The development of local government in the British India may be traced in three distinct phases.
(a) First phase (1688-1882):
1. Municipal government in India has been in existence since 1688 with the formation of Madras Municipal Corporation with a Mayor.
2. Sir Josiah Child, one of the Directors of the East India Company was responsible for the formation of the corporation.
3. The Charter Act of 1793, established Municipal administration in the three Presidency Towns.
4. The Act of 1850 provided the formation of municipalities North Western Frontier provinces, Oudh and Bombay.
(b) Second phase (1882-1920):
1. Ripon’s Resolution on local Self – Government was a landmark in the history of local self-government.
2. So Ripon is rightly called the “Father of Local Self-Government” in India.
(c) Third phase (1920-1950):
1. The Government of India Act of 1919 introduced Dyarchy in the provinces.
2. The Government of India Act of 1935 introduced Provincial Autonomy.
3. With the attainment of Independence in 1947 India had the unique opportunity of making and moulding local government to meet the needs of the free nation.
