Shimla Municipal Corporation is one of the oldest municipalities of India and has passed through many slings and arrows during its last one hundred and forty five years of existence.
It was first constituted as Municipal Committee in December, 1851, under the provisions of Act XXVI of 1850. Initially appointed Municipal Commissioners were Government officials. The first elections were held on August 26, 1855 following the first meeting of the committee composed of the Deputy Commissioner; Senior Assistant Commissioner; Medical Officer; and an Executive Engineer; together with house proprietors.
Shimla Municipal Committee was declared as Class I Municipality on July 31, 1871. In 1874, it was brought under the Punjab Municipal Act ( IV of 1873) but there were grave objections to this constitution. In 1884, with the introduction of the Punjab Municipal Act, XIII of 1884, the town was divided into two wards viz.- the Station and the Bazaar. The Committee passed through different reconstitution procedures till the Independence. After Independence there was demand from the Public for extending franchise to the whole population. Then Shimla was divided into fourteen single member wards and one double member ward. All the members were to be elected and the president was in turn to be elected by the members amongst themselves. Elections in 1953 and 1960 were held on the basis of this system. In view of the substantial increase in population of the town, advisors to the Committee were appointed and subsequently membership was raised.
As a result of re-organization of Punjab, Shimla became a part of Himachal Pradesh. Even the case between the Committee and Punjab Government was set aside by Court and reinstated the Committee in June, 1967.
In 1968 arrangements for holding first elections were made and as a prelude the government ordered the delimitation of wards of the Municipal Committee into ten wards. In the meanwhile the passing of the Himachal Pradesh Development & Regulation) Act 1968, (Act No.22 of 1969) converted the Committee into Corporation w.e.f. June 29, 1969. The Committee thus witnessed its liquidation after a long history. With the passing of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act., 1994 ( H.P. Municipal Corporation Act, 1994) government revised the delimitation of wards into 21 and conduced election.
Elected Body :
The Municipal Corporation Shimla has a an elected body of 28 councilors out of which 25 are directly elected by the public of Shimla town and 3 are nominated by the Govt. of HP amongst the prominent citizens of the town who excel in the field of social service, academics and other activities. The tenure of the corporation is five years. The elections were held in May, 2007.
The Mayor is elected by the councilors amongst themselves and one Deputy Mayor is elected in the same manner. Mayor and Deputy Mayor both have the same tenure of two and half years after which new elections are held by the house. Presently, Sh. Nariender Katria is the Mayor and Sh Harish Janaratha is Deputy Mayor. The pictorial out line of the elected body of the corporation is as under.
Administrative Setup:
The Commissioner MC Shimla is the administrative head of the Corpoartion. All executive and administrative powers for the purpose of carrying out day to day functions are vested in him. He is appointed by the State Govt for a particular period of time. He is assisted by a joint/assistant commissioner who is also appointed by the State Govt. At present Sh. Devesh Kumar, IAS is the Commissioner and Sh. O.P. Kant is the Joint commissioner of the Corporation.
In addition the Municipal Corporation has its own permanent cader of the officers who look after independent branches.
MC Shimla maybe contacted on
www:shimlamc.org
E-mail:mcs_shimla@yahoo.com
