Madurai Municipal Corporation

Seal of the Madurai Municipal Corporation

Madurai Municipal Corporation (Tamil: மதுரை மாநகராட்சி) is the civic body which administers the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. It consists of a legislative and an executive body. The legislative body is headed by the city mayor while the executive body is headed by a Chief Commissioner.

History

The municipality of Madura, 1906

The municipality of Madurai was constituted on 1 November 1866 as per the Town Improvement Act of 1865. The municipality was headed by a chairperson and elections were regularly conducted for the post except during the period 1891 to 1896, when no elections were held due to violent factionalism. A Secretary was appointed in 1898 to assist the Municipal Chairperson. A municipal office was established in 1871-72 in a portion of the Thirumalai Nayak's palace. The municipality repaired a causeway across the Vaigai River in 1884 and founded a maternity hospital in 1873. In 1892, the Madurai municipality commissioned a water-supply project headed by J. A. Jones, Sanitary Engineer to the Madras government, to construct a channel redirecting the waters of the Vaigai River and purifying them. The project was eventually completed in 1894 at a cost of Rs.6,23,000, including a Rs.1,96,000 grant from the government of Madras Presidency. The cost of maintenance was estimated at Rs.32,753. A drainage system for the portion surrounded by the four Masi streets was completed in 1902.

During the early years of independent India, the Madurai municipality was dominated by reformists of the Indian National Congress.^[1]As early as December 1923, the municipality had passed a resolution prohibiting the sale of liquor and intoxicants in Madurai city.^[2]Madurai was upgraded to a municipal corporation on 1 May 1971^[3] as per the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971.^[4] It is the second oldest municipal corporation in Tamil Nadu, after Chennai.^[3]

Structure

The Madurai Municipal Corporation

The Madurai City Municipal Corporation Council, the legislative body, comprises 100 councillors elected from each of the 100 wards and is headed by a mayor assisted by a Deputy Mayor. The executive wing is made up of seven departments: general administration, revenue, town planning, engineering, public health, information technology and personnel and is headed by a City Commissioner. The Commissioner is assisted by two executive engineers for the east and west sections, and Assistant Commissioners for personnel, accounts and revenue departments, a public relations officer, a city engineer, a city health officer and an Assistant Commissioner for each of the four zones

List of mayors

• S. Muthu (1971-1980)
• M. R. Shankaran (1980-1983)
• P. Kulandaivelu (1996-2001)
• C. Ramachandran (2001-2006)
• G. Thenmozhi (2006-2011)
• V. V. Rajan Chellappa (2011-till now)

Notes

1. ^ Lal, Shiv (1972). Indian elections since independence. 1. Election Archives. p. 151. 
2. ^ "Picketing of Liquor shops in Madurai". Historia. 1. Madurai Tamilology Publishers. 1981. p. 55. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Civic affairs. 18. Citizen Press. 1970. p. 54. 
4. ^ Palanithurai, Ganapathy (2007). A handbook for panchayati raj administration (Tamil Nadu). Concept Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 81-8069-340-6, ISBN 978-81-8069-340-3. 

References

• Francis, W. (1906). Madras District Gazetteers: Madura. Government Press. pp. 222-226. 

External Links

official website