Local government in Maharashtra

Local government is Maharashtra State has general structure of Local Governance in India and is broadly classified in two category, Urban Local Government and Rural Local Government.

Urban Local Government

Urban Local government can bi classified as Municipal corporation and municipal council.

Municipal Corporations

Large Urban areas are governed by Municipal Corporations also called just Corporations. The area under the Corporation is further divided up into Wards. Individual wards or collection of wards within a corporation some times have their own administrative body called Ward Committees.

In Maharashtra there are 24 municipal Corporations in Maharashtra viz,
* Mumbai
* Navi Mumbai
* Thane
* Mira-Bhayandar
* Vasai-Virar
* Kalyan-Dombivli
* Ulhasnagar
* Bhiwandi-Nizampur
* Pune
* Pimpri-Chinchwad
* Kolhapur
* Ichalkaranji
* Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad
* Solapur
* Ahmednagar
* Nashik
* Malegaon
* Jalgaon
* Dhule
* Aurangabad
* Nanded-Waghala
* Akola
* Amravati
* Nagpur

Municipal councils

Smaller Urban areas are governened by Municipal councils or Municipal Boards also called just Municipalities. Municipalities are also subdivided into Wards, which may be grouped together into Ward Councils. One or more corporators are elected to represent each ward.

Rural Local Governance:

Rural governance in India is based on the Panchayati Raj system. It is a three tier system, with the Zila Parishad at the district level, Blocks at the middle level and Village Council at the lowest level.

Zilla parishad

Zilla Parishad (commonly known as ZP)is a local government body at the district level in India. It looks after the administration of the rural area of the district and its office is located at the district headquarters.

There are 33 Zilla parishad in Maharashtra, one each in every district.

Panchayat samiti

Panchayat samiti is a local government body at the Tehsil or Taluka level in India. It works for the villages of the Tehsil or Taluka that together are called a Development Block. The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad.

There are 355 panchayat samitis or block panchayat in Maharashtra.

Gram panchayat

Gram panchayats are local government bodies at the village level.

The Gram Panchayat is the foundation of the Panchayat System. A Gram Panchayat can be set up in villages with a population of more than five hundred. There is a common Gram Panchayat for two or more villages if the population of these villages is less than five hundred. It is called Group-Gram Panchayat.

There are 28813 gram panchayat in Maharashtra. [ [http://panchayat.gov.in/adminreps/consolidatedreport.asp - Panchayat raj Portal] ]

References