The District Collector is the district head of administration of the bureaucracy in a state of India. Though he/she is appointed and is under general supervision of the state government, he/she has to be a member of the elite IAS recruited by the Central Government. The post of Collector originally follows from the post of collector of taxes in a revenue district during the British rule in India.

Duties[link]

District collectors are officers of the Indian Administrative Service and are the most powerful government officials of the district along with the Superintendent of Police, Commissioner of Police and Commissioner of Income Tax. They are entrusted with the task of handling law and order, revenue collection, taxation, the control of planning permission, and the handling of natural and man-made emergencies. A collector was a crucially important colonial officer placed at the district level and entrusted with the responsibility of revenue collection and other civil duties.District Collector also liaisons with the I-T Department during revenue administration and elections of the states.The deputy commissioner is looked upon as the eyes and ears of the government in such areas as law and order, land administration, disaster management and elections,though election observers from the Indian Revenue Service take charge of both general and local elections. The deputy commissioner works under the general guidance and supervision of the divisional commissioner.

The responsibility of general administration of the district lies with the deputy commissioner. He is the executive head and has threefold roles as (i) deputy commissioner,(ii) district collector and (iii) district magistrate.

He is assisted by the following officers for carrying out day to day work in various fields:--

1. Additional deputy commissioner
2. Assistant commissioner (general)
3. Assistant commissioner (grievances)
4. Executive magistrate
5. District revenue officer
6. District transport officer
7. District development and panchayat officer
8. Civil defense officer
9. Urban ceiling officer

The deputy commissioner as district collector and is responsible for collection of revenue and other government dues recoverable as arrears of land revenue. He deals with the natural calamities like drought, unseasonal rains, hailstorms, floods and fire etc.

Under the Registration Act the district collector exercise the powers of registrar of the district and he controls and supervises the work of registration of deeds. He also function as marriage officer under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. Further under the Cinematograph Act, the district magistrate is the licencing authority in his jurisdiction. The administration of the police in a district is vested in the district superintendent, but under the general direction of the district magistrate as per provisions of section 4 of the Indian Police Act, 1861.

Rule 1.15 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, also provides the powers of district magistrate as under:--

The district magistrate is the head of the criminal administration of the district and the police force is the instrument provided by government to enable him to enforce his authority and fulfill his responsibility for the maintenance of law & order. The police force in a is, therefore, placed by law under the general control and direction of the district magistrate, who is responsible that it carries out its duties in such a manner that effective protection is afforded to the public and against lawlessness and disorder."

The district magistrate is thus responsible for the maintenance of law & order within the limit of his jurisdiction. He is conferred with very wide powers by the law, which if used prudently can be very effective in maintaining peace and tranquillity. The police force is mainly an instrument provided by law for the district magistrate. He can impose restriction on the movement of unlawful assembly under Section 144 Cr.P.C. and can also impose curfew keeping in view the situation.

He is authorised to inspect the offices/courts of sub divisional officers (civil), tehsildars, naib tehsildars, treasuries, sub treasuries, jails, hospitals, dispenseries, schools, blocks, police stations, second class local bodies, improvement trusts and all other offices of Punjab government, the A.C.Rs of whose heads of offices he is required to write. In this way, he has effective control over the administration.

The deputy commissioner holds courts and hears appeals under the following acts against the order of sub divisional officer (civil), passed as assistant collector 1st grade and sales commissioner and settlement commissioner:--

1. Under the Land Revenue Act,1887.
2. Under the Punjab Tenancy Act,1887.
3. Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Act,1954.
4. Punjab Package Deal Properties (Disposal) Act,1976.
5. Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulations) Act, 1976.

Equivalent Ranks[link]

Formation[link]

There have been many structural changes in the office of the district collector, ever since its inception in 1772 by Warren Hastings during the British Raj period.^[1] It was through this officer that the colonial state would execute its commands, and maintained local control. Originally, the business term 'collector' was given to the European district officer to make other powers in Bengal feel that he was not really a ruler, but merely an officer for revenue collection which was the duty of the British East India Company as the Diwan of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. For many years, the Company pretended to be the diwan, and not the sovereign of the country. But the term became so much a part of the colonial system that it was retained down to the end of British rule. Now the collector has become an integral part of administration, and must work under the supervision of state government, although the collector has been appointed by central government.

History[link]

A District Collector/Magistrate during the weekly administrative meeting in the state of Uttar Pradesh India.

The office of collector underwent considerable structural and functional changes during the period of British rule. Besides revenue collection, the district collector exercised civil, judicial and military powers in districts until 1792, when the judicial and magisterial powers were separated from him and transferred to the district judge. During William Bentinck's administration, the magisterial duties were separated from the district judge and annexed to the district collector who was given the designation of district magistrate and collector. During the same period, the posts of deputy collector was created to help the office of the district magistrate and collector. Until the later part of the nineteenth century, no native was eligible to become a district collector. But with the introduction of competitive examinations for the Indian civil services, no bar to the post remained, though a native became a district collector only at the very end of the nineteenth century. Anandaram Baruah, the sixth Indian and the first Assamese ICS officer, was the first Indian to become a District Magistrate. For colonial reasons, the post of district judge was more open to native civilians than that of the district magistrate and collector.

A Deputy Commissioner is the chief administrative and revenue officer of a district. The office of the deputy commissioner traces its origin to the district collector system of the early phase of British rule. The district supervisor was appointed with limited functions in 1769. Warren Hastings introduced the district collector system in 1772. The system was, however, repealed in the following year, but restored again in 1787.

Under the Regulation of 27 June 1787, the collector was vested with the powers of a judge and magistrate. The collector had also some authority over the police. With the introduction of the permanent settlement in Bengal in 1793, the collector was stripped of his judicial and police powers, but by 1831 he was reinvested with judicial powers. Since then, the collector was known in Bengal as the "District Magistrate and Collector" or just as the "District Magistrate". The term "deputy commissioner" was used during the British colonial days in a different context to describe the chief revenue and executive officer of districts in what was known as non-regulation provinces. The regulation provinces signified the settled areas of Bengal where a legalistic system based on comprehensive acts or regulations governed the working of the district administration. The non-regulation provinces meant newly acquired territories which, because of unstable conditions, demanded a more authoritarian pattern of administration. In East Bengal districts, the appellation district magistrate and collector was uniformly used.

The designation "district magistrate" is used in the criminal procedure code to denote the principal magistrate of the district. The term 'collector' is derived from the land revenue laws. The designation "district magistrate and collector" was used during the British colonial days for districts except in the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a non-regulation district where the term "deputy commissioner" was used. However, after 1960, the "district magistrate and collector" came to be redesignated throughout the country as "deputy commissioner". It is important to note that during the early years, the deputy commissioner's office was concerned with internal security and revenue administration.

Over time, however, the office became increasingly occupied with the general welfare of the people in the district. To that end, the Deputy Commissioner's role was conceived of as the general controlling authority for all other activities in the district. The universality of the deputy commissioner's role since the early 20th century came to be affected by the introduction of elected legislatures and the creation of specialised departments having their own officers in the districts. The deputy commissioner is, however, still looked upon as the eyes and ears of the government in such areas as law and order, land administration, disaster management and elections, both general and local. The deputy commissioner works under the general guidance and supervision of the divisional commissioner.

References[link]

External links[link]

• DK District
• District council

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help by adding additional, reliable sources for verification. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2010)

Alex Paul is an Indian music director mostly active in Malayalam cinema.

Biography[link]

Alex Paul, born in Kochi Kerala,Age 51 years, Date of birth, 21/11/1961,^[1] is the son of A. M. Paul, a music artist who formed the first orchestra (in Malayalam: 'ganamela') troupe in Kochi.^[1] His elder brother is Lal, of the Siddique-Lal fame, and it was on Lal's film Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004), that Paul debutted as musical director.^[1][2]

The songs from Classmates especially "Ente Khalbile Vennilavu Nee" and "Kaattadi thanalum" made him a well-known composer in the year 2006.

He graduated in from R.L.V. College,^[1] Thrippunithura. He learnt musical instruments from Kalabhavan, Kochi. He started his own studio, where he composed music for several music albums and for TV serials. Alex made his film debut as music director with Rafi Mecartin's Chathikkatha Chanthu.

Filmography[link]

• Cobra (2012)
• Seniors (2011)
• Tournament – Play & Replay (2010)
• In Ghost House Inn (2010)
• Aap Ke Liye Hum (Hindi film) (2010)
• Chattambinadu (2009)
• Duplicate (2009)
• 2 Harihar Nagar (2009)
• LollyPop (2008)
• Chocolate (2007)
• Classmates (2006)
• Pothan Vava (2006)
• Red Salute (2006)
• Tantra (2006)
• Achanurangatha Veedu (2006)
• Thuruppu Gulan (2006)
• Vaasthavam (2006)
• Thommanum Makkalum (2005)
• Black (2004)
• Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004)
• Hello (2007)
• Ali Bhai (2007)
• Kichamani MBA (2007)
• Inspector Garud (2006)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alex Paul at the Internet Movie Database