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28 questions · self-marked practice — reveal the answer and mark yourself.

Question 13 Marks
Several poor people in the city work as domestic servants as well as work for the Corporation, keeping the city clean. Yet the slums in which they live are quite filthy. This is because these slums seldom have any water and sanitation facilities. The reason often given by the Municipal Corporation is that the land in which the poor have set up their homes does not belong to them and that slum-dwellers do not pay taxes. However people living in middle class neighbourhoods pay very little in taxes compared to the amount of money the corporation spends on them in setting up parks, street lighting facilities, regular garbage collection etc. Also as you read in this chapter, the property taxes collected by the Municipality makes up only 25-30 per cent of its money. Why do you think it is important that the Corporation should spend more money on slum localities? Why is it important that the Municipal Corporation provide the poor in the city with the same facilities that the rich get?
Answer
Slums are also integral part of a city. The slum dwellers contribute immensely. They provide various services to the middle class people. Moreover, if an epidemic spreads in a slum it will also affect the middle class locality. So maintenance of cleanliness in slums is as important as in middle class locality.
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Question 23 Marks

Discuss
In the two photographs you see different ways of collecting and disposing garbage.
  1. Which way do you think provides safety to the person disposing garbage?
  2. What are the dangers of collecting garbage in the manner shown in the first photograph?
  3. Why do you think that proper ways of disposing garbage are not available to those who work in municipalities?
Answer
  1. The second photograph shows the safe way of disposing garbage.
  2. In the first photograph, the worker may get injured. He may get infected and may fall sick.
  3. This can be because of two reasons. First reason is lack of fund to buy proper equipments. The second reason is lack of awareness among workers as well as among he officers.
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Question 33 Marks
What did Gangabai do and Why?
Answer
Garbage was lying here and there in the neighbourhood of Gangabai. People were getting suffocated by the foul smell. Gangabai decided to go to the Ward Councillor with her neighbour. She described this situation to him and he promised to solve this problem immediately. She told the Commissioner that if the problem will not be solved then a number of women from her locality would protest against the corporation.
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Question 43 Marks
List four ways in which the work of the Municipal Corporation affects the life of a city-dweller.
Answer
Following are the four ways in which the work of the Municipal Corporation affects the life of a city-dweller:
  • By keeping the drainage clean, it keeps the city clean.
  • By collecting and disposing off the garbage, it maintains cleanliness on streets.
  • By providing parks, it provides open space to people.
  • By working on malaria and dengue prevention, it helps the health of the people.
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Question 53 Marks
List the qualifications that are needed to become the member of the municipality.
Answer
The following qualifications are needed to become a member of the municipality:
  1. The person must be a citizen of India.
  2. His name should be there in the voters' list.
  3. His minimum age should be 25 years.
  4. He should not be a mad, a bankrupt or a criminal.
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Question 63 Marks
State any five functions of the Municipalities.
Answer
The five functions of the Municipalities are as follows:
  1. Supply of adequate drinking water.
  2. Providing and maintaining drainage and sewage systems.
  3. Maintenance of public street lighting.
  4. Construction and maintenance of bus terminals, roads and bridges.
  5. Maintenance of birth and death records.
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Question 73 Marks
What are the functions of Ward Committee?
Answer
The important functions of Ward Committee are as follows:
  1. Supervision of the overall municipal work.
  2. Water and sanitation requirements.
  3. Identification of slums and their upgradation.
  4. Public health - information dissemination.
  5. Environment protection.
  6. Supervision of public physical infrastructure like hospitals, schools and roads.
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Question 83 Marks
What are ill effects of garbage lying all over in the streets?
Answer
  1. Garbage attracts dogs, rats, mosquitoes and flies.
  2. It gives foul smell which causes people to fall ill.
  3. People and children get sick.
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Question 93 Marks
How is the Municipal Corporation elected and how does it work?
Answer
The members of the Municipal Corporation are elected by the people of each ward. The elected representatives are known as ward councillors. The ward councillors look after the problems related to their ward. The ward councillors elect their heads, a Mayor and a Deputy Mayor from among themselves as presiding officer. The state government appoints a Commissioner from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to implement the decisions made by the Corporation and prepare an annual budget.
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Question 103 Marks
Examine the composition of a Municipality or Municipal Corporation.
Answer
All citizens of India who are 18 years of age and above can vote in the municipal elections. The candidates who wish to contest elections must be of 21 years or above. Members of a municipality are dependent upon its population. They vary from 15 to 16. The entire city is divided into a number of wards. One member is elected from each ward. Seats are even reserved for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe in proportion to their population. 33 percent seats are reserved for women. Members of State Legislature (MLAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) are also members of the council. The council is elected for a term of five years. Its head is a Councillor.
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Question 113 Marks
Critically evaluate the role of the Ward Councillors.
Answer
A ward councillor is directly elected to represent and serve the people in a specific ward. The ward councillor should make sure that the interests of the people in the ward are represented in a proper manner. The ward councillor remains in touch with the key issues in their area, understand the crucial problems and monitor its development. The ward councillor acts as a spokesperson for the people in the ward. They are the direct link between the council and the voters. People can also bring their problems to the ward councillor and he/ she should deal with these in a suitable way.
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Question 123 Marks
Where was the First Municipal Corporation of India established?
Answer
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (formerly Calcutta Municipal Corporation) is the first Municipal Corporation of India. It was established by the British Government in the year 1690 in order to establish local trade, which was favorable in many villages. It became more effective and efficient with the passage of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation act of 1980, which stated the functions of the municipality department.
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Question 133 Marks
Why Urban Administration is important?
Answer
Urban administration is necessary to provide the basic amenities like street lights, garbage collection, water supply, keeping the streets and the markets clean, collecting of house tax and water taxes, etc. They are responsible for cleaning of city drainage system, maintenance of parks, and market. It had made possible for regulating the urban development and local management of civic facilities.
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Question 143 Marks
How the municipality takes care of health facilities in a locality?
Answer
The Municipality and the Municipal Corporation arrange for the disposal of wastes which causes a number of diseases. They construct sewage to drain out dirty water from our cities and villages. They protect the people from epidemics and other diseases like cholera and small pox. They make arrangements for polio vaccination for the children. They maintain dispensaries and hospitals for the sick and also construct public latrines and urinals.
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Question 153 Marks
Who is a 'Session Judge'?
Answer
A district judge is also called the "Metropolitan session judge". He is presiding over a district court in a city which is designated metropolitan area by the State government. A session judge conducts or administers the highest criminal court in a district.
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Question 163 Marks
What is meant by the devolution to urban local bodies?
Answer
Devolution is the transfer of responsibility and accountability from the higher levels of governments (central and state) to the local governments. It involves de jure as well as de facto transfer of responsibilities to the municipal governments along with the transfer of adequate funds to enable municipalities to carry out their functions in a fair and proper manner.
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Question 173 Marks
What lessons are learnt from the plague epidemic in Surat?
Answer
The lessons learnt are as follows: First, strong direction in both administrative and political arenas is essential for good governance. Second, it is feasible to put into practice the administrative strategies to deal with issues of solid waste management and public health if enough thought is put into generating the work ethics as well as public awareness, supported by the proper law enforcement measures.
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Question 183 Marks
Discuss the impact of Plague on Surat.
Answer
The epidemic has caused mass panic and alarm in the city, the state, and the whole country. Within days of the outbreak about 300,000 people left Surat, and all work ceased. Many people even left other cities in the state even though there were no positive cases. Trains were not allowed to stop at Surat station. It has cost Surat a huge loss in terms of business.
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Question 193 Marks
What is the need to have a local government in cities and towns?
Answer
Cities and towns, as these places are large and densely populated, have needs like communication and transport system, water supply, electricity, etc. Cities and towns also grapple with problems like slums, pollution, power cuts, etc. there is a need to have local government in cities and towns to fulfil the needs and take care of the problems they face by providing the necessary community services and civic amenities.
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Question 203 Marks
How does Municipality or Municipal Corporation get its money?
Answer
For providing and running several services, the Municipality needs a lot of money. The Municipal Corporation collects it in diverse ways. A tax is a sum of money that people pay to the government for the services the government supplies. People who own homes have to pay a property tax as well as taxes for water and other services. The larger the house the more the tax, i.e. tax according to quantity. Property levies however form 25- 30 percent of the total money that a Municipal Corporation earns. There are also taxes for education. Even taxes like entertainment tax on tickets etc. are also levied. Rich people account for property taxes while wider population pays more general taxes.
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Question 213 Marks
List the compulsory functions of the municipal bodies.
Answer
Supply of drinking water, construction and maintenance of roads, cleaning of streets and sewerages, maintenance of public health and sanitation, maintenance of public hospitals and provision of vaccinations and taking measures to control epidemics, establishment and maintenance of primary schools, registration of births and deaths, naming of streets and numbering of houses, ensuring public safety by removing obstructions such as a fallen tree, in public streets and maintaining fire engines and ambulance services to save life and property.
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Question 223 Marks
Differentiate between the Councillors and the administrative officers.
Answer
Councillors are elected by the people and keep their positions only if they are re- elected. Officials are appointed on the merit basis by council management to a specified jobs within the municipal administration, and are like any other employee in a job. Officials possess the knowledge and skills on the technical and specialized aspects of municipal affairs. Councillors who don't have this knowledge have to rely on the reports of officials to help them make decisions. Both the Councillors and officials decide the policies and direction of the municipality. Once the council has reached a decision then officials are expected to carry these out in the most efficient and cost- effective manner.
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Question 233 Marks
Why is it essential to have urban administration?
Answer
In recent times, there has been a rapid growth in the rate of urbanisation due to the growth of cities spread over big areas. Cities are more densely populated than rural areas. The classification of the cities into big, medium and small helps the government to pay attention to their problems. With the evolution of cities developed the problems of narrow roads, traffic jams, water and electricity shortage, crowded hospitals and lack of basic civic amenities. The task of solving all these problems is done by urban administration.
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Question 243 Marks
Is community protest viable in a municipality?
Answer
An individual sometimes cannot make the government act but the community can do wonders. In a small town of Pune, inaction of municipality led to collection of garbage. Children started falling ill. Despite repeated requests to the local councillor there was no action. As a consequence, the local women gathered and along with the local councillor sat on a mass protest outside the Mayor’s office. When no action was still taken, women surrounded the local corporation office and made a noisy protest. The corporation was forced to remove the garbage and promised not to neglect it in future.
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Question 253 Marks
How a District Collector administers jails?
Answer
Every district has a jail. The criminals and law breakers are kept here imprisoned. Jails are an important component of a District Collector's power. His duty is to look after the administration of the jail. A Jailor is the highest officer of a jail. He is assisted in his work by the Deputy Jailor. The jails are regularly inspected by the collector. He deals with problems such as grant of superior classes of prisoners, release of prisoners, mercy petitions etc.
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Question 263 Marks
What is a Municipal Corporation?
Answer
A Municipal Corporation is established in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai etc., to solve the local problems of the people staying in these cities. Its main functions are sanitation, records of birth and death, establishment of school and libraries, establishment and maintenance of hospital, water and electricity supply etc.
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Question 273 Marks
When do the local people contact their councillor?
Answer
The ward people contact their ward councillor when the problem relates to the ward such as:
  1. Dangerous electric wires to be replaced.
  2. Road repairs (street repairs)
  3. Public water pump installation.
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Question 283 Marks
Why it is important to clean roads and garbage?
Answer
Garbage and dirt lying over roads and streets, if remains uncollected attracts flies, rats, dogs, etc. and this harms the people. People get ill from the smell. After a point movement of people and playing of children gets stopped due to the fear of illness. So to save us from diseases, regular cleaning is required.
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