RAS question
Which is the highest level of urban local body in Rajasthan?
Correct answer: (B) Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation).
In Rajasthan, the highest level of urban local body is the Nagar Nigam, or Municipal Corporation, which is established for larger urban areas.
Explanation
Nagar Nigam, formally the Municipal Corporation, is the top tier of urban local body in Rajasthan because the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009 places it at the level meant for larger urban areas. The Act defines a municipality to include a Municipal Corporation, a Municipal Council and a Municipal Board, and Section 5 then maps these forms to urban scale: a Municipal Board for a transitional area, a Municipal Council for a smaller urban area, and a Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area. That is why the MCQ's answer is Nagar Nigam rather than Nagar Palika or Nagar Parishad. Rajasthan has Nagar Nigams in major cities such as Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Ajmer and Bikaner.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Nagar Palika corresponds to the lower Municipal Board level used for transitional or smaller urban settings, so it is not the highest urban local body.
- (C) Nagar Parishad is the Municipal Council level, which the Act links to smaller urban areas rather than the larger urban areas served by Municipal Corporations.
- (D) Town Area Committee is not the statutory top tier in the Rajasthan Municipalities Act framework, which identifies Municipal Corporation as the body for larger urban areas.
Concept
This tests the urban local government hierarchy under Rajasthan polity and administration. It recurs in RAS because municipal institutions, their nomenclature and their constitutional scale are standard local-self-government facts.