LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

MUNICIPALITIES

All the ten towns in the district have municipal committees established under the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act of 1925 and the Bombay District Municipal Act of 1901. The constitution of these municipal councils is shown in table No. 1 for each municipal council, separately.

The president is the head of the municipal council whose duty is to preside over the meetings of the municipality, watch the financial and executive administration and perform such other executive functions as may be performed by the municipality; and exercise supervision and control over the acts and proceedings of all officers and servants of the municipality.

There is a provision for the compulsory constitution of a managing committee in case of all the municipalities. Option is also left to the municipalities to appoint other executive or consultative committees.

The duties of the municipalities are divided into obligatory and optional. The former includes all matters essential to the health, safety, convenience and well-being of the population, while the latter covers those which, despite being legitimate objects of local expenditure, are not considered absolutely essential. The obligatory duties include lighting public streets, places and buildings; cleansing public streets, places and sewers; extinguishing fixes; regulating or abating offensive or dangerous trades or practices; constructing, altering and maintaining public streets, culverts, municipal boundary-marks, markets etc.; registering births and deaths; carrying out public vaccination; establishing and maintaining hospitals and dispensaries and providing medical relief; establishing and maintaining primary schools, etc.

Municipalities may, at their discretion, provide out of their funds for laying out new public streets; constructing, establishing or maintaining public parks, lunatic asylums, dharmashalas, rest-houses, etc.; establishing and maintaining a farm or a factory for the disposal of sewage; providing accommodation for and promoting well-being of municipal employees and their dependents; and undertaking any measure likely to promote the public safety, health, convenience or education.

Municipal taxation includes a rate on buildings and lands, a tax on all or any vehicles, boats or animals used for riding, draught or burden; an octroi on animals and goods; a special sanitary cess upon private latrines, premises or compounds cleansed by the municipal agency; a general sanitary cess for the construction and maintenance of public latrines; a general water-rate or a special water-rate or both; a lighting tax; a tax on pilgrims; and any other tax authorised by the State Government.

The rules regulating the levy of taxes have to be sanctioned by the Director of Municipal Administration who has been given powers to subject the levy to such modifications not involving an increase of the amount to be imposed or to such conditions as to application of such a part or whole of the proceeds of the tax to any purpose.

Many of the taxes levied by the municipalities do not enable them to secure enough income to meet all their expenditure. Their incomes have to be supplemented by numerous grants made by Government, both recurring and non-recurring. For instance, grants are made by Government to municipalities for the control of epidemics, payment of dearness allowance to staff, etc. These grants add substantially to the municipal income.

Income and expenditure: During the year 1961-62 the income and expenditure of all municipal councils in the Sholapur district was Rs. 1,16,77,022 and Rs. 98,42,447, respectively. Table No. 2 shows the total receipts and expenditure of all municipal councils for 1965-66 and 1970-71.

The break-up of income and expenditure of all municipal councils (excluding Sholapur Municipal Corporation) for the years 1965-66 and 1970-71 is shown in the following statement:-

(1) Income:

(Rupees in thousands)

(2) Expenditure:

(Rupees in thousands)

With the passing of the Bombay Primary Education Act (LXI of 1947), the control of the primary education was virtually transferred from small municipalities and the District Local Board to the then Sholapur District School Board. Since May 1, 1962 the District Local Board and the District School Board have been abolished and the subject of primary education has been transferred to the Zilla Parishad.

With the passing of the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965, the Director of Municipal Administration supervises the working of the municipal councils in the district. The Director has powers to order a municipality to suspend or prohibit, pending orders of the State Government, the execution of any of its order or resolution, if in his opinion it is likely to cause injury or annoyance to the public or to lead to a breach of peace or is unlawful. Subject to appeal to the State Government, the Director is also empowered to require a municipality to reduce the number of persons employed by it and also the remuneration assigned to any member of the staff. On the recommendation of a municipality, he can remove any councillor guilty of misconduct in the discharge of his duties.

When satisfied that a municipality has made a default in performing any statutory duty imposed on it, the State Government may direct the Director to fix a period for the performance of that duty and if that duty is not performed within the period stipulated, the Director may appoint some person to perform it and direct that the expenses shall be forthwith paid by the municipality. If the State Government is of the view that any municipality is not competent to perform or persistently makes default in the performance of its duties or exceeds or abuses its power, it may either dissolve the municipality or supersede it for a specific period. The president or the vice-president of a municipality may be removed by the State Government for misconduct or for neglect or incapacity in regard to the performance of his duties.

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