UNIT 16 FIELD ADMINISTRATION

Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Regional Administration
Divisional Administration
Evolution of District Administration
Territorial Sub-divisions
Collector and District Administration
Component Parts of District Administration
Administrative Organisation
Problem Areas in Field Administration
Let Us Sum Up
Key Words
References and Further Readings
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

After studying this Unit, you sho~~ld

be able to:
Describe importance of field administration in India;
' Understand meaning and rationale behind the Field Administration and Regional
Administration;
Explain nature of Divisional Administration in India and the 'role o f Divisional
Commissioner;
Trace the evolution o f District Administration in India;
Describe the coniponent parts of District Administration and Administrative
Organisation at the District level; and
Analyse the problem areas in Field Administration.
I
1 16.1 INTRODUCTION
Field administration is a decentralised State administration. The purpose of field
(r
! administration is basically to bring the regulatory and service functioqs of the State
'nearer to the people. There is also a demand for greater citizen participation in
Policy formulation and execution. For this purpose, a vast politico-administrative
apparatus has been established. The State Government officers cannot transact their
business from the Headquarters due to the long distance, magnitude af the work,
administrative cost, and time taken to communicate. Therefore, the field offices are
the necessity for the efficient functioning of administration. The policiff are
translated into reality and programmes are implemented at the field level. I n India,
the State level Departmepts Bnd Ministries. establishing a large number o f field
offices and delegating their power and functions to the field officers to implement
I the development programmes. The Divisional offices, wherever they exist, District
Offices, and Local Self-Government institutions broadly constitute the component
I parts o f the Field Administration. The offices of Field Administration are organised
on the basis of historical traditions, political considerations, administrative
I convenience, technical requirements, development imperatives and the need for
greater interaction between the administration and the community. At the field level,
majority o f people come into closer contact with the Government. .It i s also here that
I the people judge the quality and efficiency o f the Government. The Field
administration undertakes a wide range of activities associated with the life of
community. Technol.ogical advances specially in the field o f transport and
communication have played an important role in the expansion of field
Field and Local administration. Most of the State Deparfments such as Public Works, Irrigation.
Administration
Health, Education, ~ a n c h a ~ a etc.
t s are having their offices in the District, Sub-
Divisions, and Blocks. In this Unit, we will study different aspects of Regional
Administration, Divisional Administration, and District Administration. In addition,
we will analyse the problem areas in the Field Administration. Other important
aspects of Field Administration like office of the Collector, Police Administration,
Municipal Administration and Panchayati Raj will be discussed in the following
Units.

16.2 REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION

As the Directorates are concerned with policy execution, and execution of policy
takes place in the field Mistrict, block and village level), therefore the need arises for
them (Directorates) to create intermediate level administrative agencies to coordinate
and supervise the field operations. This intermediate level administrative set-up
between the State Headquarters (the Directorate) and the District is referred as
'Regional Administration'. Each region is comprised of a number of districts; thus a
region is a real unit below the State and above the District level.
Significance
The Regional Administration permits more delegation and speedier disposal of
business. It lightens the workload of the Head of Department; permits him to
concentrate on general policy issues affecting the State, and allows a detailed
examination of the problems, which are of particular relevance to specific region. It
also facilitates better coordination and supervision of the programmes being
executed at the district level.
ARC Study Team Report on District Administration (1 967) explains the significance
of the regional administrative set-up for a State. "Most States in India are
comparatively large, both in area and population. The six largest States together
cover approximately 61 per cent of the area of the country. In such large States,
there are wide variations in the socio-economic and geographical charismatic of each
region. This underlines the need for a regional level in the administrative set-up. On
the one hand, polFy formulation and coordination call be better achieved at a level
intermediate beqden the District and the State Government; on the other, the State
Government being comparatively remote form the locale of policy implementation,
cannot assess local problems in their proper perspective. It is in these circumstances
that the services of senidr and experienced administrators are needed at an
intermediate level, between the policy formulation level at the State Headquarters
and the implementing level in the district".
Meaning and Patterns
The phrase 'Regional Adminjstration' thus refers to the network of organisations that
function below the State level but above the district. Most Departments in a State
maintain Regional Headquarters in these intermediate geographical territories.
These territorie; do not bear a common name, and are not geographically
coterminous in respect of the various Departments at the State level. They often
crisscross each other for different purposes (revenue collection, law and order
maintenance, forest management and so on). Each Department creates its sub-state
- formations to suit its particular requirement.
Majority of States are divided, (for purposes of revenue and general administration)
into real units called 'divisions'. A Divisional Commissioner who coordinates and
supervises the work of the District Collectors under his jurisdiction Heads each
division. Similarly, the Police Department at the State Headquarters has Deputy
Inspector General at the intermediate level. These territorial divisions in respect of
the Police Departnlent are called 'ranges'. This 'range' may be coterminous with the
Commissioner'\ Division. Where the workload of a Department does not warrant
this; the intermediate territorial unit may not be coterminous with the
Commissioner's Division. Thus, the Forest Department divides the State into Field Administration
intermediate geographical territories (also) called 'ranges' in deciding th6:
geographical area of range. To take one more example, the State level Irrigation
Department has Superintending Engineer at the regional level, who is in charge of
the Executive Engineers of his region.
Briefly, whether a particular Department will have a Regional Administrative set-up
or not will depend on (i) size of the State, and (ii) volume and nature of work
handled by it. Obviously, the particular historical circumstances in which a
Department was created and grew, and the personalities involved in its evolution will
also affect-such a decision.
Role
The foremost function of the regional level officer is supervision and coordination of
the work of district level functionaries of his Department. The important functions
of the Regional Officer are mentioned below:
The Regional Officer also pdrforms the important function of setting norms and
standards for the comparatively young district level officers and he ensures that
these norms and standards are kept through an elaborate system of inspections,
reports and returns, directives and periodic meetings with the district level
functionaries.
The Regional Officer keeps himself and the State Headquarters informed about
difficulties or problems, which the functionaries at the lower geo&aphical
formation may face through on the spot inspection. He also initiates measure for
their rectification. Also, he is responsible to ensure that the targets are achieved.
He maintains an active touch with the Panchayati Raj Institutions under his
jurisdiction.
Assessment
The existence of the intermediate administrative set-up between the State
Headquarters (policy formulation level) and the districts (policy implementation
level) has been criticised on the basis that it has no substantive role to perform. In
fact, it is redundant level of administration, which only contributes delay in the
administrative process.

16.3 DIVISIONAL ADMINISTRATION

Administrative organisation at the sub-state level in the country is not uniform.
Broadly, there are two different systems. Firstly, the State is divided into a few
divisions, each division consisting of a few districts. In this system, the Divisional
Co~nmissioneris the Head of the Division and acts as a link between the District
Administration and the State Government. In the second system, where there are no
divisions, the District Administration directly deals with the State Government
without any intermediary in between. The Field Administration in the country falls
in between these two systems.
An important feature of the State administration is that several executive
departments have regional offices in the State. The 'range' offices of the Police
Department are established for two or more districts. The Deputy Inspector General
of the range acts as a link between the Director General of Police at the State level
and the Superintendent of Police at the district level. An important feature to be
noted is that the jurisdiction of the& regional level offices is not uniform. The
number of districts is the 'range' or 'region' of the Police or Education Department
is not one and the same. The regional offices are established irrespective of the
existence or divisional set-up. History, tradition and usefulness are basically
responsible for the evolution of divisions in the pi~blicadministrative structure. The
Field and Local division may consist of three or four or even more districts depending upon the size
Administration
of the district. The size of the division,,both in terms of area and population, varies
from division to divisioi within the Stab.
The Divi'sional Commissioner is the highest executive authority in the division. He
supervises the administration and implements the policies of the State. Mostly,
revenue and development departments, the public distribution system and welfare
departments are under the control of the Divisional Commissioner. He acts as the
Revenue Commissioner of the division exercising delegated power from the relevant
Acts. He reviews the working of the revenue administration like collection of
revenue and takkavi loans and inspects revenue offices periodically. As a Head of
rural development administration, he is considered as Divisional Development
Commissioner. All rural development departments, including Panchayati Raj
Institutions, work under his control. He reviews the programmes and activities
connected with agricultural development, cooperation etc. relating to rural
. development. He supervises and controls all the municipal institutions as well. He
is expected to review the entire gamut of development activity in the division. He
presides over the divisional coordination committee meetings and reviews the
progress of different departments. Like the Deputy Commissioner, he is in constant
touch with the people and tries to redress their grievances. This clearly indicates that
the Divisional Commissioner is an important functionary and the most important
tasks at divisiopal level are entrusted to him.
Based upon the experience, two different viewpoints exist about the usefulness or
otherwise of Divisions and the Divisional Commissioners. The first view is that the
division has proved as a useful tier of administration and that it should be
strengthened. The protagonists of this view argue that there is a need for
decentralising more power to him so that he can provide effective leadership to the
District Administration. The district is too large for the State Government to
exercise effective control. It is also argued that the District Collectors or Deputy
Commissioners are relatively young and therefore the presence of Divisional
Commissioner is necessary with whom they can interact regularly for guidance and
advice. For these reasons they emphasise the need for continuing and strengthening
the divisional administration.
Divisional administration is considered t~ be extremely useful territorial
administration. This can be done in three ways viz., ij through greater delegation
and decentralisation, ii) entrusting the coordination functions to the Divisional
Commissioner; and iii) using the Divisional Commissioner as an advisor in policy-
formulation. The Administrative Reforms Commission's Study Team on District
Administration recommended that the institution of Divisional Commissioner should
be introduced in all the States except the small States like Kerala, Punjab and
Haryana.
The other view is that .the Office of the Divisional Commissioner should be
abdished. Many reasons are put forward for this. Since the Commissioner happens
toae all alone, he will not be able topevote time and attention to the supervision of
all departments and local bodies. secondiy, presence of the Commissioner close to
the Collector may dampen the later's initiative. There are also doubts, whether the
Commissioner can interfere with the statutory functions of the Collector? It is
argued that this system has not proved useful, wherever it existed. As N. Umapathy
has noted that lack of confidence in the Commissioners, inadequacy of their power,
,interference in the exercise of the disretionary power, heavy paper work, large area,
short term of office, etc. cumulatively seem to have contributed to their declining
positions, role, utility and success. The Administrative Reforms Commission after
examining all .the arguments recommended fbr the abolition of the Divisional
Coqmissioners. The sydtem of regional offices also has come for a serious scrutiny.
The Rajasthan Administrative Enquiry Committee (1962-63) felt that the regional
offices should combine in themselves the twin functions of the executive and
evaluation agencies. The Andhra Pradesh Administrative Reforms Committee
 ( 1964-65) thought that the regional offices sliould have substantial power to take Field Administration
Iinal. decisions as it is nearer to the people of the region. On the other hand, the
Puiijab Administrative ~eformk&ommission (1964-66) thought that it is better t s
dispense with regional offices and strengthen tlie status and the rank of district level
offices. Tlie need for regional offices needs to be examined in the context of the
nature of work. For efficiency regional off~cesmay be necessary, if technical
supervision of the activities at the district level is necessary.
The Administrative Reforms Commission felt that each State should make a detailed
review of the regional offices before taking decisions about them. It laid down the
following criteria for establishing the regional offices in the States:

, I) Tlie work of supervision and control thrown up by the local offices is so

voluminous that it would not be possible for the Head of the Department to do it
effectively.

2 ) The size of tlie set-up required for the office of the Head of the Department is
such that the work could be devolved on regional offices at an appreciably
higher cost.

3) The operations are far-flung geographically, so .that central control would

involve higher costs of administration on account of touring, etc.

4) Supervision and control at an intermediate.level is warranted by administrative

needs and the nature of work devolving o,n the organisation.
Divisional Commissioner
The niost important of the regional level functionaries is the Divisional
Commissioner.
i) Position and Scope of the Office
The Divisional Commissioner supervises the work of the District Collectors under
his charge. He is the coordinator at the divisional level of a wide range of activities
such as law aiid order administration, development administration, rural
development as well as revenue administration. Therefore, the Divisional
Co~ninissioneroccupies a place of special significancd in the intermediate (regional)
level administrative set-up.
Chequered Career of the Institution
The office of Divisional Coinmissioner in the country has had a chequered career. It
has seen a succession of abolitions and revivals in various States since
independence. Madhya Pradesh and (old) Mumbai States had abolished it in 1948
and 1950 respectively. However, both revived the commissionership - Madhya
Pradesh in 1956 aiid Mumbai in 1958. Rajasthan abolished the institution in 1961.
Uttar Pradesh went halfway, it reduced the number of Commissioners and enlarged
their geographic jurisdiction. Soon thereafter, however, it restored the status quo.
Likewise, tlie commissionership was abolished in Maharashtra, but was
subsequently revived.
ii) Functions of Divisional Commissioner
The Divisional commissioner is the overall regional officer giving guidance to
district level officers and providing feedback
. ,
and advice to the State
Headquarters.
Mainly, he remains involved in coordination, supervision, inspection, and
appellate work.

In tlie sphere of revenue administration, the Coymissioner's duties are many

folds. He has well defined power in land revenue matters and hears appeals
against the revenue decisions of the District ColJectors. He inspects revenue
Field and Local offices within his division. All correspondence to State Government, in regard to
Administration revenue matters, is channeled through him. He has responsibilities in regard to
land reforms also.
The Commissioner has also responsibilities in the sphere of rural development.

In the sphere of Local Self-Governme~~t,

both rural and urban, the Commissioner
has been given certain power.
The Commissioner shoulders direct responsibility in regard to law and order in
his division. He is the Head of the law and order administration in the territory
under his command.
iii) Divisional Comnlissionership: A Controversial Office - Substantive Points
of the Controversy
The office of the Commissioner has aroused much controversy. Two distinct
schools of thought appear to have emerged, one in its defence and the other against
it. Those who support its cause argue that creation of a strong intermediate tier of
administration would encourage decentralisation and bring State administration
physically and psychologically closer to people at the grassroots level. Besides,
improved coordination and supervision of the field establishment would be achieved.
Those who argue against it and recommended its abolition maintain that the creation
of an intermediate level of administration curbs the initiative and respondibility of
the district functionaries. The States where the institution of Divisional
Commissioners exists has not achieved any marked improvement in efficiency, or
speed in disposal. Even 'coordination' does not appear to have achieved any
worthwhile results. Besides, as the Ministers nowadays tour the districts frequently,
as a result the problems of coordination are easily noticed. The Collector can easily
get in touch with the Headquarters, in case of need, due to facilities for speedy
communication. Thus, there is no need for referring matters to an intermediate
authority.
We may now summarise' arguments for and against the institution of Divisional
Commissioners.
Arguments For
The ARC Study Team in its Report on District Administration argues in favour of
the office of the Divisional Commissioner on following grounds:

1) The Divisional Commissioner's presence will facilitate coordination of the

regional level officers of the various development departments. Such
coordination cannot be achieved at the State Headquarters because it is too
distant for the purpose. Only an officer who has an intimate awareness of the
problems of the region can do this effectively.

2) In large States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, it is not possible to
exercise effective supervision over Collectors unless a regionally based officer
undertakes it.
3) The Commissioner's presence at the intermediate level will encourage
elegation from the State level. This will make speedy disposal of cases
ossible as -11 as make administration more accessible to the public.

4) The Commissioner's presence can be used to provide more adequate guidance

to the Panchayati Raj Institutions. He can also be utilised to facilitate
coordination between the Panchayati Raj bodies, Regional and State Level
Agencies.

5) A regionally based officer of an adequate administrative experience will act as

a catalyst for regional planning and implementation.
 Field Administration
6) An administrator of the Commissioner's seniority and experience could
perform a useful training role in respect of the young IAS and State civil
service officers of this division.
Arguments Against
Arguments against the post of Divisional Commissioner as mentioned in the Bengal
Administration Enquiry Committee pre:
i
The activities of Government h\ ve grown too large and complex at the district
1)
Y
level. As a result of which a division is no longer a suitable area unit for
purpose of supervision. It is too large an area to be an effective unit of
administration.

2) As authorities of supervision over districts and as an appellate revenue bodies,

commissioners are disproportionately expensive.

3) It is doubtful if, as an intermediate level of administration, the Commissioners

have much useful role to perform or any specific contribution to make in the
disposal of work. The post has been reduced to the position of a mere post
office and contributes only delay in the dispatch of public business.

4) Commissioners are officers of wide and mature experience and as such their
availability at the State Headquarters would mean a fuller use of the valuable
experience. Divisional administration fails to create a much useful
preoccupation for officers of the Commissioner's seniority and experience. .
Check Your Progress 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) Discuss the meaning of Regional Administration.

2) Explain the role of Divisional Commissioner.

.................................................................................................

................................................................................................
3) Give arguments in favour of Divisional Commissionership.

16.4 EVOLUTION OF DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION

District as a basic unit of field administration has been in existence through the ages.
Below the divisional level, district is an important territorial unit. Throughout
history district has been considered as the most convenient unit where the
administrative operations could be concentrated for the purposes of gavernance. The
Field and Local nature of power no doubt, varied from time to time depending upon administrative
Administration needs. Invasions, conquests, political and administrative changes did not affect this
basic unit of administration. Many districts, over decades, have been bifurcated and
reorganised to meet political and administrative requirements. It however, did not
affect the continuation of the district as a unit of administration. It has not changed
substantially from the times of Manu. Manusmrithi describes village as a basic unit.
About 1000 villages were grouped together as a district and were placed in the'
charge of an off~cer. Significantly even today many districts in India approximately
consist of about the same number of villages. The territorial structure of
administration of the country can be traced to the Mauryan era. About 2500 years
ago the Mauryans created an administrative structure for better administration. The
system consisted of revenue villages called 'gramas', a group pf revenue villages
. called 'stana' (visaya or taluk), several stanas called 'aharas' or the district, a group
of aharas called 'pradesh' or the region and several pradeshas called 'janapada' or a
province. During Gupta period also similar administrative units existed wherein the
, empire was divided into desas, desas into bhuktis and bhuktis into visayas. The
desas, bhuktis and visayas can broadly be compared to the present States, divisions
and the districts respectively. The Visayapathi, the Head of the District
Administration had both revenue as well as police functions and is comparable to
the present day world District Collector. During Mughal period also there was a
similar pattern of District Administration based on delegation of authority to the man
on the spot. Mughal empire was divided into subas, subas into circars and circars
into paraganas. The British inherited the Mughal administration. During the period
of East India Company several experiments were made in the field of administration.
By 1781, the district again became the unit of administration under the District
Collector as Head of the district. Broadly, the concept was of an areal specialisation,
which became the cardinal feature of the Indian administrative system. Thus, the
present d6y District Administration has historical roots. The Simon Commission in
1930 made the follo ing observation on the subject: "The system has some roots in
d"
the past. Akbar,,f r i~nstance,sub-divided all Bengal into circars. A strong and
settled administration appeared during the British rule.
Independence and adoption of welfare State necessitated a complete reorientation of
the concept of district administration. The main stress has been on development
administration. Community Development Programme created institutional set-up for
rural development. Balwantrai Mehta Committee recommended a three-tier
structure of a local Government at village, Block and district level. The introduction
of the Panchayati Raj, thus was a radical change in the district administration.
Different Sbtes have adopted different patterns. In some States like Maharashtra and
Gujarat district level bodies that is Zilla Parishads were made strong. Elsewhere in
Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan it was constituted as a supervisory and coordinating
body.

16.g TERRITORIAL SUB-DIVISIONS

There are wide variations in the size and population of the district from State to
State, and also from District to District in a State. On the basis of data (census of
India, 2001) West Bengal has the highest average size of district in terms of
population at 4.46 million followed by Andhra Pradesh (3.29 millipn). However,
Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest average size of district (84 thousand) followed by
Mizoram (1 1 1 thousgnd). The highest increase in average size of the district is
observed in West Bengal where 452 thousand persons have been added (between
1991 and 2001) followed by Andhra Pradesh with 401 thousand. The most
significapt decrease of about 50 per cent in the average size of the district has been
observed in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.
Depending upon the needs and requirements, different States have evolved different
types of administrative set-up in each district. In a district, we find several tiers each
with specific function. The first level is the district itself. The jurisdiction of the
Collector, Superintendent of Police and other district level officers extend their
 services to the entire district. For the purpose of administrative convenience, the Field Administratior
district is split up into a number of sub-divisions called talukas. The size and
population of the talukas also varies. As the distance between taluka and the district
Headquarters is too long for speedy administration, one more intermediary level i.e
division was established. Each Division consists of a few talukas which are Headed
by Tahsildars. Sub-Divisional Officers or Revenue Divisional Officers. Every State
'department generally posts their officers at the sub-divisional level. Divisional level
administration mostly concerns itself with supervisory role over the taluka level
administration. Division is a contribution of the British. T.A. Varghese Commission
constituted by the Government of Tamil Nadu recommended the abolition 01
divisions as they have outlived their utility.
At the lowest level, we have village, which is a basic Unit of administration. There
are several concepts of village like revenue village, development village, etc. with its
own jurisdiction and set of functions. With the establishment of Panchayati Raj, a
three-tier structure was introduced in the country on the recommendations of the '
Balwantrai Mehta Committee. Broadly the village, Block and district is the pattern.
Zilla Parishad at,the district level, Panchayat Samiti at the Block level, Gram
Panchayat at the village level are the democratic bodies administering developmenl
programmes.

16.6 COLLECTOR AND DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION ,

District Collector, who is also called as the Deputy Commissioner in States like
Haryana and Punjab, Heads district administration. Ever since the creation of the
post in 1772, the District Collector continues to be the administrative Head of districl
administration. Though created as an agent of the then British Government tc
establish its hegemony throughout the length and breadth of the country, he plays a
significant role both in development and regulatory areas. Basically, he has three
major functions namely revenue, magisterial and developmental. Apart from these
major functions, the State and Central Government also entrusted a large number 01 .
~niscellaneousfunctions to him.
Collector has been the Head of the revenue administration. Though there has been
considerable change in the nature of the State from police to development and
welfare, revenue functions continue to claim considerable time and attention. The
Collector is also in charge of law and order administration in the district. He has
control and supervisory role over the Police Administration. He advises the
Government on various aspects of law and order. However, several controversies
have arisen with regard to his role in the maintenance of law and order and his
relations with Superintendent of Police, even then law and order continues to be one
of his important functions.
After Independence and with the adoption of planning strategy, the Collector has
become a pivotal figure in implementing the development programmes. He
continues to play a significant role in the development administration. There are
several other areas like conduct of elections, dealing with calamities, supervising
local Government institutions, etc. wherein the Collector has an important role tc
play. Details of his role in the District Administration would be discussed in the nexr
unit on the District Collector. Suffice it to say that in District Administration there is
no area where he is not associated.

16.7 COMPONENT PARTS OF DISTRICT

ADMINISTRATION
The district is an important geographical unit where the people come into direcl
contact with the apparatus of public administration. The actual pattern ol
administration varies from state to state, even than there is a large measure 01
uniformity in the broad pattern of district administration. Because of proximity ol
the comm~lnitvto the District Administration one finds a large number hf State level
Field and Local agencies functioning in the district undertaking a variety of functions. These
Administration functions can be categorised as law and order, revenue, agriculture and animal
husbandary, welfare, public distribution, elections, administration of local bodies,
functions relating to emergencies and natural calamities and residuary functions.
A major concern of District Administration is maintenance of public safety, law and
order, crime control and adniinistration of justice. District Collector and the
Superintendent of Police undertake these functions. They are responsible for
maintenance of peace and tranquility in the district. Administration ofjails, though a
separate department, is closely related function in this category. As a District
Magistrate, Collector has supervisory role in the administration ofjails.
The second group of functions is related to revenue administration. Assessment and
collection of land revenue, collection of other public dues and taxes like sales tax,
maintenance of land records, adjudication of land disputes between private
individuals and Government, implementation of land reforms, consolidation of
agricultural holdings, etc. constitute revenue functions at the district level. District
Collector is basically responsible for all these functions and to support him there is
an elaborate network of revenue and other departmental officials.
After Independence, development administration has become all pervading and
Government has begun to deal with wide area of development functions. Because of
the rural nature of the society agricultural development is an important function of
district administration. This includes Irrigation, Cooperativ.es, Animal Husbandry,
Fisheries, etc. A different subject matter specialist working under the supervision
and control of the District Collector looks after each of these functions. In some
d
States, most of th se functions are undertakerrby the Panchayati Baj Institutions.
Y

Welface is another component of development functions in the district. Public

health, Welfare of Weaker Sec#ionsand Backward Classes, Education etc, come in
this category, Each of these functions is entrusted to separate officers at the district
level.
Public distribution is an important function particularly in the context of scarcity and
black-marketing. This is a delegated function assigned to the Collector.. Separate
organisation, however, exist under his control. Articles of daily consumption like
foodgrains, kerosene, sugar, etc. come under this category.
In a democratic system, elections to various bodies at the National, Stite and Local
levels are conducted periodically. The process of election beginning from the
registration of voters to the conduct of elections and the declaration of results is a
vital function to be carried out at the district level under the supervision of the
District Collector.
Local administration is 'a vital link between District ~dhinistrationand the local
community. Rural and Urban Local Bodies play a pivotal role in district
administration. The State Governments have entrusted the supervisory and
controlling role to the Gollector in the district.
Natural calamities and emergencies is another vital area, which needs to be taken
care of whenever required. The entire administration has to be geared to meet the
threat of emergencies during natural calamities. As Head of District Administration
the Collector plays a significant role in managing the crisis.
Apart from the important functions listed above there may be many areaslfunctions
of the Government,, which can neither be precisely defined nor explained. These
residuary functions like small savings, contribution to public loans etc. are equally
important in the district administration.
The primary objective of the District Administration is to ensure orderly and speedy
development of the district. To achieve this objective, the administration deals with
 the maintenance of law and order, collection of land revenue and other taxes, public Field Administration
distribution system, calamities and emergencies, and administration ofjustice.

16.8 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION

The wide variety of functions undertaken at the district level result in a complex
administrative system. Apart froin tlie office of the District Collector, there are
several departments namely, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Irrigation,
Cooperatives, Social Welfare, Education, Civil Supplies, Medical and Public Health,
Industries etc. in tlie district. Collectively all these departments constitute the district
administration. Every State level department has corresponding functional
department at the district level.
Various departments in the districts are structured separately. The revenue
department comprises various officials - The Collector at the district level, Deputy
Collector at the sub-division, Tahsildar at the Taluk, R'evenue Inspector at the circle
and Village Officers like Patwari at the village level. The Superintendent of Police,
I Deputy Superintendent of Police, Inspector, Sub-lnspector, and the Constable work
I
I at various leve Is as field functionaries. Similarly, there are the department officers
of Health, Education, Agriculture, Co-operation, etc. In many cases their jurisdiction
is coterminous with a district, but increasingly there is more than one district level
officer for each district. The Panchayati Raj Institutions have a hierarchy of
officials, some of whom have been integrated with development departments at
Block and Village level.

While working in the same district each department maintains a distinct identity of
its own like their State counterparts. Despite task differentiation and maintaining
distinct identity there is a certain degree of task sharing between the departments.

16.9 PROBLEM AREAS IN FIELD ADMINISTRATION

The broad framework of field administration remained more or less the same except
a few reorganisations and addition of developmental functions. This has resulted in
several problems for the administration as well as for the community.
Firstly, there are wide variations in the size of the districts both in terms of area and
population. The reorganisation that has taken place after Independence is mostly on
political considerations than on administrative requirements and efficiency. These
variations are creating serious problems for the administration. This is mainly in
terms of access of District Administration to the people.
With the increase in the number of functions and role of development departments
there has been a considerable decline in the importance of the revenue officials. But
their stranglehold over land records and their linkages with local power groups has
become a disturbing factor. Inspite of the commitment of the Central and State
Governments, there have been several difficulties in implementing land reforms in
the country. 'This is another problem area.
Rural and Urban local institutions are an important part of field administration.
These local institutions have considerable role to play both in civic and
developmental areas. There has been a tendency to entrust more developmental
functions to the Panchayati Raj bodies. But there are several complaints of partisan
outlook of the elected functionaries leading to favouritism and nepotism. As a result,
there is political disharmony, intensified factionalism and increased crime rate.
Similarly, the Municipal local institutions also face several problems. Shrinking
resource base, inadequate technical capacity, increasing pressure due to growing
population coupled with high expectations of the community for more and better
services are creating several problelns not only to the Municipal institutions but even
to the district administration.
Field and Local One of the well-known featyes of bureaucracy is its emphasis on' rules and
Administration regulatiolis. Increase in workload over the decades is leading to delays, red tapism,
and consequently corruption. Status-quo conscious officials, in some cases are
becoming insensitive to development demands, there-by creating atrophy in
administration.

The reforms that have been effected over the years could not tackle the major
problems like deteriomtion in law and order and problems of inter-agency
caprdination of field administration in the country. Structural reorganisation by
itself may not, and probably will not help to improve the efficiency of the district
administration. There is a need for attitudinal change among the officials.
Unfortunately, the reform committees and commissions have not dealt with this
important aspect of field administration. What is needed, therefore, is a total
restructuring of field administration keeping in view both structural as well as
behavioral aspects of the officials as well as the expectations of the community in
tune with the democratic traditions.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: i) Use the space given be~dwfor your answers.

ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.'
1) Describe role of the Collector in District Administration.
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
................................................................................................
2) How is District Administration organised?

................................................................................................
3) Discuss the problem areas in District Administration.

16.10 LET US SUM UP

The field administration in.India presents a picture of continuity and change.
Introduction of Panchayati Raj, establishment of agencies to implement welfare
.programmes, and increasing focus on people's participation necessitated new
relations in the administrative apparatus at the district level. It also neces3itated new
modes of communic'ation as well as new concepts in methods of accountability. In
this Unit, we have described Regional Administration, Divisional Administration,
District Administration, Administrative Organisation and major problems in the area
of Field Administration. In addition, role of the Divisional Commissioner and
District Collector have also b d n highlighted. In the next Unit, role of District
Collector will be dealt at length.
 Field Administration
16.11 KEY WORDS
Administrative Verticalism: A system in which the Heads of various departments
like Executive Engineer and Superintendent of Police report to higher authorities of
their own Public Service Departments.

I Atrophy: Waste

I ;
Nepotism: Favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those with power.

I
1 .
Nomenclature: A formal system of naming

Variegated Picture of Field Administration: Field administration is not uniform

i. throughout the country. There are wide variations in the size as well as population of
,
I
the district from State to State and district to district within the State.

16.12 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS

Administrative Reforms Commission, 1967, Report of the S t u 4 Team on District
Administration, New Delhi.
Administrative Reforms Commission, 1969, Report on State Administration, New
Delhi.
Mishra, S.N., Ani'l D. Mishra, and Sweta Mishra (eds.) 2003, Public Governance and
Decentralisation , Mittal Publications, New Delhi.

Maheshwari, S.R. (200 I), Indian Administration, Orient Longman Pvt. Ltd, New
Delhi.

16.13 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1' .
1) Your apswer should include the following points:
Regional Administration refers to the network of organisations that
function below the State and above the District level.
Administration is divided into area units called 'Divisions' at the regional
level.
Different patterns of Regional Administration exist in the States.

2) Your answer should include the following points:

The Divisional Commissioner in the capacity of the highest executive
authority in the division is responsible for implementation of policies and
supervision of the administration.
Functions of the Divisional Commissioner as the Revenue Commissioner
of the Division.
Role of the Commissioner in the capacity of Divisional ~evelobment
Commissioner.
Coordination and Public Relations.

3) Your answer should include the following points:

Divisional Commissioner brings about coordination.
He is aware of.the problems of region.
Field and Local Effectively exercises supervision over the Collectors.
Administration
Encourages delegation fiom the State level.

Check Your Progress 2

1) Your answer should include the foilowing points:

Role of the Collector as the Head of the revenue administration.
Role of the iDistrict Collector in the maintenance of law and order.

2)
-
Role of the District CoHector in the development administration.
Your answer s h o u l d ~ l u d ethe following points:
Presence of several Departments namely Agriculture, Animal Husbandry,
Education, etc. at the District level apart from the Office of the Collector.
Various Departments like Revenue, Police, Panchayati Raj Institutions
are structured separately in the Districts.
Emergence of two patterns of District Administration in the country.
Separation of regulatory from development functions under the first
pattern as in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The second pattern where the
Collector continues to be in-charge of both regulatory and development
functions, as prevalent in States like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh.

3) Your answer should include the following points:

Wide variations in the size of the districts both in terms of area and
population.
Inability of the rural and urban local institutions to discharge
developmental functions properly. .

Problems faced by the Municipal local institutions like shrinking

resource base, inadequate technical capacity, increasing pressure due to
growing population.
Strict adherence to rules and regulations by bureaucracy causes delay,
red-tapism and corruption.
Deterioration in law and order and problems of inter-agency
coordination.