Following the posts on Functions of ULBs and Municipal Funds as part of the Municipal Finance blog series, this post provides an overview of functionaries at ULBs, explains why the poor urban service delivery mechanism is rooted in weak staff capacity and disjointed institutional set-up and concludes with recommendations for strengthening capacity building.
Overview of Functionaries
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in most states of India fall within the purview of the Department of Urban Affairs or Department of Urban Development. In this post, we take the example of Karnataka to illustrate the executive set-up of ULBs. Of all ULBs in Karnataka, only the city corporation of Bangalore, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) functions directly under the Urban Development Department (UDD). All other ULBs function under three wings of the Department: Municipal Administration, Town Planning and Urban Land Transport. Each wing is headed by a Director. In addition, many boards and authorities with specific responsibilities also function under the department. For example, the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation etc. fall under the purview of UDD.
The ULB councils consist of Corporators (City Corporation) or Councillors (Other ULBs), who are directly elected by the people. The elected corporators or councillors elect a Mayor or President, who presides over the meetings of the council. In addition, ULBs have Standing Committees to deal exclusively with functions like taxation, finance and appeals; public health, education and social justice; town planning and improvement and accounts etc.
This post first appeared in our Financing Small Cities Blog. To read the full post click here.
