Articles 243S, 243T and 243U of the Constitution of India: Wards Committees, Reservation and Duration of Municipalities

Articles 243S, 243T and 243U form part of Part IXA of the Constitution of India, which deals with Municipalities. These provisions regulate Wards Committees in larger municipal areas, constitutional reservation of municipal seats and offices, and the normal five-year duration and timely reconstitution of Municipalities.

At a glance: Article 243S provides for Wards Committees in Municipalities with a population of three lakhs or more. Article 243T provides constitutional rules for reservation of seats and Chairperson offices. Article 243U fixes the duration of a Municipality at five years unless sooner dissolved and requires elections within the constitutional time limits.

Article 243S - Constitution and composition of Wards Committees, etc.

Meaning: Article 243S creates a constitutional framework for local ward-level committees within Municipalities having a population of three lakhs or more. State Legislatures may prescribe their composition, territorial area and the manner of filling seats.

(1) There shall be constituted Wards Committees, consisting of one or more wards, within the territorial area of a Municipality having a population of three lakhs or more.

(2) The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provision with respect to -

(a) the composition and the territorial area of a Wards Committee;

(b) the manner in which the seats in a Wards Committee shall be filled.

(3) A member of a Municipality representing a ward within the territorial area of the Wards Committee shall be a member of that Committee.

(4) Where a Wards Committee consists of -

(a) one ward, the member representing that ward in the Municipality; or

(b) two or more wards, one of the members representing such wards in the Municipality elected by the members of the Wards Committee, shall be the Chairperson of that Committee.

(5) Nothing in this article shall be deemed to prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for the constitution of Committees in addition to the Wards Committees.

Article 243T - Reservation of seats

Meaning: Article 243T constitutionally provides reservation in Municipalities for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion, as nearly as may be, to their population in the municipal area. It also requires reservation for women and permits State legislation providing reservation in favour of backward classes of citizens.

(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.

(3) Not less than one-third, including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipality shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

(4) The offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.

(5) The reservation of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation of offices of Chairpersons, other than the reservation for women, under clause (4) shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in Article 334.

(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Municipality or offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities in favour of backward class of citizens.

Current constitutional reference: Article 334 presently specifies eighty years from the commencement of the Constitution for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes covered by clause (a) of that Article. Article 243T(5) expressly links the relevant municipal reservations to the period specified in Article 334.

Article 243U - Duration of Municipalities, etc.

Meaning: Article 243U protects the democratic tenure and timely reconstitution of Municipalities. The normal term is five years from the date appointed for the first meeting, subject to lawful earlier dissolution. A Municipality must receive a reasonable opportunity of being heard before dissolution.

(1) Every Municipality, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time being in force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.

Proviso: A Municipality shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before its dissolution.

(2) No amendment of any law for the time being in force shall have the effect of causing dissolution of a Municipality at any level, which is functioning immediately before such amendment, till the expiration of its duration specified in clause (1).

(3) An election to constitute a Municipality shall be completed -

(a) before the expiry of its duration specified in clause (1);

(b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution.

Proviso: Where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Municipality would have continued is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold an election under this clause for constituting the Municipality for that period.

(4) A Municipality constituted upon the dissolution of a Municipality before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Municipality would have continued under clause (1) had it not been so dissolved.

Key points for understanding Articles 243S, 243T and 243U

Wards Committees are constitutionally required in a Municipality with a population of three lakhs or more.
State law determines important operational details of Wards Committees.
Municipal seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes broadly in proportion to their population in the municipal area.
At least one-third of directly elected municipal seats must be reserved for women, including the seats reserved for SC and ST women.
State Legislatures may provide municipal reservation for backward classes of citizens.
The normal constitutional duration of a Municipality is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
Municipal elections must ordinarily be completed before expiry of the existing term, or within six months after an early dissolution, subject to the exception in Article 243U(3).

Official constitutional source

The authoritative constitutional text should be checked from the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. The official Constitution publication contains Part IXA and Articles 243S, 243T and 243U.

Last reviewed: 19 September 2026. This page is an explanatory legal-information article. State municipal laws and rules should also be checked for local implementation.