Civic administration of Kolkata
Encyclopedia
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
(the metropolitan city and the capital of the West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
state of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
) is executed by several government agencies, and consists of overlapping structural divisions. At least five administrative definitions of the city are available; listed in ascending order of area, those are:
1) Kolkata District
Kolkata District
Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the center part of the city of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the Kolkata...
, 2) the Kolkata Police
Kolkata Police
The Kolkata Police Force is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal....
area, 3) the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. The organization is known, in short, as KMC . This civic administrative body administers an area of 185 sq. km. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali...
area ("Kolkata city"), 4) "Greater Kolkata", which
adds to the KMC area a few areas just adjacent to
it, and 5)
the Kolkata Metropolitan Area
Kolkata metropolitan area
Kolkata Metropolitan Area is the urban agglomeration of the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India.-Constituents:The KMA consists of :...
.
To focus on number 3, that is, the area within which the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. The organization is known, in short, as KMC . This civic administrative body administers an area of 185 sq. km. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali...
(KMC) functions, the government of that area involves at least
the following authorities: the KMC itself, the Kolkata Collector (see
Kolkata District
Kolkata District
Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the center part of the city of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the Kolkata...
), the Kolkata Police, the Collector /
District Magistrate (DM) of South 24 Parganas District, and the
Superintendent of Police (SP) of South 24 Parganas District.
The Kolkata Collector collects land revenues within a relatively small part
of the area within which the KMC functions; the Kolkata Police performs police functions in
the Collector's area and also an adjacent area; and the KMC provides
services such as water in the Kolkata Police's entire area and also an
adjacent area.
In the Kolkata Police's "adjacent area", revenue collection is performed by
the Collector/DM of South 24 Parganas District. And in the KMC's "adjacent
area", revenue collection is performed by the Collector/DM of South 24
Parganas District, and police functions are performed by the SP of South 24
Parganas District (who is under the Collector/DM of that
district).
The Kolkata Collector's area is known as Kolkata District
Kolkata District
Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the center part of the city of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the Kolkata...
. The Kolkata
Police's entire area comprises eighty-six wards of the
KMC in their entirety, plus most of another six KMC
wards.
The KMC's entire area comprises all 141 wards of the KMC. "City" in relation
to Kolkata is not an official term; when used, it normally refers to the KMC
area.
It may seem paradoxical that the area of a district should be a subset of
one urban area, since normally a district contains numerous urban areas as
well as rural areas. This and the various other complications of Kolkata's
government are mostly explained by the fact that Kolkata's gradual urban
sprawl had somehow to be accommodated to existing political boundaries.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. The organization is known, in short, as KMC . This civic administrative body administers an area of 185 sq. km. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali...
(KMC, formerly the Calcutta Municipal
Corporation), established in 1876, is responsible for the civic maintenance
and infrastructure of Kolkata. The Kolkata Police
Kolkata Police
The Kolkata Police Force is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal....
, headed by the Police Commissioner, comes under the West Bengal Home Ministry. The city is administratively divided into several police-zone
Divisions of Kolkata Police
Kolkata Police is divided into 5 administrative divisions. Each division is under a Deputy Commissionar of Police.-North and North Suburban Division:...
s subdivided into 59 local police stations
Police stations in Kolkata
The police stations in Kolkata , in the area area under Kolkata Police are:#Alipore#Amherst Street#Ballygunge#Beleghata#Beniapukur#Bhowanipur#Bowbazar#Burrabazar#Burtola#Charu Market#Chetla#Chitpur#Cossipore#Ekbalpore#Entally#Garden Reach#Gariahat...
—48 of them under the Kolkata Police and 11 of them (counting two outposts) under the Superintendent of Police of South 24 Parganas District.The new government of West Bengal has announced that the entire area administered by Kolkata Municipal Corporation would be brought under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police. This would reduce one of the confusion in the Civic /Police administration of Kolkata.
The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata
Sheriff of Kolkata
The Sheriff of Kolkata is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Kolkata. The Sheriff has an office and staff but does not have executive powers. In the order of precedence, the Sheriff ranks just below the Mayor...
. The Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority is the statutory planning and development authority for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area in the state of West Bengal, India. The organisation was previously known as Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority and still retains the previous logo...
(KMDA) responsible for the statutory planning and development of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area
Kolkata metropolitan area
Kolkata Metropolitan Area is the urban agglomeration of the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India.-Constituents:The KMA consists of :...
(KMA). The KMA includes a large suburban hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
around the urban centres of Kolkata.
As the capital of the state and the seat of the Government of West Bengal
Government of West Bengal
The Government of West Bengal also known as the State Government of West Bengal, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of West Bengal and its 19 districts...
, Kolkata houses not only the various offices of local government listed above, but also, for the state level, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly
West Bengal Legislative Assembly
The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is housed in the B.B.D. Bagh area of Kolkata —the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative assembly are directly elected by the people...
, the Secretariat (Writers' Building
Writers' Building
The Writers' Building is the secretariat building of the State Government of West Bengal in India. It is and is located in West Bengal's capital city of Kolkata. The Writers' Building originally served as the office for writers of the British East India Company, hence the name...
) and the Calcutta High Court
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court...
. Kolkata also has lower court
Lower court
A lower court is a court from which an appeal may be taken. In relation to an appeal from one court to another, the lower court is the court whose decision is being reviewed, which may be the original trial court or an appellate court lower in rank than the superior court which is hearing the...
s; the Small Causes Court
Small Causes Court
In Indian cities, the Small Causes Court is responsible for adjudicating matters related to civil cases. The court is responsible for cases relating to tax, , property disputes and other such cases...
for civil matters, and the Sessions Court
Sessions Court
A Sessions Court is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries.-India:In Indian cities, the Sessions Court is responsible for adjudicating matters related to criminal cases. The court is responsible for cases relating to murders, theft, dacoity, pick-pocketing and other such cases...
for criminal cases. The city elects 3 representatives to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
(India's lower house) and 21 representatives to the state Legislative Assembly.