STs and backward classes. So a single seat can be reserved simultaneously for a woman and for a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe candidate. In other words, that Sarpanch must be a Dalit woman or an Adivasi woman. Several States have since raised the women's reservation from one-third to 50 per cent.

8.8.4 Transfer of 29 Subjects — The Eleventh Schedule

Twenty-nine subjects, drawn from the State List, are listed in the Eleventh Schedule^? of the Constitution. These are subjects mostly linked to development and welfare functions at the local level. They are to be transferred to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The actual transfer depends on State legislation — each State decides how many of the 29 subjects are actually devolved to its local bodies.

8.8.5 PESA, 1996 — Special Provisions for Adivasi Areas

The provisions of the 73rd Amendment were not made applicable to many Adivasi areas of India. In 1996 a separate Act — the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, popularly called PESA — was passed. Many Adivasi communities have their own traditional ways of managing common resources such as forests and small water reservoirs. PESA protects the right of these communities to manage their resources in ways acceptable to them. More powers are given to the Gram Sabhas in these areas, and elected village panchayats often need the consent of the Gram Sabha. The idea is that local traditions of self-government should be protected even while introducing modern elected bodies — consistent with the spirit of diversity and decentralisation.

8.8.6 State Election Commission — Independent Watchdog

Each State government is required to appoint a State Election Commissioner^? who is responsible for conducting elections to Panchayati Raj institutions. Earlier this work was done by the State administration, which sat under the political control of the State government. The new office is autonomous, like the Election Commission of India. However, the State Election Commissioner is an independent officer; he or she is not under the control of the Election Commission of India.

8.8.7 State Finance Commission — Money Matters

Each State government is also required to appoint a State Finance Commission^? once every five years. This Commission examines the financial position of local governments in the State, and reviews the distribution of revenues between the State and local governments on the one hand, and between rural and urban local governments on the other. This innovation ensures that the allocation of funds to local bodies is not a purely political matter.

8.9 The 74th Amendment — Articles 243-P to 243-ZG

The 74th Amendment dealt with urban local bodies, called Nagarpalikas. It inserted Part IX-A (Articles 243-P to 243-ZG) into the Constitution and added the Twelfth Schedule. As the textbook puts it, the 74th Amendment is in many ways “a repetition of the 73rd Amendment, except that it applies to urban areas”.

8.9.1 What Counts as an “Urban Area”?

It is easy to identify a big city like Mumbai or Kolkata. But in between a clearly rural village and a clearly urban metropolis lies a large grey zone of small towns. The Census of India defines an urban area as one having:

• A minimum population of 5,000;
• At least 75 per cent of the male working population engaged in non-agricultural occupations; and
• A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq km.

As per the 2011 Census, about 31 per cent of India's population lives in urban areas. The 74th Amendment had to design a flexible framework that could cover everything from a large metropolis to a small transitional town.

8.9.2 Three Types of Urban Local Bodies

8.9.3 Twelfth Schedule — 18 Subjects for Urban Local Bodies

The Constitution mandates the transfer of a list of functions from the State government to urban local bodies. These functions are listed in the Twelfth Schedule — 18 subjects in all. They include town planning, regulation of land use, urban poverty alleviation, water supply, public health, sanitation, conservancy, fire services, urban forestry, slums, public amenities like street lighting, roads, parks and cremation grounds, and the registration of births and deaths.

8.9.4 Wards Committees in Big Cities

The 74th Amendment also makes special provision for Wards Committees^? in larger cities (those with populations of three lakhs or more) so that some governance happens at the level of one or more wards within a Municipality, bringing the urban local government even closer to the residents.

8.9.5 What the 74th Amendment Borrows From the 73rd

All the major provisions of the 73rd Amendment are repeated in the 74th. So direct elections, reservations (for women, SCs and STs), transfer of subjects (here, via the Twelfth Schedule), the State Election Commission and the State Finance Commission all apply equally to Nagarpalikas.

8.10 73rd vs 74th Amendment — A Side-by-Side Comparison

8.11 The Numbers — Local Government in Numbers

Today there are more than 600 Zilla Panchayats, about 6,000 block or intermediary Panchayats, and 2,40,000 Gram Panchayats in rural India. In urban India there are over 100 city Corporations, 1,400 town Municipalities and over 2,000 Nagar Panchayats. More than 32 lakh members are elected to these bodies every five years. Of these, at least 13 lakh are women. Compare this with the State Assemblies and Parliament put together — fewer than 5,000 elected representatives. With local bodies, the number of elected representatives in Indian democracy has expanded dramatically.

8.12 Wrap-Up — Where Part 3 Will Take Us

You now have the constitutional architecture of local government in your hands. Part 3 turns from law to life. How well have the 73rd and 74th Amendments been implemented? What does the funds-functions-functionaries problem mean for everyday Panchayats? Why are women representatives often described as “proxies”, and where has that pattern broken? What does Kerala's People's Plan Campaign tell us? What did Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka try? And finally, the textbook exercises — nine of them — with full model answers. Part 3 closes the chapter.