Issues with 74th Amendment of Indian Constitution

The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act came into effect on June 1, 1993. It is related to Urban Local Bodies or Nagarpalikas. It had been enacted to accord constitutional recognition to the Urban Local Bodies as the third tier of the Government in urban areas. In many aspects it is similar to the 73rd Amendment Act, which relates to Panchayati Raj institutions, except that it applies to urban areas. For instance, provisions relating to direct elections, reservations, transfer of subjects, State Election Commission and State Finance Commission have been incorporated in the 74th Amendment Act also and thus apply to Nagarpalikas as well. The Constitution also mandated the transfer of a list of functions from the State government to the urban local bodies, which have been listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

The 74th Amendment Act has created uniformity in the structure of Nagarpalika institutions across the country. The provision for reservations for women, SC’s, ST’s and BC’s (in some states) has also ensured adequate representation for all sections of the society.

However, despite the successes, there has been lacuna on several fronts too. It has been found that Nagarpalikas enjoy limited autonomy to perform the functions assigned to them. Further, many states have not transferred most of the subjects to the local bodies, which makes the entire exercise of electing so many representatives somewhat symbolic. They are also criticized on the ground that the formation of local bodies has not changed the way decisions are taken at the central and the state level. Thus there has been little effective decentralization. The financial dependence of Nagarpalikas, on the State and Central Governments, has also eroded their capacity to operate effectively. People at the local level still do not enjoy much power of choosing welfare programmes or allocation of resources.

Other specific weaknesses related to Nagarpalikas include:

• Article 243Q added a proviso which states that a municipality may not be constituted in those urban areas which are specified as industrial townships. This provision sidetracks the most important purpose of the 74th amendment, viz. creating constitutionally mandated municipal bodies of self-governance for all urban areas.
• Of the 18 tasks that are listed under the 12th Schedule, only a few have been entrusted to the municipalities.
• Though the 74th Amendment contains a stipulation for ward committees, they exists only in a few states.
• Article 243ZE mandates a Committee for Metropolitan Planning. However it has been set up only in Kolkata and Mumbai.

The 74th Amendment had a noble aim of imparting decentralization in urban areas. However, in light of the shortcomings that still persist, it would not be wrong to say that there is an urgent need to revisit the 74th Amendment.