Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Local civic body in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Kolkata Municipal Corporation কলকাতা পৌরসংস্থা
Emblem of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Type
Type	Municipal Corporation
Term limits	5 years
History
Founded	1876; 148 years ago (1876)
Leadership
Mayor	Firhad Hakim, AITC since 28 December 2021
Deputy Mayor	Atin Ghosh, AITC since 28 December 2021
Chairperson	Mala Roy, AITC since 8 May 2015
Structure
Seats	144

Political groups	Government (137) AITC 134 IND 3^[1] Opposition (7) SDA 4 INC 2 CPI(M) 1 CPI 1 BJP 3
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	19 December 2021
Next election	December 2026
Motto
পুরশ্রী বিবর্ধন: (Bengali) Progress of The City
Meeting place

Headquarters of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Website
www.kmcgov.in

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of 206.08 square kilometres (79.57 sq mi).^[2] Its motto, Purosri Bibardhan (পুরশ্রী বিবর্ধন), is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali script.

History ^[3]

By a royal charter, the first Corporation was set up on 4th September, 1726, consisting of a Mayor and 9 Aldermen. Somehow, they were mainly concerned with discharging judicial functions as Mayor's Court. The administration continued to be in the hands of the zamindar, assisted by a deputy known as black zamindar.

Another royal charter in 1763 redefined the powers and responsibilities of the civic body, marginally to cope with additional demands made on it. Expansion of the lighting and conservancy services, laying of roads and drains and excavation of tanks for supply of drinking water were the direct outcome of the growth the city. Clearance of the Maidan, construction of Fort William in the present site and the spread of European quarters at Chowringhee were the significant developments between 1757 and 1800.

With the passing of the Calcutta Municipal Consolidation Act, 1876, a Corporation was created consisting of 72 Commissioners with a Chairman and Vice-Chairman; 48 Commissioners were elected by the rate-payers and 24 appointed by the Government. In 1888 the Municipal boundaries were extended by the inclusion of suburbs lying east and south of Lower Circular Road. Seven wards were brought within the fold and additions were made to three other wards in the north of the town. The number of Municipal Commissioners was raised to 75, of whom 50 were elected, 15 appointed by the Government and the other 10 nominated by the Chambers of Commerce, the Trades Association and the Port Commissioners.

Democracy was ushered into the Municipal Government of Kolkata by making provision for election of a Mayor annually, by Sir Surendranath Banerjee, who as the first Minister of Local Self-Government in Bengal was the architect of Calcutta Municipal Act of 1923. A major reform was the enfranchisement of women. The adjacent municipalities of Cossipore, Manicktola, Chitpore and Garden Reach were amalgamated with Kolkata. Garden Reach was later separated. Chittaranjan Das was the first elected Mayor and Subhas Chandra Bose his Chief Executive Officer. The city was ruled under the Act till March 1948 when the State Government superseded the Corporation.

A new chapter was opened on 1st May, 1952 when the Calcutta Municipal Act, 1951 came into force. The Corporation was envisaged as a policy-making, directive and rule-making body, the executive side being left as much as possible in the hands of the Commissioner. 76 Councillors were returned from the General territorial constituencies. The Chairman of the Kolkata Improvement Trust was made an ex-officio Councillor. In 1962 adult franchise was introduced in the municipal elections. The number of wards later increased from 75 to 100. Tollygunge was merged with effect from 1st April, 1953. The 1951 Act provided for an elected Mayor, a deputy Mayor and 5 Aldermen elected by the Councilors. The three Co-ordinate Authorities were (i) the Corporation (ii) the Standing Committees and (iii) the Commissioner.

With the amalgamation of erstwhile Municipalities of Jadavpur, South Suburban, Garden Reach and Joka, the strength of the elected councillors has been fixed at 144. From time to time the Act has been amended as per requirements for the betterment of the rate-payers.

Structure

Kolkata Municipal Corporation was established in 1876. Under the guidance of the first Minister of Local Self-Government in Bengal, Sir Surendranath Banerjee, the Calcutta Municipal Act of 1923 made provision for the enfranchisement of women and the election of a Mayor of Kolkata annually. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das was the first Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation with Subhas Chandra Bose as his Chief Executive Officer.^[4] Later mayors include Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, and for the 2010–2015 and 2015–2018 term, Sovan Chatterjee.^[5]

The city is divided into 144 administrative wards^[6] that are grouped into 16 boroughs.^[7] Each of these wards elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the councillors elected from the respective wards of the boroughs. The Corporation, through the borough committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning and road maintenance.^[8] The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC. The mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has a tenure of five years.^[9] At present, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in the KMC.


Borough	Ward
I	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
II	10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
III	13, 14, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35
IV	21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 38, 39
V	36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50
VI	46, 47, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 60, 61, 62
VII	56, 57, 58, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
VIII	68, 69, 70, 72, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90
IX	71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82
X	81, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100
XI	103, 104, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114
XII	101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109
XIII	115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122
XIV	121, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132
XV	133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141
XVI	123, 124, 125, 126, 142, 143, 144

Budget

As of 2024-25, the city government's budget is ₹5,166.79 crore (US$620 million), out of which ₹320 crore (US$38 million) was earmarked for roads and transport infrastructure, ₹692.14 crore (US$83 million) is to be spent on solid waste management, ₹408 crore (US$49 million) on water supply and ₹163 crore (US$20 million) on health services.^[10]

Criticism

Recently the KMC has faced a lot of criticism for legalising unauthorized construction largely responsible for a number of deaths because of fire. This was also responsible of the unplanned growth in the city.^{[citation needed]}

The Sheriff of Kolkata and The KMDA

The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata.^[11] The Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) responsible for the statutory planning and development of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area (KMA).^[12] The KMA includes a large suburban hinterland around the urban centres of Kolkata.

Area of jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the KMC covers the area covered by the Kolkata Police (which in turn includes the area of Kolkata District / KMC)

In 2011, it was announced that Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation area will be coterminous.^[13]^[14]

Kolkata Postal District however extends right up to Barrackpur in the North, Barasat in the North-East, Rajarhat in the East, up to Baruipur in South-East and Pailan in South and up to Pujali in South-West. The Postal code in this entire area starts with 700, indicating Postal Sorting Division of Kolkata. Thus Kolkata Postal Division is much bigger than the area of KMC (Kolkata District) and Kolkata Police.

Services

The KMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.

Water purification and supply
Sewage treatment and disposal
Garbage disposal and street cleanliness
Food Inspection:Through KMC Food Inspectors
Solid waste management
Building and maintenance of roads, streets and flyovers.
Street lighting
Maintenance of parks and open spaces
Cemeteries and Crematoriums
Registering of births and deaths
Conservation of heritage sites
Disease control, including immunisation
Public municipal schools etc.

Control Room of Kolkata Municipal Corporation can be contacted at (033) 2286-1212.

Department

Sl.No.	Department^[15]
1	Advertisement
2	Amusement
3	Assessment & Collection
4	Building
5	Bustee Services
6	Car Parking
7	Central Records
8	Ch. VS Department
9	Education
10	Election Office
11	Electricity
12	Engineering (Civil)
13	Entally workshop
14	Estate
15	Finance and accounts
16	Health
17	Info. & public relations
18	Information Technology
19	Institute of Urban Management
20	Internal Audit
21	Law
22	License
23	Lighting
24	Market
25	Municipal Secretary’s department
26	Municipal Service Commission
27	Parks & Squares
28	Personnel
29	Planning & Development
30	Printing
31	Environment & Heritage Department
32	Roads and Asphaltum
33	Sewerage & Drainage
34	Social Welfare & Urban Poverty Alleviation Department
35	Solid Waste Management
36	Supply
37	City Planning Dept
38	Treasury Department
39	Vigilance
40	Water Supply

References

^ "KMC Election Result 2021: জয়ী হয়েই তৃণমূলের পথে তিন নির্দল প্রার্থী, 'সবুজ-সঙ্কেত' ছিল আগেই?". 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
^ "kmcgov.in". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
^ "Municipal History".
^ "Kolkata – A Municipal History". KMC. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
^ "Mayors of Kolkata". KMC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
^ "KMC polls on Dec 19 to be litmus test for TMC, BJP on urban base since assembly elections". The Economic Times. 25 November 2021. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
^ "Kolkata Statistics". Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
^ "007 Kolkata (India)" (PDF). World Association of the Major Metropolises. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
^ "About Kolkata Municipal Corporation". Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2006.
^ "KMC presents deficit budget of Rs 170.66 cr". 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
^ "New sheriff of Kolkata". The Telegraph. 28 December 2005. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
^ "About Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority". Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
^ "City police chief visits added areas". The Times of India. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
^ Bandyopadhyay, Krishnendu (30 August 2011). "People will see the change: Kolkata police chief". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
^ "KMC Departments". Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2021.