Social Studies [2 Mark Questions]

A city is a place where people from different regions and states live together. Population of a city varies from twenty thousands and 5 lakh.

The Municipal Corporation collects taxes on houses, water, entertainment, parking, etc. to earn money. It also gets some grant from the government.

Plague is a bacterial disease of rodents that can be spread to humans and other animals by infected fleas. Pneumonic plague is the most infectious form because it can spread from person to person in airborne droplets.

Yasmin Khala did not have to make interesting decisions like this when she worked in the Municipal Corporation as such decisions are taken by ward councillors and not the employees. Mrs. Yasmin Khala worked in the accounts section of the corporation and was responsible for pay of the employees.

The main reason for the epidemic Plague in Surat was the unhealthy sewerage conditions and the inefficient health infrastructure.

Democracy, which derives from the Greek word "demos", or "people", is defined, basically as government in which the supreme power is in the hands of the people.

Urban government bodies consist of Municipal Corporation and Municipalities. Municipal Corporations are found in the larger cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and other places. Municipalities exists in smaller towns and cities.

The day-to-day work of Municipality or Municipal Corporation is carried out with a number of committees. Each committee performs several functions. These may include committee on education, public health, water, housing and so on.

Public amenities are facilities or benefits continuously offered to general public for their use or enjoyment, with or without charge. Example, the essential services like arrangement of drinking water, light, hospital, education etc.

He or she implements the decisions made by the Corporation and takes the help of the officers in-charge of various departments such as health, water, sanitation and housing. He or she also prepares the annual budget.

In some State the Municipal Chairman is elected by the elected members of the municipality. In some States, he is directly elected by the people. The Municipal Council comprising of 36 ward councillors is headed by a Chairman.

According to the Indian Constitution "the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Municipalities shall be vested in the State Election Commission".

No, not all the cities have Municipal Corporations; big cities like Pune, have Municipal Corporation while smaller towns like Mainpuri, Sitapur, etc. have a Municipal Council.

The children were curious to know who was responsible for fixing the streetlights. Yasmin Khala was working for the municipality. Hence, one child’s mother advised them to go to Yasmin Khala. She thought that Yasmin Khala would be the best person to answer their questions.

Parks are necessary in big cities because it provide a proper environment for our health. It helps to protect our localities from pollution and keep ourselves healthy.

The sources of income of the municipalities are very limited while the expenditure is more than the income. So, the State governments give grants to the municipalities.

The District Collector or District Magistrate is the head of a district. He belongs to the cadre of Indian administration Services (I.A. S.) and is appointed by the State Government.

Urbanization means the increase in the proportion population of a country who live in the urban areas.

Every corporation has a Chief Executive Officer. He is not elected by the people, but appointed by the state government. His main function is to implement the decision of the Municipal Corporation. He supervises the work of engineers, doctors and educationists.

The Ward Committee is a committee that includes the councillor and the a few residents of that ward. It is designed so to be representative of the people residing in that ward. The ward councillors are elected by the people.

Community protest is a group demonstration. Any such problem that concerns with the common people, protest is used to attract attention of the concerned authority. Peaceful protest is allowed in India.
Under the protest, a memorandum is given to the concerned department in which the problem of the area is raised and the request is made to resolve the problem. In this chapter too, Gangabai has demonstrated in front of the office of the Municipal Corporation about the problem of garbage deposited in its area.

The Municipal Corporation is responsible for the following work :
1. Arrangements for street lights
2. Garbage collection
3. Water supply
4. Keeping the streets and the market clean
5. Making gardens, parks and maintaining them

Surat was one of the dirtiest cities in India. Houses, hotels and restaurants would dump their garbage into the nearest drain or street which made it very difficult for sweepers to collect and transfer the garbage into selected dumps.
In addition to this, the Municipal Corporation did not collect the garbage as often as it should have and this led to the situation getting worse. Plague spread through the air and people who had the disease had to be isolated. In Surat several people lost their lives and about 3 lakh deserted the city.

Providing and running so many services require a lot of money. The Municipal Corporation collects this in different ways. People who own homes have to pay a property tax as well as taxes for water and other services.
There are also taxes for education and other amenities. If you own a hotel or shop then you have to pay a tax for this as well. Tax is also collected on movie tickets. A large amount of taxes are accumulated in the head of property tax.

Gangabai and other women of her locality were very much unhappy to find garbage lying all over the street and spreading foul smell. One day she said that it is the Ward Councillor who they should go to and protest since they are the ones who elected him. She gathered a small group of women and went to his house to get their problems solved.

The Municipal Corporation affects the life of a city-dweller in several ways :
• It takes care of street lights.
• It ensures that diseases do not break out in the city.
• It runs schools, hospitals, and dispensaries.
• It takes care of garbage collection, water supply, keeping the streets and the market clean.

The four children had broken the street light while playing a game of cricket. They wanted to know to whom should they give them money for the replacement of the light. Yasmin Khala has just retired from the Municipal Corporation and she may be knowing the answer.

Yes, Municipal Corporation has several departments. Every department has numerous workers. These departments are :
• Water Department in the case of Delhi, Delhi Jal Board, though a separate autonomous body.
• Garbage Collection Department.
• Garden (Horticulture) Department.
•Roads Department (PWD).
• Sanitation Department.