exam. Imperial and authoritarian
government, racial arrogance
coupled with superior education
made the ICS a superb instrument
to serve British interests. It was no
surprise then that Jawaharlal Nehru
wanted to dismantle this colonial
system with a structure that would
be more amenable to serving the
people and leading modernization
rather than just governing.
But it was Vallabhbhai Patel who
prevailed upon him to retain the
colonial structure that exists today,
however less than meritorious,
educated and socially superior it is.
Today’s district administrator
is a far cry from the imperious
and ironically enough, impartial,
steel frame. This is now a rusty and
rickety structure that is vested with
the trappings of power, but actually
wields little and can do little.
A typical district officer is usually
still in his twenties or early thirties.
But unlike his ICS predecessor the
IAS District Collector or deputy
Commissioner has neither the
unquestionable authority conferred
either by racial exclusivity or superb
education or social class or all three
to dominate and control the lower
bureaucracy.
As required in a democracy
the executive is subservient to a
government by elected politicians.
According to a study by a senior
bureaucrat SK Das, the average
tenure of a district officer is now
about seven months. He or she
invariably falls victim to the
constantly changing and treacherous
currents of an intensely competitive
political system.
In 1861 the Indian Civil
Service (ICS) came into
being. Each one of the
400 district officers
in British India was
henceforth an ICS officer
as were all members of
the higher bureaucracy.
At no given time were
there more than 1200 ICS
officers in India.
Clearly we need to restructure
government and administration in
each of India’s districts. The District
Collector/Deputy Commissioner,
like his or her ICS predecessors,
must become the executive head
of the district with all branches
of government subject to his/her
authority and power.
This must particularly include
the police. The district officer
must be re-designated as the
Commissioner and should be an
officer with over 16 years of service,
a mature and seasoned individual
with the seniority and clout to
exercise complete authority over the
administrative apparatus.
This seniority will also give him/
her the experience and guile needed
to deal with the political system.
Above all the Commissioner must
have a fixed tenure of at least five
years and a board consisting of
elected representatives of the district
as well as administrative superiors
must make his/her selection to the
position.
In most states the district is
quite a large administrative unit
with an average population of over
two millions. But Telangana is an
exception now with the original
ten districts carved up into 32 new
districts.
Whether this takes the
government closer to the people
is yet to be seen, because the
instruments of better governance
have not yet been put into place.
For instance we still have a matrix
structure of organization with
individual departments such as
police, education, health and
irrigation reporting to their own
hierarchies, which tend to be under
centralized control from state
capitals.
The schools and hospitals have
no local governance inputs with
the British era structures like the
district school and health boards
being eliminated. Making small
districts still leaves a vacuum in
terms of local government where
schools and dispensaries are not
answerable to local communities.
The task ahead is clear. Much more
needs to be done.
www.smartgovernance.in | February 2020 27