 Seal of Bihar | |
| Seat of Government | Patna |
|---|---|
| Legislative branch | |
| Assembly | |
| Speaker | Nand Kishore Yadav |
| Members in Assembly | 243 |
| Council | Bihar Legislative Council |
| Chairman | [Awadhesh Narain Singh] |
| Members in Council | 75 |
| Executive branch | |
| Governor | Rajendra Arlekar |
| Chief Minister | Nitish Kumar |
| Judiciary | |
| High Court | Patna High Court |
| Chief Justice | JusticeK. Vinod Chandran |
Bihar is astate situated inEastern India. It is surrounded byWest Bengal to the east,Uttar Pradesh to the west,Jharkhand to the south andNepal to the north...
Magadha,Anga andVajjika League of Mithila,c. 600 BCE.
Before 1905, Bihar was a part ofBritish East India Company'sBengal Presidency. In 1905 the Bengal Presidency was divided and created two new provinces: East Bengal and West Bengal. Until then Bihar was part of West Bengal. Again West Bengal and East Bengal reunited in 1911 but the people of Bihar and Orrisa demanded a separate province based on language rather than religion. In 1912 Bihar and Orissa Province was created separating from Bengal Presidency. In 1936, Bihar and Orrisa Province divided into two new provinces: Bihar Province and Orissa Province.
FollowingDivisions were included in Bihar and Orissa Province when it separated fromBengal Presidency in 1912:
On 1 April 1936 Bihar and Orissa Province was divided into two new provinces: Bihar Province andOrissa Province
In 1936, Bihar became a separate province including part ofJharkhand.
After the independence of India in 1951, Bihar including Jharkhand had 18 divisions, and had 55 districts in 1991.
In 2000, Bihar again divided into two states: the current Bihar and Jharkhand. In 2001 Bihar had a total of 38 districts.
| Divisions | 9 |
|---|---|
| Districts | 38 |
| Subdivisions | 101 |
| Cities and towns | 261 |
| Blocks | 534 |
| Villages | 45,103 |
| Panchayats | 8,058 |
| Police Districts | 43 |
| Police Stations | 1064 |
Structurally Bihar is divided intodivisions (Pramandal),districts (Zila),sub-divisions (Anumandal) & circles (Aanchal).The state is divided into nine divisions, 38 districts, 101 subdivisions and 534 circles.[1] 17 municipal corporations, 84 Nagar Parishads and 151 Nagar Panchayats,[2][3][4][5][6] for administrative purposes.
| India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Divisions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blocks (Tehsils) | Municipal Corporations (Nagar Nigam) | Municipal Councils (Nagar Parishad) | Town Council (Nagar Panchayat) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Villages (Graam/Gau'n) | Wards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
There are 38 districts in Bihar, grouped into 9 divisions —Patna,Tirhut,Saran,Darbhanga,Kosi,Purnia,Bhagalpur,Munger andMagadh —are as listed below.
Sub-divisions (Anumandal) in Bihar are likesub-districts. There are 101 subdivisions in Bihar.
The Indian state of Bihar is divided into 534 CD Block calledblocks.[7][8]
| District | Block |
|---|---|
| Gaya | Gurua |
| Gaya | Konch |
| Gaya | Manpur |
| Gaya | Paraiya |
| Gaya | BankeBazar |
| Gaya | Imamganj |
| Gaya | Dumariya |
| Gaya | Barachatti |
| Gaya | wazirganj |
| Gaya | Sherghati |
| Gaya | Tekari |
| District | Block |
|---|---|
| Bhagalpur | Bihpur |
| Bhagalpur | Gopalpur |
| Bhagalpur | Naugachhia |
| Bhagalpur | Ismailpur |
| Bhagalpur | Rangrachowk |
| Bhagalpur | Narayanpur |
| Bhagalpur | Sabour |
| Bhagalpur | Sanhaula |
| Bhagalpur | Goradih |
| Bhagalpur | Kharik |
As per Census 2011, Bihar is the second least urbanised state in the country, with a rate of urbanisation of 11.3%, as compared to the national rate of 31.16%.[9][10] The state has 139 StatutoryTowns and 60 Census Towns.[11]
For the administration of the urban areas, Bihar has 19municipal corporations, 88nagar parishads (city councils), and 154nagar panchayats (town councils).[12][13][14][15][16] Bihar has one municipal act to establish and govern all municipalities in the state: Bihar Municipal Act, 2007.[17]
As per a 2017 report by theComptroller and Auditor General of India, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Bihar carry out 12 out of 18 functions, and the remaining 6 are carried out by Bihar state government departments.[18] The Fifth Bihar State Finance Commission report states that the ULB funds are ‘grossly inadequate for their assigned functions, they are unable to utilize even that’.[19]
The Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 creates the following categories of urban areas based on their population. All three types of urban areas must have at least 75% of their population engaged in non-agricultural work.[17]
| Types of Urban Areas according to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 | ||
| Type | Population Criteria | Type of Local Body |
| City | Larger urban area: 2 lakh or more | Municipal Corporation |
| Town | Medium urban area: 40 thousand or more but less than 2 lakh | Municipal Council |
| Small Town or Transitional Area | 12 thousand and more but less than 40 thousand | Nagar Panchayat |
Further, depending on the population size, the Act prescribes the minimum and maximum number of councillors/wards allowed within each type of local government.
| Minimum and Maximum number of Councillors/Wards Allowed according to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 | |||
| Population Range | Minimum | Incremental Number | Maximum |
| Municipal Corporations | |||
| Above 10 lakh | 67 | One additional Councillor for every 75,000 above 10 lakh | 75 |
| Above 5 lakh up to 10 lakh | 57 | One additional Councillor for every 50,000 above 5 lakh | 67 |
| Above 2 lakh up to 5 lakh | 45 | One additional Councillor for every 25,000 above 2 lakh | 57 |
| Municipal Council | |||
| Class 'A' Municipal Council | 42 | One additional Councillor for every 15,000 above 1,50,000 | 45 |
| Class 'B' Municipal Council | 37 | One additional Councillor for every 10,000 above 1 lakh | 42 |
| Class 'C' Municipal Council | 25 | One additional Councillor for every 5,000 above 40, 000 | 37 |
| Nagar Panchayat | |||
| Nagar Panchayat | 10 | One additional Member for every 2,000 above 12,000 | 25 |
The Act mentions the following key positions as well as committees for ULBs:
| Elected Officials | Administrative Officials | Committees |
|---|---|---|
| Councillor, Chief Councillor, Deputy Chief Councillor | Municipal Commissioner, Controller of Municipal Finances and Accounts, Municipal Internal Auditor, Chief Municipal Engineer, Municipal Architect and Town Planner, Chief Municipal Health Officer, Municipal Law Officer, Municipal Secretary, three Additional Municipal commissioners Such number of Joint Municipal Commissioners or Deputy Municipal Commissioners or Deputy Chief Municipal Engineers as the Empowered Standing Committee may, from time to time, determine, | Empowered Standing Committee, Joint Committee, Municipal Accounts Committee, Subject Committee, Ward Committee, Wards Committee |
Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 mandates the establishment of Ward Committees through the Bihar Urban Local Body (Community Participation) Rules, 2013.[20] Section 31 of the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007 mandates the establishment of Ward Committees for each ward of a municipality.[17] The ward level elected councillor would be the chairperson of their respective Ward Committee. Up to 10 representatives from the civil society belonging to the ward would be nominated into the committee by the ULB.
Even though the creation of ward committees is mandated in municipalities, they have not been formed in Bihar.[21]
Like otherstates in India, the head of state of Bihar is theGovernor, appointed by thePresident of India on the advice of thecentral government. His or her post is largely ceremonial. TheChief Minister is the head of government and is vested with most of the executive powers.Patna is thecapital of Bihar.
ThePatna High Court, located in Patna, has jurisdiction over the whole state. The present legislative structure of Bihar isbicameral. TheLegislative houses are theBihar Vidhan Sabha (Bihar Legislative Assembly) andBihar Vidhan Parishad (Bihar Legislative Council). Their normal term is five years, unless dissolved earlier.
Bihar is one of the six states where bicameral legislature exists. Otherstates areUttar Pradesh,Karnataka,Maharashtra,Telangana andAndhra Pradesh. TheVidhan Parishad serves as the upper house andVidhan Sabha serves as the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The current strength of theBihar Vidhan Parishad is75 (63 Elected + 12 Nominated) is a permanent body. The current strength of theBihar Vidhan Sabha is 243 and is not a permanent body which means it is subject to dissolution.
ThePatna High Court (Hindi:पटना उच्च न्यायालय) is theHigh Court of thestate ofBihar and was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under theGovernment of India Act 1915. ThePatna High Court is the principle civil courts inBihar. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of pecuniary, territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated especially in a state or federal law. ThePatna High Court has 53 Judges which includes 40 permanent and 13 additional judges.
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