Sample Material of Public Administration Study Kit (Paper -
II)
District Administration since Independence: Changing role of
the Collector
The district is the basic unit of administration below State
level in India. A district is placed under the charge of a district officer
called the district collector or Deputy Commissioner, the king-pins of our
administration. The district is also the unit of administration for the various
other Government departments like police, industries, agriculture, education,
medical and health, public-health, electricity, etc. However, the position of
the collector is different from that of the officers of other departments
functioning in the district. He is supposed to be the Chief representative of
the Government in the district. His office corresponds directly with the
government. He performs numerous functions which we will discuss below.
Evolution of the Office of Collector
The present institution of the Collector may be directly
derived from the East India Company got the diwani rights and decided to take
upon themselves the administration of revenue. At the same time, they decided
that the collector is to supervise the revenue collection and to preside over
the courts. At that time revenue collection was a major and very important
function, hence, the collector came to occupy a very important position. In 1872
Sir George Campbell, at that time, Lt. Governor of Bengal said that the
Collector is the general controlling authority over all the Departments in the
district. He said the District Magistrate/Collector should be supreme in his
area, except in matters of courts of justice.
After independence, the circumstances changed and the
functions and powers & position of the collector also changed. Democracy and
specialisation in post-independence period had affected the powers and prestige
of the District Officer. The separation of judiciary from executive and advent
of Panchayati Raj and growing resentment of technical departments and their
officers towards the collector’s dominant position in the district have some of
the potent factors which have adversely affected the position of the Collector.
But he is still a chief coordinator of all the functionaries in the district and
representative of the Government as a whole at the district level. The District
officer is known as Collector in Rajasthan, Gujarat, M.P., Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh, etc. In Punjab, Haryana, Assam, J & K and Karnataka the Deputy
Commissioner and District Magistrate (DM) in U.P. and West Bengal is the head of
district administration. He is a generalist. IAS Officer direct recruit or a
promote from State Civil Service. He performs more undefined than defined
functions. Thus, due to the multifarious nature of his functions he is called
the pivot of the district administration.
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The Collector: Appointment and Service Conditions
Today the District Collector is normally a member of the
Indian Administrative Service (IAS). As the IAS consist of direct recruits and
promotes from State Civil Services, these two sub-groups constitute the two
natural sources from which the District Collectors are drawn. The Collector is a
senior level IAS officer, generally of 6 to 10 years seniority if he is directly
recruited incumbent. The post of District Collector is also occupied by the
officers who were originally recruited up to the Stage Civil Services and who
have since been promoted to the IAS.
The Fifth Central Pay Commission, in its report submitted in
January 1997 specifically observed about posting of district collectors as, “In
many states, the post of District Collector is not given the necessary
importance, with the result that very young IAS officers get posted to these
crucial assignments. As district Collectors are supposed to co-ordinate the
functioning of all district officers, some of whom may be much more experienced,
it is recommended that no IAS officer should be posted as a District Collector
unless he has completed nine years of service.”
Functions of District Collector
The District Collector is the ultimate boss of the district,
responsible for every single event which happens in his jurisdictional area.
Inspite of the size of the districts, attendant lethargy and complexity and
corruption, the institution of the District Collector is one of the most
powerful ones in the country. Even today, despite Panchayati Raj and the Mandal,
the Collector is still perceived as being above petty politics, and truly for
the people. First we will discuss his most important functions, namely, Land
Revenue, Law and Order and Developmental functions and others.
Land Revenue
The office of Collector was created to collect revenue. The
first Governor-General of India. Warren Hastings had created the office for the
dual purpose of collecting revenue and dispensing justice. He is the head of the
revenue department of the district. In this capacity he exercises the power of
general supervision and control of the land records and their staff. His
functions concerning land revenue are of several types such as collection of
land revenue, canal dues and other Government dues; distribution of ‘taccavi'
loans and recovery of these dues; distribution distress ‘taccavi' due to losses
to crops caused by natural calamities/disasters; payment of ‘Zamindari'
abolition compensation and rehabilitation grant; relief to the fire sufferers,
assessment of loss of crops due to floods, drought or locusts in the harvest
season for recommendation of, relief given to the affected farmers, control over
land records, land acquisition and all matters relating to land records;
inspection of mutation work, hearing of appeals against the orders of the lower
consolidation authorities. relief measures in cases of scarcity conditions
caused by natural calamities like fire, drought, flood, water logging and
excessive rainsm etc; assessment and realisation of agricultural tax; collecting
and furnishing multifarious agrarian statistics concerning rain fall, crops,
etc. supervision of the Treasury and Subtreasuries. enforcement of Stamp Act;
ensuring proper administration of land and proper sale and mortgages of land;
submission of periodical reports to higher authorities and seeing that the
rights in land are held and enjoyed and passed from one party to another
according to law in a peaceful manner. For the proper performance of revenue
functions the collector is assisted by other revenue officers. The district is
divided into sub-divisions. tehsils, Kanungo circle and patwari circles; and the
officer mcharge of these-are Six), Tehsildar, Kanungo, Patwari and Village
headman. Patel of
Chowkidar to assist the collector.
After independence and particularly after 1967 when in many
states opposition parties captured power, they announced the abolition of land
revenue3 because now it forms a very small part of the total revenue of the
State. This has lessened the importance of revenue collection work of the
collector. But, the importance of land records has not reduced at all, rather it
became a necessity to solve ownership problems.
Maintenance of Law and Order
At the district level, according to the Police Act 1860, and
the Police Regulations of different States police functions are under the
overall supervision and control of the District Magistrate. He is responsible
for maintenance of law and order. The district police under the Superintendent
of Police is his main instrument to maintain law and order. As a district
magistrate he promulgates orders if there is any danger of breach of peace and
public order. He can inspect police station and ask for any information, record,
statement and register dealing with crime. He grants licences for explosives and
fire arms. He can order enquiry into an accident caused by explosion; can also
issue warrants for the arrest of a suspected offender on apprehension of breach
of peace a person may be detained by him. In 1993 thousands of workers of BJP
were arrested by the district administration to prevent them from participating
in the rally at Boat club New Delhi.
In serious cases of breach of peace, DM can seek the
assistance of Special Armed Forces or the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC)
maintain Peace. Home Guards can also be called at a short notice in case of
need. In case of widespread disturbances CRPF battalions may be requisitioned by
him, Central government, can ask the other State Governments to send their armed
forces. He may impose curfew in a particular area if situation demands. He has
power to dispense unlawful assemblies and issue orders under Section 144 of Cr.
P.C.
In case the civil police is not able to control the law and
order situation the D.M. can seek the assistance of the army. The Criminal
Procedure Code provides power to the DM to order the Military officers to assist
in the maintenance of law and order. There are liaison officers in the army from
whom assistance can be sought in times of need. The DM has to hand over the
situation to the army which then tackles it on its own under their own command
and commanders. It means that army can open fire on its own without seeking the
approval of the Magistrate in each case. If at any time DM feels that the
situation is under control, he can ask the army to withdraw.
The general consensus is that the army should be called only
in extreme situations to assist civil authorities in the maintenance of law and
order and as far as possible state police and the central paramilitary forces
should control the situation.
The collector conducts inspection of jail, disposes the cases
of undertrial prisoners, grants superior class to prisoners, orders premature
release of prisoners, release of prisoners on Parole, deals with mercy petitions
of prisoners, submits annual criminal report to the government, appoints village
chowkidars, deals with labour problems, strikes, etc. He takes necessary action
for eviction under public Premises (Eviction) Act and Rent Control Act. He hears
general complaints of the people against any matter relating to the district
administration. He makes necessary arrangements for the holding of fairs and
exhibition in order to ensure peace.
Maintenance of law and order is impossible without proper
intelligence system. The area which is known for mischief mongering needs
special attention on the basis of intelligence gathered. In the district
activities of student organisations, particularly of bigger ones ; activities of
communal organisations, of political organisations, they might be planning
political agitations, and activities of such persons who are known for creating
law and order problems ; needs constant watch and intelligence.
The intelligence system is organised by the Special Branch of
the State Government. It has a small unit at the district level, which supplies
information to the State and keeps informed of these developments to the S.P.
and D .M. at district level. But S.P. and D.M. do not solely depend on this
official information, they also develop their own sources and check and
cross-check the intelligence gathered by the official unit. Timely information
is a great help in maintaining law and order. The police acts on the orders of
the Magistrate.
The relationship between the DM and Superintendent of police
is full of tension. The SP feels that his position has un-necessarily been
subordinated to that of the DM, but the control of law and order by DM has stood
the test of times since its inception. He being the head of district
administration, has wider resources to gather information and much broader view
of administration compared to S.P. Many arguments have been given on both sides
but the controversy is continuing.
Developmental Function
Since independence the nature and scope of governmental
functions have increased. The government is striving to achieve socio-economic
justice. The realisation of these two-fold objectives has led the government to
perform developmental functions. With the increasing activities undertaken by
the Government, this function of the collector has been gaining more and more
importance.
To perform developmental functions, two types of patterns
have emerged in different states. One is Maharashtra, Gujarat and Gujarat
pattern in which all the developmental functions have been brought under the
control of the Zila Partshad and all district level officers of development
department have been placed under the administrative control of Zila Parishad. A
separate IAS officer has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Zila
Partshad, who exercises control on all officials of Zila Parishad.
The second Pattern is found in Tamil Nadu and other States.
The Collector looks after both the regulatory as well as developmental
functions. Both the patterns have worked satisfactorily. Prior to the
introduction of Panchayati Raj in 1959 on the recommendations of Balwant Rai
Mehta Committee, 1957, the Collector was connected with all the developmental
activities in the district, including community development. After the
introduction of Panchayati Raj, developmental activities have been handed over
to the elected bodies and the role of collector in this respect differs from
state to state. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee had suggested “at the district
level, the collector or the Deputy Commissioner should be the captain of the
team of officers of all development departments and should be made fully
responsible for securing the necessary coordination and cooperation in the
preparation and execution of the district plans for community development. Where
he is not already empowered to make the annual assessment of the work of the
departmental officers in regard to their cooperation with other departments,
their speed of work, their dealings with the people and their reputation for
integrity, he should be invested with, such powers.” He is responsible for the
successful implementation of developmental schemes of the Panchayati Raj.
The prevailing practice in many States at present is to make
the district collector the coordinator of developmental functions and appoint an
officer Additional District Collector and Chief Executive officer of the Zila
Parishad. The Collector being the final authority in the district and is in a
better position to get the cooperation of all district functionaries, therefore,
he is in a better position to look after the developmental functions in the
district. In agriculture development programmes and even in other development
programmes a large number of agencies were required to supply inputs wisely.
Therefore, coordination is required to make sure that the necessary inputs are
available to the farmers at appropriate time. Moreover, there are number of
special programmes like. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). Drought
Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP). Rural Landless
Employment Guarantee Programme, National Rural Employment programme, Training
and Visit System, JRY, Prime Minister’s Employment Programme, etc. There is
hardly any programme which does not involve the land acquisition, land
management, regularization of sale and purchase of land etc. A number of
coordination committees are functioning for implementation of various programmes
under the district collector to ensure successful implementation of different
development programmes.
Other Functions
In addition to the above discussed functions, he performs many
other functions of various natures:
(1) The collector is the returning officer for elections to
Parliament and Vidhan Sabha constituencies and has responsibility for
coordination of election work at the district level.
(2) He conducts census operation every ten years;
(3) Grant of old age pension, grant of housebuilding loans.
(4) Preparation of district gazetteers and protection of ancient
monuments.
(5) Supervision and control over municipalities in the district.
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