Helping the District Officer in India
| Published date | 01 January 1969 |
| Date | 01 January 1969 |
| Author | Haridwar Rai |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1969.tb00358.x |
Helping the District Officer in India
By HARIDWAR RAI
Dr.
Rai is
Head
of
the
Department
of
Political Science, Bhagalpur University,
Bihar.
IncreasUng VVorkload
An incessant increase in the range and variety of the district officer's
work and a steady decline in his effectiveness as local agent and area
co-ordinator of the government have been serious features of contemporary
district administration in India. An examination of the records1shows
clearly the startling increase in the paperwork to be dealt with at district and
sub-division
offices
in Bihar, and a corresponding increase in the subordinate
establishment under the district officer.
It is not of course merely in the volume of correspondence
"in"
and
"out"
that the district officer's workload has increased - it has multiplied in every
direction, particularly as a result of government's policies for comprehensive
rural development. A good number of government employees, both
gazetted and non-gazetted, have been recruited to carry out these new
activities, without, however, absolving the district officer of his ultimate
responsibility for the efficient working of the whole development organization
in the district. Every addition to the district staff enhances his workload,
inasmuch as he has to control and supervise larger numbers of
offices
and
employees. Even the creation of such
offices
as are not directly under his
control has a direct bearing on his total workload. Very trivial items
of
work,
such as residence certificates, political sufferers' certificates, political
sufferers' relief grants, caste certificates, verification of antecedents and the
like have to pass through his hands. It is also common knowledge that any
enquiry by a department of government is generally routed through the
district officer, and
if
any department seeks to sponsor a scheme, his views
on the subject are sought and are given due weight, because he is always
the central element in its successful implementation.
The
correspondence work in major
offices
of the Collectorate has more than
trebled since independence.! Despite delegation to subordinates there is
much correspondence that he has to deal with personally and he is directly
responsible for the working of the confidential section) An immense
increase has resulted from the responsibility
of
the district officer for writing
annual confidential character rolls
of
both gazetted and non-gazetted
1(a) The Slacke Committee Report, 1906.
(b)
Report
by N. Baksi, I.e.s.,
on
his enquiry 1948-49
into
administrative
boundaries (not published).
(c) Collection of Papers relating to the Re-organization
of
District and Sub-
divisional Offices (Patna,
Superintendent,
Secretariat Press, 1959).
2
Source-District
Officer
Patna's
Report
(unpublished)
prepared
for the State
Government,
1960.
3Ibid.
26
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