District magistrate

A district magistrate, often abbreviated to DM, is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who is the senior most executive magistrate and chief in charge of general administration of a district in India. Since district magistrates are responsible for collection of land revenue in the district, the post is also referred to as the district collector in terms of the revenue department, and as the office-bearer works under the supervision of a divisional commissioner, the post is also known as deputy commissioner.

District collectorate of West Godavari district in the state of AP
A bilingual signboard of District magistrate office of New Delhi

In the revenue department, the Deputy Collectors (also called Deputy District Collector) is usually a tehsildars who report into the District Revenue Officer (DRO) who is also called the Additional District Collector and is the overall in-charge of revenue department for the district, DRO in turn reports into the District Collector (also called District Commissioner) who is in-charge of overall management of the district across all departments.[1] Deputy Collectors are hired through State's Service Selection Commission, where as DRO and District Collector are usually Centre Civil Services employees appointed to the state cadre.

History

District administration in India is a legacy of the British Raj. District collectors were members of the Indian Civil Service and were charged with supervising general administration in the district.

Warren Hastings introduced the office of the district collector in 1772. Sir George Campbell, lieutenant-governor of Bengal from 1871-1874, intended "to render the heads of districts no longer the drudges of many departments and masters of none, but in fact the general controlling authority over all departments in each district."[2][3][4]

The office of a collector during the British Raj held multiple responsibilities – as collector, he was the head of the revenue organization, charged with registration, alteration, and partition of holdings; the settlement of disputes; the management of indebted estates; loans to agriculturists, and famine relief. As district magistrate, he exercised general supervision over the inferior courts and in particular, directed the police work.[5] The office was meant to achieve the "peculiar purpose" of collecting revenue and of keeping the peace. The superintendent of police (SP), inspector general of jails, the surgeon general, the divisional forest officer (DFO) and the chief engineer (CE) had to inform the collector of every activity in their departments.[2][3][4]

Until the later part of the nineteenth century, no native was eligible to become a district collector. But with the introduction of open competitive examinations for the Indian Civil Service, the office was opened to natives. Anandaram Baruah, an eminent scholar of Sanskrit and the sixth Indian and the first Assamese ICS officer, became the third Indian to be appointed a district magistrate, the first two being Romesh Chandra Dutt and Sripad Babaji Thakur respectively.[2][3][4]

The district continued to be the unit of administration after India gained independence in 1947. The role of the district collector remained largely unchanged, except for the separation of most judicial powers to judicial officers of the district. Later, with the promulgation of the National Extension Services and Community Development Programme by the Nehru government in 1952, the district collector was entrusted with the additional responsibility of implementing the Government of India's development programs in the district.[2][3][4][6]

Posting

They are posted by the state government, from among the pool of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, who either are on Level 11, Level 12 or Level 13 of the Pay Matrix, in the state. The members of the IAS are either directly recruited by the Union Public Service Commission, promoted from State Civil Service (SCS) or nominated from Non-State Civil Service (Non-SCS). The direct recruits are posted as collectors after five to six years of service, whereas the promoted members from state civil services generally occupy this post after promotion to the IAS, which generally happens after two decades of service. A district magistrate and collector is transferred to and from the post by the state government.[7] The office bearer is generally of the rank of under secretary/deputy secretary or director in Government of India.

Functions and responsibilities

[2][3][4][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

The responsibilities assigned to a district magistrate vary from state to state, but generally, district collectors are entrusted with a wide range of duties in the jurisdiction of the district, generally involving the following:

As district magistrate
  • Conducts criminal court of executive magistrate.
  • Maintenance of law and order.
  • Co ordinates of the police .
  • Supervision of subordinate executive magistracy and conduct magisterial inquiries.
  • Hearing cases under the preventive section of the Criminal Procedure Code.
  • Supervision of jails and certification of execution of capital sentences.
  • Inspection of police stations, prisons and juvenile homes in the district.
  • Authorising parole orders to inmates.
  • Granting arms and ammunition licence under Arms Act.
  • Prepares panel of names for appointment of public prosecutors and additional public prosecutors with consultation with session judge in district.
  • Disaster management during natural calamities such as floods, famines or epidemics.
  • Crisis management during riots or external aggression.
  • Child Labour/bonded labour related matters.
As district collector
  • Conducts revenue court.
  • Arbitrator of land acquisition, its assessment and collection of land revenue.
  • Collection of income tax dues, excise duties, irrigation dues and its arrears.
  • Registration of Property documents, sale deeds, power of attorneys, defacement, share certificates etc.
  • Issue various kinds of statutory certificates including SC/ST, OBC & EWC, Domicile, Nationality, Marriage, etc.
  • Relief and rehabilitation.
  • Custodian of evacuee and migrant property
  • Inspection of various district offices, sub divisions and tehsils.
As deputy commissioner/district commissioner
  • Co-ordination with various local bodies, departments and agencies for proper administration.
  • Reports to divisional commissioner on all matters.

A district magistrate is assisted by some IAS and state civil servants for carrying out day-to-day work in various fields:-

  1. Additional district magistrate/Additional collector/Additional deputy commissioner(s) D (Development), E (Executive) and R (Revenue).
  2. City magistrate and zonal additional city magistrates (I, II, III)
  3. Sub-divisional magistrate/Sub collector/Assistant commissioners and other executive magistrates.
  4. Other officers from other departments at the district level also report to him/her.
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See also

References
  1. "District administration". Chennai District. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. pp. 573–597. ISBN 9788125019886.
  3. Singh, G.P. (1993). Revenue administration in India: A case study of Bihar. Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 50–124. ISBN 978-8170993810.
  4. Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. pp. 6.1–6.6. ISBN 978-9339204785.
  5. Report of the Indian Statutory Commission Volume 1 - Survey. Presented by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. May, 1930 AND Volume 2 - Recommendations Presented to the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. May 1930. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1930. p. 255.
  6. "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India. Seventh Central Pay Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  7. Arora, Ramesh K. (2011). Indian Public Administration: Institutions and Issues. New Age. ISBN 978-8122434460.
  8. "Powers Of District Magistrate in India". Important India. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  9. "CONSTITUTIONAL SETUP". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  10. "Administration". Muzaffarnagar District. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  11. "GENERAL ADMINISTRATION". Ghaziabad District. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  12. "About Deputy Commissioner & District Magistrate's Office". Dakshin Kannada District. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  13. "Power & Functions of Deputy Commissioner". Office of Regional Commissioner, Belagum. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  14. "Administration". Agra District website. Retrieved 21 August 2017.

Bibliography
  • Singh, G.P. (1993). Revenue administration in India: A case study of Bihar. Delhi: Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-8170993810.
  • Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. ISBN 9788125019886.
  • Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 978-9339204785.
  • Arora, Ramesh K. (2011). Indian Public Administration: Institutions and Issues. New Delhi: New Age International. ISBN 978-8122434460.
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