Deputy commissioner (Pakistan)

List of serving Commissioners in divisions

Islamabad, ICT, federal capital

Punjab Province

Balochistan Province

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

Sindh Province

History

Post devolution Local Government Reforms (2001 to 2008)

During the presidency of Pervaz Musharraf, the office of deputy commissioner was replaced with district coordination officer, except in Islamabad. Also, the office of divisional commissioner was abolished. After his presidency, provincial governments of Pakistan again established this office through constitutional amendments.

However the office of deputy commissioner is deprived of its previous powers of as a district magistrate. Subsequently, additional deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners does not execute the role of additional district magistrate and sub-divisional magistrate, respectively. Magisterial powers are now executed by judicial officers and judges.

Post-independence of Pakistan

The district continued to be the unit of administration after Indian partition and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Initially, the role of the district collector remained largely unchanged, except for the separation of most judicial powers to judicial officers of the district.

Pre-independence

District administration in Pakistan is a legacy of the British Raj. District collectors were members of the British Indian Civil Service and were charged with supervising general administration in the district.

Warren Hastings introduced the office of the district collector in 1772. Sir George Campbell, lieutenant-governor of Bengal from 1871 to 1874, intended "to render the heads of districts no longer the drudges of many departments and masters of none, but in fact the general controlling authority over all departments in each district."

The office of a collector/DC during the British rule in Indian subcontinent held multiple responsibilities – as collector, he was the head of the revenue organization, charged with registration, alteration, and partition of holdings; the settlement of disputes; the management of indebted estates; loans to agriculturists, and famine relief. As district magistrate, he exercised general supervision over the inferior courts and in particular, directed the police work. The office was meant to achieve the "peculiar purpose" of collecting revenue and of keeping the peace. The superintendent of police (SP), inspector general of jails, the surgeon general, the divisional forest officer (DFO) and the chief engineer (CE) had to inform the collector of every activity in their departments.

Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, no native was eligible to become a district collector, but with the introduction of open competitive examinations for the British Indian Civil Service, the office was opened to natives. Anandaram Baruah, an eminent scholar of Sanskrit and the sixth Indian and the first Assamese ICS officer, became the third Indian to be appointed a district magistrate, the first two being Romesh Chandra Dutt and Sripad Babaji Thakur respectively.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of deputy commissioner vary from province to province. In Pakistan, these responsibilities changed with the passage of time. However, now the local government law of all provisional governments is similar to a large extent to the law of Punjab Province. Below some of the duties of a deputy commissioner are given:

• To supervise and monitor the discharge of duties by the Assistant Commissioners in the district.
• Coordination of work of all the sister offices and public facilities in the district.
• Efficient use of public resources for the integrated development and effective service delivery.
• To supervise and coordinate the implementation of the government policies, instructions and guidelines of the Government.
• To support and facilitate the offices and public facilities in the district.
• May convene a meeting for purposes of maintaining public order and public safety and safeguarding public or private properties in the District; and, the decisions taken in the meeting shall be executed by all concerned accordingly.
• Deputy commissioner is able to hold court sessions in criminal cases as justice of the peace, and monitors the performance of the assistant commissioner within the district.