Union territories, panchayats and municipalities

Union territories

Besides the states, India has eight union territories. A union territory is administered directly by the Union. Under Article 239, the President governs it through an administrator, who is called the Lieutenant Governor in some territories.

Three union territories have an elected legislative assembly and a Council of Ministers: Puducherry (under Article 239A), the National Capital Territory of Delhi (under Article 239AA, added by the 69th Amendment in 1991) and Jammu and Kashmir (under the reorganisation law of 2019). Their powers are narrower than those of a state. In Delhi, for example, police, public order and land remain with the Union.

Why local government was added

Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of "gram swaraj", self-rule by villages, and Article 40 directed the State to organise village panchayats. For decades, however, local bodies existed only under state laws. Elections were often postponed and the bodies had little money or power. In 1992 Parliament passed two amendments that gave them a firm place in the Constitution. Government in India now has three tiers: Union, state and local.

Panchayats: the 73rd Amendment

The 73rd Amendment added Part IX (Articles 243 to 243O) and the Eleventh Schedule, which lists 29 subjects that can be handed to panchayats, such as drinking water, rural roads, primary schools and village markets. It came into force on 24 April 1993, a date now observed as National Panchayati Raj Day. Its main provisions:

• Gram Sabha (Article 243A): the assembly of all the registered voters of a village. It is the foundation of the system.
• Three tiers (Article 243B): a panchayat at the village level, at the intermediate (block) level and at the district level. Small states need not have the middle tier.
• Direct elections to all seats at every level.
• Reservation (Article 243D): seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population, and not less than one-third of all seats, and of the posts of chairperson, are reserved for women. Many states have raised this to half.
• A fixed term of five years (Article 243E). If a panchayat is dissolved earlier, elections must be held within six months.
• A State Finance Commission every five years (Article 243I) to recommend how money should be shared between the state and the panchayats.
• A State Election Commission (Article 243K) to conduct the elections.

Municipalities: the 74th Amendment

The 74th Amendment did the same for towns and cities. It added Part IXA (Articles 243P to 243ZG) and the Twelfth Schedule with 18 subjects, such as urban planning, water supply, sanitation and street lighting. It came into force on 1 June 1993. It provides for three kinds of urban bodies:

• a Nagar Panchayat for an area changing from rural to urban;
• a Municipal Council for a smaller urban area;
• a Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area.

The rules on direct election, reservation for women and weaker sections, the five-year term, the Finance Commission and the State Election Commission apply here too.

Co-operative societies

Part IXB (Articles 243ZH to 243ZT), added by the 97th Amendment in 2011, deals with co-operative societies. The same amendment made the right to form co-operative societies a part of Article 19 and added Article 43B to the Directive Principles. In 2021 the Supreme Court struck down most of Part IXB as far as it applies to co-operatives working within a single state, because the states had not ratified it; it continues to apply to multi-state co-operatives.

Scheduled and tribal areas

Part X (Articles 244 and 244A) provides for the special administration of areas with large tribal populations. The Fifth Schedule covers scheduled areas in most states. The Sixth Schedule provides autonomous district councils in the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.