4. Municipalities and Corporations

Development of Local Governments:

After establishing the Urban centres and towns, the British concentrated on the importance of establishing local bodies for administrative purposes.

The local governments of the British era were known as Municipality (Urban Local bodies) and Corporations. These enabled the British to keep an eye on the local governments under them.

 

Initial Phase of the Corporation:

The British began to build local governance set up in the latter half of the \(17^{th}\) Century. The phase of corporation building was a pinnacle achievement on the British side.

The Idea of the Madras Corporation was put forward by Sir Josiah Child, the dynamic chairman of the British East India Company. He put forward the idea of declaring the place as a corporation.

The Charter Act of \(1793\) established the Municipal corporation in the presidencies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

The Act extended the powers of the governor-general of Calcutta than the other two Presidencies.

In \(1882\), Lord Ripon became the governor-general of India, who altered the structure of the local government and governance.

The system brought by him allowed the people to elect their leader for their locality. Powers bestowed upon local people to manage their affairs.

Ripon’s objective was to train the Indian Citizens to manage their administrative affairs independently. Local boards were established under the structure.

 

Final phase of the Urban governance:

1. The First half of the \(20^{th}\) century witnessed huge strides in the development of local self-government. The Montague – Chelmsford reforms, also known as the Government of India act \(1919\), was a watershed development in the direction of devolution of powers.

2. The Principle of Dyarchy was introduced in the provinces, where a two-tier structure of governance was put forward for the first time.

3. Another legislation of the Government of India act \(1935\) introduced the concept of Provincial autonomy, which bestowed special powers on the local governments.

4. The second half of the \(18^{th}\) century allowed the British parliament to pass certain legislations which authorised the Governor-general to appoint judges to manage the affairs of the local self-government.