>Wikignome Wintergreen at 15:10, 24 June 2021

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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
[[File:Divisional Commissioner Delhi NCT.jpg|thumb|A bilingual signboard of Divisional commissioner office in the [[National Capital Territory of Delhi]]]]

A '''divisional commissioner,''' also known as '''commissioner of division''', is an [[Indian Administrative Service]] officer who serves as the lead administrator of a [[List of divisions in India|division of a state in India]]. The post is referred to as '''regional commissioner''' in [[Karnataka]] and as '''revenue divisional commissioner''' in [[Odisha]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.regional-commissioner-belgaum.gov.in/english/rcpower.html|title=Power & Functions of Regional Commissioner|website=Office of the Regional Commissioner, Belagum|access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

Office-bearers are generally either of the ranks of Secretary to the state government, or [[principal secretary]] to the state government and in very rare cases, even of [[Additional chief secretary]] to state government rank.

The role of a divisional commissioner's office is to act as the supervisory head of all the state government offices situated in the division. A divisional commissioner is given the direct responsibility of supervising the revenue and development administration of a division. He/she also presides over Local government institutions in the division. Officers are transferred to and from the post by the state government. This post exists in many states of India. Divisional commissioners are responsible for general administration of the division and planned development of the districts under his control and also act as ''appeal adalat'' for revenue cases.

==History of divisional commissioner==
The division as an administrative level came into being in 1829 by the [[East India Company]] to facilitate the administration of far flung districts as a result of an increase in the scope of operations corresponding to the expansion of British territories. Each division was put under the charge of a divisional commissioner.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://arc.gov.in/15threport.pdf|title=Second Administrative Reforms Commission - Fifteenth Report - State and District Administration|date=April 2009|website=[[Second Administrative Reform Commission]], [[Government of India]]|page=43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601185542/http://arc.gov.in/15threport.pdf|archive-date=1 June 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Indian Administration (6th Edition)|last=Maheshwari|first=S.R.|publisher=Orient Blackswan Private Ltd.|year=2000|isbn=9788125019886|location=[[New Delhi]]|pages=563–572}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Revenue administration in India: A case study of Bihar|last=Singh|first=G.P.|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1993|isbn=978-8170993810|location=[[Delhi]]|pages=26–129}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Governance in India (2nd Edition)|last=Laxmikanth|first=M.|publisher=McGraw Hill Education|year=2014|isbn=978-9339204785|location=[[Noida]]|pages=5.1–5.2}}</ref> The post was created by then the Bengal government.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> The institution of divisional commissioner was created by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />

The appointment of commissioners in the subsequently acquired provinces of [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British rule in Burma|Burma]], [[Oudh State|Oudh]] and the [[Central Provinces]] followed in due course.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />

The Royal Commission for Decentralisation, 1907 recommended its retention. The issue, however, continued to crop up again and again, particularly at the time of constitutional reforms of 1919, 1935, and 1947. After independence, the state governments merely tinkered with traditional revenue set-up and the states of [[Maharashtra]], [[Rajasthan]], and [[Gujarat]] abolished the posts of divisional commissioners but later revived them except in [[Gujarat]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://landrevenue.rajasthan.gov.in/content/dam/landrevenue/revenuedepartment/pdf/Acts/THE%20RAJASTHAN%20DIVISIONAL%20COMMISSIONER.pdf|title=THE RAJASTHAN DIVISIONAL COMMISSIONER (OFFICE ABOLITION) ACT, 1962 (Raj Act No. 8 of 1962)|date=1962|website=Department of Revenue, [[Government of Rajasthan]]|access-date=September 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://revenuedepartment.gujarat.gov.in/collectorate|title=Collectorate|website=Department of Revenue, [[Government of Gujarat]]|access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/role-and-functions-of-divisional-commissioner/46672/|title=Role and Functions of Divisional Commissioner|website=Your Article Library|access-date=August 20, 2017}}</ref>

==Divisions==
{{main|Divisions of India}}

A division generally covers three to five districts each headed by a [[District collector (India)|district magistrate and collector]] or deputy commissioner and district magistrate (depending on the state), the number varying from state to state and from division to division within a state itself. Currently, administrative and revenue divisions exists in all states except [[Gujarat]], [[Kerala]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Telangana]], [[Sikkim]], [[Manipur]], [[Tripura]], [[Mizoram]] and all union territories apart from [[Delhi]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] and [[Ladakh]].

==Powers of divisional commissioner==
While the powers and roles of a divisional commissioner vary from state to state they generally involve-
* Act as appellate authority on decisions of various departments of the division.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|url=http://up.gov.in/upconstitution.aspx|title=CONSTITUTIONAL SETUP|website=[[Government of Uttar Pradesh]]|access-date=August 30, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=http://commissionerujjain.nic.in/about-us/aboutUs.htm|title=Organizational Structure|website=Office of the Divisional Commissioner, [[Ujjain]]|access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=http://gurgaon.gov.in/divisional-commissioner-office.php|title=Divisional Commissioner's Office|website=[[Gurgaon]] District|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215022846/http://gurgaon.gov.in/divisional-commissioner-office.php|archive-date=2014-02-15|url-status=dead|access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=http://agra.nic.in/general_admin.html|title=Administration|website=[[Agra]] District website|access-date=August 21, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://ghaziabad.nic.in/genadm.htm|title=GENERAL ADMINISTRATION|website=[[Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh|Ghaziabad]] District|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030114110438/http://www.ghaziabad.nic.in/genadm.htm|archive-date=2003-01-14|url-status=dead|access-date=September 6, 2017}}</ref>
* Conducts inquiry reports against all state government employees posted in district and division for state government.
* Control over revenue administrations in the division and holds revenue courts.
* Ensure proper and effective coordination among the various organizations of the government and public.
* Supervise, guide and control the various offices in the division.
* Coordination and supervision of all the departments of the division.
* Hearing public grievances and its redressal.
* Control over local government and administers the [[oath]] of elected functionaries like mayor, [[District Councils of India|zila panchayat]] chairperson etc. in many states.
* Financial control over the preparation of budget on development authorities, urban and rural local bodies and other departments in many states.
* Writing of annual confidential reports of most of the officers who are head of a department in divisional or district level.
* The approval of divisional commissioner is required for the grant of certain types of licenses for the firearms and extending & granting paroles for various convicts.
* Acts as electoral roll observer and accessibility observer during parliamentary and state assembly elections.
* Acts as electoral registration officer for graduates’, teachers’ and local authorities’ constituencies of the state legislative council.
* Acts as the appointing authority for naib tehsildars.
* Transfers revenue officers of tehsildars and below level within the division.

==Role of divisional commissioner==
The roles and powers of commissioners vary from state to state but there is a general precedent. The divisional commissioner performs a variety of roles in regional administration. Today, [[District collector|district magistrates]] are quite junior officers, needing the guidance and supervision of a seasoned administrator like the divisional commissioner. During the British period, a member of the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]] was normally appointed a collector of the district in his twelfth year of service. Today a member of the IAS becomes a [[district collector]] after putting in five or six years of service. With his insufficient administrative experience, a [[District Collector|district collector]] of today necessarily needs guidance. The divisional commissioners, therefore, are a necessary part of the governmental machinery.<ref>http://103.1.174.97/newcms/attachments/article/233/Divisional%20Commissioner-%20Power%20and%20Function.pdf</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://commissionerjalandhar.gov.in/jdcr.aspx|title=Commissioner's Role|website=Office of the Divisional Commissioner, [[Jalandhar]]|access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jabalpurdivision.nic.in/main.asp?p1=about_div.htm|title=About us - Role of the Commissioner|website=Office of the Divisional Commissioner, [[Jabalpur]]|access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

Apart from giving expert advice, the commissioners also provide direct communication with a large number of heads of districts. The commissioner is a regional coordinator. Posted at the divisional level, he coordinates the work of various departments in his division in a way that no other administrative ingenuity can. They are instruments of decentralized coordination, The activities of different departments of the government, especially those engaged in development programmes, though varying in nature, are interlinked and there are often a number of common problems which need immediate attention and resolution. At the regional level, this coordination is brought about by the commissioners. It is only an officer who is intimately aware of the problems of the region and the day-to-day working of different governmental departments at the regional and district levels that can effectively coordinate their working and find agreeable solutions to inter-departmental problems.

The commissioner is the effective agency to supervise and inspect the work of district offices, both police and revenue, to enforce efficiency. The commissioner is a necessary intermediate link between the government and the district administration, shielding one against the other.
# A channel of communication between the districts and state government
# Regional coordinating authority for technical departments
# Provides help, guide and assistance to deputy commissioners
# Provides expert advice to headquarters

A divisional commissioner is assisted by some officers for carrying out day-to-day work in various fields:-
# Additional commissioner(s) for revenue, executive and development.
# [[Indian Administrative Service|IAS]] or state civil services officers at district and divisional level report only when ordered so by divisional commissioner.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|title=Revenue administration in India: A case study of Bihar|last=Singh|first=G.P.|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1993|isbn=978-8170993810|location=[[Delhi]]}}
* {{Cite book|title=Indian Administration (6th Edition)|last=Maheshwari|first=S.R.|publisher=Orient Blackswan Private Ltd.|year=2000|isbn=9788125019886|location=[[New Delhi]]}}
* {{Cite book|title=Governance in India (2nd Edition)|last=Laxmikanth|first=M.|publisher=McGraw Hill Education|year=2014|isbn=978-9339204785|location=[[Noida]]}}
{{Refend}}

[[Category:1829 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Indian Administrative Service officers]]

Divisional commissioner - Revision history

>Wikignome Wintergreen at 15:10, 24 June 2021