Om Birla Inaugurates 1st National Meet of Urban Local Body Heads in Manesar

The first-ever national-level conference of the chairpersons of the Urban Local Bodies was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, at Manesar, Haryana, on 3rd July 2025. 

During the inaugural session of the conference, Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Nayab Singh, Chief Minister of Haryana, Harvinder Kalyan, Speaker of the Haryana Legislative Assembly, and others were present.

The two-day conference to be held on 3rd and 4th July will see the participation of chairpersons of the Urban Local Bodies from across India.

Aim of the Conference 

• To provide a platform to highlight the role of Urban Local Bodies in a rapidly urbanising India. 
• To strengthen local self-governing democratic institutions in the country,
• The state will share their best practices in urban local bodies and their functioning,
• Deliberate on exploring an innovative approach to urban governance in the country..

Who will address the valedictory session of the Conference 

The valedictory session of the conference will be addressed by Haryana Governor, Bandaru Dattatraya,on 4th July. Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, and Speaker of Haryana legislative assembly, Harvinder Kalyan, will also be present on the occasion.

Theme of the Conference 

The theme of the conference is - Role of Urban Local Bodies in Strengthening Constitutional Democracy and Nation Building.

Urban Local Bodies and their status 

Local self-government is considered to be the third tier of democracy.

• The local self-government, specifically Panchayati Raj in rural areas and Municipalities in urban areas, is mentioned in the state list of the Seventh Schedule. It means that only the state government can make laws on it.
• However, the Parliament enacted the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, that provides a constitutional status to the Urban Local Self Government in india.
• The 74th Amendment came into force on 1 June 1993.
• It introduced Part IX-A and the 12th Schedule to the Constitution.
• The 12th Schedule lists 18 specific functions of the Urban Local Bodies that a state government must delegate to municipalities so that they can function as an institution of self-government.