District Magistrate
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A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the
Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
(IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal revenue collection'' and ''law & order maintenance'' of a ''
District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
''. ''District Collector (DC) cum District Magistrate (DM)'' come under the general supervision of divisional commissioners wherever the latter post exists. India has 748 districts as of 2021.


History

The current district administration in India is a legacy of the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, with the ''Collector cum District Magistrate'' being the chief administrative officer of the District.
Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...
introduced the office of the District Collector in the Judicial Plan of 1772. By the Judicial Plan of 1774 the office of the Collector cum District Magistrate was temporarily renamed Diwan. The name, Collector, derived from their being head of the revenue organization (tax collection) for the district. With the passage of the
Government of India Act 1858 The Government of India Act 1858 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (21 & 22 Vict. c. 106) passed on 2 August 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company (who had up to this point been ruling ...
, by the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
. The designation of ''Collector cum District Magistrate'' is held by any central civil servant who is a member of the
Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
cadre and were charged with supervising general administration in the district. Sir George Campbell, lieutenant-governor of Bengal from 1871 to 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." The office of a collector during the
British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
held multiple responsibilitiesas 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. The office was meant to achieve the "peculiar purpose" of collecting revenue and of keeping the peace. The
superintendent of police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...
(SP), inspector general of jails, the surgeon general, the divisional forest officer (DFO) and the Executive Engineer PWD (EE) had to inform the collector of every activity in their departments. 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 Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
, the office was opened to natives. Romesh Chandra Dutt, Sripad Babaji Thakur,
Anandaram Baruah Anundoram Borooah ( as, আনন্দৰাম বৰুৱা; 1850–1889) was an Indian lawyer and scholar of Sanskrit. He was both the first graduate and member of the Indian Civil Service from the state of Assam Assam (; ) is a sta ...
,
Krishna Govinda Gupta Sir Krishna Govinda Gupta ( bn, স্যার কৃষ্ণগোবিন্দ গুপ্ত; 28 February 1851 – 20 March 1926) was a noted British Indian civil servant, the sixth Indian member of the Indian Civil Service, a barrister ...
and
Brajendranath De Brajendranath Dey (23 December 1852 – 20 September 1932) was an early Indian member of the Indian Civil Service. Early life and education De studied at Hare School, Calcutta, and then Canning Collegiate School and Canning College, Lucknow. ...
were the first five Indian ICS officers to become Collectors. 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 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
government in 1952, the district collector was entrusted with the additional responsibility of implementing the Government of India's development programs in the district.


Nomenclature

The different names of the office are a legacy of the varying administration systems in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. While the powers exercised by the officer were mostly the same throughout the country, the preferred name often reflected his primary role in the particular province. In the
Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
, the post was called District Magistrate and Collector whereas in the
Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
and Central Provinces, it was known simply as the District Collector even though he was also the District Magistrate. In the Madras Presidency, it was often known simply as Collector. Law and order was an important subject in the United Provinces and the post continues to be known as the District Magistrate in present-day
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. In non-regulation provinces like
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and
Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...
, a simpler form of administration prevailed with many elements of the
Criminal Procedure Code Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...
suspended and the DM functioning as the District and Sessions Judge as well. Here the post was known as Deputy Commissioner, due to these provinces having a Chief Commissioner who took the place of the usual
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and High Court and exercised both executive and judicial functions. Post Independence, the different names have continued even though the role and powers of the DM are almost the same throughout India. In the South Indian states of India, such as
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
and
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, the role of District Magistrate is known as "Collector". This post is known as Deputy Commissioner in
Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
and District Collector and District Magistrate in
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
and
Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...


Posting

They are posted by the
state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
, from among the pool of
Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
(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 The Union Public Service Commission (ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exami ...
, 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. The office bearer is generally of the rank of under secretary/deputy secretary or director in
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
.


Functions and responsibilities

The responsibilities assigned to a district magistrate vary from state to state, but generally, collectors, under the general supervision of divisional commissioners (where such a post exists), are entrusted with a wide range of duties in the jurisdiction of the district, generally involving the following: As District Magistrate: * Issuance of adoption orders under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 with provision of appeal to divisional commissioners. * Granting arms and ammunition licence under Arms Act with provision of appeal to divisional commissioners. * Granting license to cinemas with provision of appeal to divisional commissioners. * Heads the district disaster management authority constituted under the
Disaster Management Act, 2005 The Disaster Management Act, 2005, (23 December 2005) No. 53 of 2005, was passed by the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India on 28 November, and the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, on 12 December 2005. It recei ...
. * Conducts criminal court of executive magistrate. * Maintenance of law and order. * 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. * 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.


Separation from judiciary

While almost all of the 741 Indian districts are headed by DMs, constitutional developments post Independence in 1947 have led to a reduction in power and realignment of roles for the District Magistrate. The first major change came about in the early 1960s as the Judiciary was separated from the Executive in most Indian states in line with Article 50 of the
Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...
. This meant that DMs and SDMs could no longer try criminal cases or commit accused to
Sessions Court A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious offe ...
. Their place was taken by Chief Judicial Magistrates and Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrates. The District Magistrate was now the main Executive Magistrate of the district - charged with taking preventive measures for maintenance of law and order. Indirectly, this led to a loss of direct control over the police which now depended on the District Judge and the Judicial Magistrates. This change was institutionalised by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. In the Union Territories and the North Eastern states, Collectors continued to exercise judicial power for much longer. A separate district judiciary was not created till 1978 in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, 2008 in
Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
, 2016 in
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
and 2020 in
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...
.
South Garo Hills District South Garo Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Meghalaya (out of 7). The district was established in 1992. Geography The district headquarters are located at ...
in Meghalaya, the last remaining district of India with the District Magistrate also exercising judicial powers, finally got a separate District and Sessions Court on 17 December 2020.


Exception

Kolkata in West Bengal is unique in not having a conventional collector. A recently created post with the same name performs the functions of collector of stamp revenue, registration and certain other miscellaneous functions. The Magisterial powers are exercised by a Police Commissioner, one of the earliest such posts in British India, while the Kolkata Municipal Corporation takes care of all other responsibilities.


Analogous posts

At the time of Partition of India, the Indian Civil Service was divided between India and Pakistan. The institution of the DC/DM remained the same in both the countries till the 2001 Devolution of Powers Scheme of President Pervez Musharraf abolished the post of the DM in Pakistan. He was replaced by an officer called the
District Coordination Officer District Coordination Officer (popularly abbreviated as ''DCO'' or now the Deputy Commissioner ''DC'') was the administrative head of the newly formed district and city district governments in Pakistan and a senior officer (BS20/21) belonging from ...
with significantly reduced powers. After 2016, almost all Pakistani provinces have reinstated the office of the DC but without the Magistracy powers which are now exercised by the Police and Judiciary. DCs in Bangladesh, however, continue to discharge their role with only minor changes in powers and authority since independence in 1971.


See also

*
Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
*
Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...
*
Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 und ...
*
Chief Secretary (India) The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government. The Chief Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Admin ...
* Principal Secretary (India) * Divisional Commissioner * Municipal commissioner * Sub-Divisional Magistrate *
List of districts in India A district ('' zila'') is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. In some cases, districts are further subdivided into sub-divisions, and in others directly into ''tehsils'' or ''talukas''. , there are a total of 766 dist ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Refend Indian Administrative Service officers