TEHRAN (Iran News) –City and village councils are one of the great fruits of the Islamic Revolution. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic system, there was a comprehensive transformation in the rural and nomadic society from a structural point of view.

Therefore, the councils were founded as local management entities for the purpose of direct communication and interaction with the people and on the basis of the Constitution.

City and village councils are considered local parliaments that are formed based on the law in the heart of the society and are considered as a form of government of the people over the people and interactive participatory government and have a high position in the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On April 29, 1979, less than a month after holding the referendum of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini issued a decree on establishing local councils.

“In order to establish a people’s government in Iran and the sovereignty of the people over their own destiny, which is one of the necessities of the Islamic Republic, I consider it necessary to immediately prepare the executive regulations of the councils for the administration of cities and villages throughout Iran,” the decree reads.

The first law on the city and village councils was approved in 1982. After that, this law underwent changes and amendments on five occasions, and finally, its last amendment was carried out in 1996.

On March 8, 1999, the first general election of the councils was held with great support from the people in more than 40,000 electoral districts, and about 200,000 people were elected as members of city and village councils.

The councils started activity on April 29, 1999, and now the sixth edition of the councils is passing with a membership of more than 126 thousand people.

In the Constitution, the role of the councils in the administration of the country’s affairs is emphasized, and accordingly, they also have duties and powers.

On the other hand, the positive role of the councils can be a factor in the success of urban and rural management in the growth and development of cities and villages, and ultimately the satisfaction of the majority of people and citizens.

Constitution and councils

According to the sixth article of the Constitution, the administration of the country relies on public votes through elections or referendums. Moreover, the Holy Quran has emphasized councils are one of the pillars of decision-making and administration of the country.

Councils are of two types; the basic councils include city and village councils, whose members are directly elected by people, and the second type is the upstream councils, which include district, city, provincial, and the supreme council of the provinces, whose members are elected from among the members of the councils.

Studying the proposals received, determining their priority, and referring them to the relevant authorities, announcing the inadequacies and problems of executive institutions and organizations are among the duties of the councils.

Village administration

Village administration is the newest institution that was formed in the field of rural management in Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

It plays an important role in coordinating executive bodies and following up on their affairs and facilitating the process of affairs at the local level.

In a way, village administration is considered a successful model and symbol in the field of local management.

In many villages of the country, there are productive economic capacities that, if identified and utilized, provide stable and suitable production and employment fields for the villagers and ultimately lead to economic prosperity, improvement of the welfare level, improvement of the livelihood of the villagers and will ultimately stabilize population in these areas.

Village administration is the chief administrator of the village and the representative of the local community.

Due to the duties and powers, it has in the field of development in rural areas, village administration can reduce the indiscriminate migration of villagers to urban settlements with the balanced distribution of facilities and services, while removing deprivation, and creating the necessary platform for the realization of resistance economy policies and sustainable rural development.

If a village is qualified by demographics to establish an administration, the council must declare readiness for this on behalf of the residents.

Since the establishment of the first village administration in 2003, a total of 37,865 village administrations have received establishment permits from the Ministry of Interior.

More than 95 percent of the country’s rural population has been covered by the services of village administrations so far.