Which body a city gets

Chennai and Indore have a Municipal Corporation at the top of their urban bodies. Only cities with more than 10 lakh people have a Municipal Corporation (also called 'Mahānagar Nigam'; you may also hear 'Nagar Nigam') as their highest body.

For places with between 1 and 10 lakh people, the highest body is a Municipal Council (also called 'Nagar Pālikā'). Towns with smaller populations have a Nagar Panchāyat. So the body a place gets depends on how many people live there: three sizes, three names.

The book shows what one such body actually does, using the Indore Municipal Corporation. Its services include property tax, water charges, solid waste management, licences for business, hoardings and trade, and permission for cutting and moving trees.

Under Citizen Relationship Management (CRM), it issues marriage certificates, runs fire services, grants various licences, sends water tankers, clears debris (rubble) and deals with complaints.

Under 'Services on Request' it offers a water tanker, a septic tanker, an auditorium, a funeral van, a mobile toilet and an ambulance. A city's life, from a wedding certificate to a funeral van, all in one list.

Indore in Madhya Pradesh has been named India's cleanest city under the government's Swachh Survekshan survey seven years in a row. What role do you think Indore's citizens played in this?

Look at the list again and ask: how do urban local bodies pay for their work? Are some services paid for? Property tax, water charges, licence fees and fines: the money for the work comes from the people the work is for.