Municipal bodies have a long history in India. The first such Municipal Corporation was set-up in the former Presidency Town of Madras in 1688, and later in Bombay and Calcutta in 1726. The Constitution of India has made detailed provisions for ensuring the protection of democracy in Parliament and in the state legislatures. However, the Constitution did not make the local self-government in urban areas a clear-cut constitutional obligation. While the Directive Principles of State Policy refer to Village Panchayats, there is no specific reference to municipalities except the simplicity in Entry 5 of the State List, which places the subject of local self-governments as a responsibility of the states.
To provide a common framework for urban local bodies and help to strengthen the functioning of the bodies as effective democratic units of self-government, Parliament enacted the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 (known as Nagarpalika Act) relating to municipalities in 1992. It came into
effect in 1993. A new Part IX-A relating to the municipalities added to provide for among other things, the constitution of three types of municipalities, i.e., Nagar Panchayats for areas in transition from a rural area to an urban area, Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas and Municipal Corporation for large urban
areas, fixed duration of municipalities, the appointment of State Election Commission, the appointment of State Finance Commission and constitution of metropolitan and district planning committees. All state/union territories administrations have set-up their State Election Commissions and Finance Commissions.
