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Despite constitutional safeguards, ULBs across India are increasingly being hollowed out by centralising tendencies, undermining the spirit of democra

भारतीय शहरातील नागरिकांमध्ये शहरी स्थानिक स्वराज्य संस

Citizens in India’s cities are increasingly frustrated with their urban local bodies, and this problem calls for significant municipal governance re

Until the early 1990s, India’s urban local bodies (ULBs) were under the complete control of the states, having little functional, financial and administrative autonomy. The 74th Amendment Act of 1992 sought to make ULBs self-governing institutions. Many salutary provisions were made in the Act and there have been certain positive outcomes since it came into effect in April 1993. However, many key issues have remained unresolved and at present,

The question of municipal leadership is of great significance in urban governance in India. There are various models of the position of chief executive of an urban local body (ULB), predominantly tilting towards the ‘strong mayor’ model either through ‘presidentialisation’ of the office or through a ‘mayor-in-council’[1] system. In India, it is the ‘state appointed municipal commissioner’ model that holds sway, sitting over a popu