74th Amendment

Where the 73rd Amendment deals with rural local government, the 74th Amendment deals with urban local bodies, known as Nagarpalikas. Since urban areas range from a metropolis the size of Mumbai or Kolkata down to small towns that sit somewhere between a village and a city, the Constitution relies on the Census of India's own definition of what counts as an urban area: a minimum population of 5,000; at least 75 per cent of the male working population engaged in non-agricultural occupations; and a population density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre. As per the 2011 Census, about 31 per cent of India's population lives in such urban areas. In most respects, the 74th Amendment simply repeats the 73rd Amendment's own provisions and extends them to Nagarpalikas — direct elections, reservations for women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, transfer of subjects, a State Election Commission, and a State Finance Commission are all carried over. The one significant difference is the list of functions transferred: for urban local bodies, the Constitution mandat …