(Recovered and Reloaded)
Evolution
of District Administration
Vanam
Jwala Narasimha Rao
Metro
India Newspaper (16-05-2016)
Need,
concept, evolution and genesis of administration in a district in India which
is the basic unit of field governance was very well documented by SS Khera in
1964, more than half century ago. Khera was a member of the Indian Civil Service and was also cabinet secretary from 15 April 1962 to 18 November 1964 and served in
that capacity while Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri were Prime
Ministers. Zakir
Husain former President of India wrote forward to the book and mentioned that
Khera who worked as Collector, as divisional commissioner and head of various
departments for over three and half decades drawn his experience in presenting
details on the subject. Lots of interesting and educative aspects were written with
several details in the book.
District administration is the management of public affairs
within a territory earmarked for the purpose. Constitution of India is silent
on the district as a unit of administration or about collector and district
magistrate except a passing mention about district judges. Nevertheless
district as convenient geographical unit, not necessarily too small or too
large, where the total apparatus of public administration is concentrated has
stood the test of time. However going back to the code of Manu, where village
was projected as a self contained republic, every thousand villages were
grouped together making it as a district. If we divide the present number of
villages (640, 000) in the country by the number of districts (683) it is more
or less the same ratio even now. During the period of Akbar the Great, the
district was described as “Sarkar” or “Circar” meaning the government in its
total manifestation in a geographical unit which continued later also in
British period too.
District administration provides principal points of contact between the
citizen and the process of government. The general and broad structure of the
district administration is normally three or four tiered structure. These are
called with different names in different states. First level or top level is
the district headed by a Collector and assisted by various district level
officers. The second level is like a sub-division or revenue division and the
third is like a mandal. At the ground level the village provides a convenient
territorial jurisdiction. In this set-up the collector is regarded as the pivot
of the district administration and the patwari (until it was abolished in some
states) as the king-pin of the revenue administration. He used to keep and
maintain up-to-date the village land records and jealously guarded it. In
between these two a number of intermediary officials called with different
names are also there.
Most important component of district administration is in
the area of land reforms, land management, land acquisitions (now known as land
purchase in Telangana) and land records. Land management includes handling and
safeguarding government lands, uncultivated common lands, forest lands,
waterways etc. Administration also includes areas of agriculture, irrigation,
industry, supplies, transport, community development, cooperatives, health,
education, welfare, calamities, elections, local self government etc. Above all
the executive function of the government is part of the district administration
and collector is the one single entity who assumes this responsibility.
According to Khera, the concept of district as a unit of
administration in India derives from the French pattern of the “Prefecture”
meaning a territory and “Prefect” as the district officer. Subsequently when
East India Company became the governing agency of the British Government in London;
their principal representative in the district became the collector of land
revenue. Trading was replaced by the levy and collection of land revenue. The
collector was also made responsible for maintaining law and order and in the
process he became a civil servant of the British Government. Slowly in the
process of evolution governance in the district became part of imperial power.
A police official known as “Captain Saheb”, who later came to be known as
superintendent of police, assisted collector. These officials were drawn from
army and this is the reason why police organization in India is patterned
somewhat on army lines.
In due course a doctor was added to the district staff-the
civil surgeon of the district, an officer drawn from the medical cadre in the
military establishment. A certain degree of welfare thought came into effect.
In fact not only civil surgeon was also made in charge of district jail as its
superintendent but also superintendents of the large central jails too were
drawn from same medical cadre. Gradually district administration grew into a
complex apparatus that included collector and district magistrate,
superintendent of jails, the civil surgeon, district judge, executive engineer
for public works, inspector of schools, agriculture office and so on. With the
introduction of Panchayatiraj and local self-government institutions a new
situation was created in the governance at the district level. Collector’s
institution gradually became a coordinating agency. While this was like this,
India got independence. With the passing of times, district administration has
evolved into a fairly clear establishment, with a threefold purpose namely,
maintenance of law and order, revenue administration and development activities
for the advancement of social and economic aspects of people.
The district collector and magistrate however continued to
be the central pivotal point of district administration and for several decades
after independence the institution has come to stay. The district
administration continues to provide the principal point of contact between the
citizen and process of government. Though the political complexion of the
country changed after independence, the institution of district collector has
been retained. The role and functions of the district collector have multiplied
and today he or she is inundated with multifarious responsibilities. With
community development programme, Panchayatiraj institutions, five year plans
(now NITI Ayog) and a variety of welfare schemes there has been an increase in
the powers and responsibilities of collector.
During the British period the collector used to belong to
the Indian Civil Services and now belongs to the (IAS) Indian Administrative
Services. IAS was described as “Steel Frame of India” by Sardar Vallabh Bhai
Patel. Persons selected to this service are supposed to be the best of the
talented individuals ranging from literature to social and natural sciences as
well as medicine and engineering. They are selected based on a rigorous
selection process by Union Public service Commission. After selection and one
year training at Mussoorie and in the districts as assistant collectors, as
well as in the state’s administrative training institute they are posted as
sub-collectors to begin with. Gradually in regular intervals they become joint
collectors, project directors of tribal areas, collectors, deputy and joint
secretaries, secretaries, principal and special chief secretaries. Some of them
would also reach the position of Chief Secretary and Cabinet
Secretary.
Collector’s functions now are mainly twofold-regulatory and
development. These are: public safety, law and order, preventive action;
revenue functions; district planning; disaster management; civil supplies;
excise; fair prices for agriproducts; treasury functions supervision; stamp
duty collection; Public Relations activity; e-governance; protocol functions;
conduct of elections etc. In a state like Telangana these powers encompass the
number of flagship and other programs like Mission Kakatiya, Mission
Bhagiratha, implementation of two bed room scheme, irrigation projects,
distribution of land to Dalits, haritaharam, number of welfare measures like
Kalyanalaxmi, Shadimubarak, Aasara Pensions, establishment of residential
schools etc.
As observed in his preface by Khera, great part of filed
administration may continue to remain the same in future also and each and
every collector who is at the helm in the district has to explore further and further
on their own and should try out some experiments to serve the people better and
in accordance with the policy guidelines of the government in power. End
No comments:
Post a Comment