Article 243-P to 243-ZG (74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992):

• Article 243-Q: Mandates the creation of three types of ULBs—Nagar Panchayats/Notified Area Councils (transitional areas), Municipal Councils (smaller urban areas), and Municipal Corporations (larger urban areas).
• Article 243-S: Composition and territorial division into Wards.
• Article 243-T (Reservation of Seats):
  • Mandates seat reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in proportion to their population in the municipal area.
  • Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for women (including SC/ST women). Odisha, along with several other states, has expanded women’s reservation to 50%.
  • Reservation for Backward Class of Citizens (BCC/OBC) is subject to the Triple Test Mandate laid down by the Supreme Court (Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v. State of Maharashtra, 2021):
    • Setting up a dedicated Commission to conduct an empirical inquiry into political backwardness.
    • Specifying the proportion of reservation required local body-wise.
    • Ensuring aggregate reservation does not breach the 50% ceiling.
• Article 243-ZA (Elections to Municipalities): The superintendence, direction, and control of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections vest in the State Election Commission (SEC).
• Article 243-ZG (Bar to Interference by Courts in Electoral Matters): The validity of any law relating to delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies cannot be questioned in any court once the final election notification is issued.

A key conceptual takeaway is the institutional division of labor between the Executive (State Government) and the Constitutional Body (State Election Commission):

• Public Participation & Natural Justice: The prescribed timeline highlights the necessity of draft notifications, a window for public claims and objections (e.g. September 24 to October 3), and a structured statutory appeal mechanism before final notification (October 31).
• Contiguity and Equal Representation: Ensuring wards are geographically contiguous, compact, and balanced in population to avoid gerrymandering or skewing voter representation.
• Rotational Reservation: Rotation of reserved seats (for SC, ST, and Women) between successive terms so that political empowerment is distributed across all territorial wards.

Local self-government provisions (Part IX-A), the SEC’s constitutional role, and reservation jurisprudence (the Triple Test Mandate) are staple OPSC Prelims (Indian Polity) and OPSC Mains GS Paper II themes, frequently tested with Odisha-specific ULB examples.

For Polity notes covering Panchayati Raj & Municipalities, constitutional articles and Odisha-specific governance current affairs, aspirants preparing in Bhubaneswar can join the OPSC Foundation Batch at Strive Edge IAS — recognized as one of the best OPSC OAS coaching institutes in Bhubaneswar.