Administration of Bengaluru Rural district in Karnataka is carried out by the Deputy Commissioner. Deputy Superintendents for the district were appointed when districts were created during the days of the Commissioner`s rule. In 1869 when the commissioner was designated as the Chief Commissioner, the Deputy Superintendents of the district came to be stated Deputy Commissioners. The district being a viable administrative unit below the State level, the Deputy Commissioner plays a pivotal role particularly after 1956.
The Deputy Commissioner has a number of functions to perform which fall under two broad categories- revenue and judicial administration. The Deputy Commissioner has been invested with large powers under the land revenue Act and Rules.
The power of collecting and accounting of all revenue vests with the Deputy Commissioner who has to see that the revenue dues to the Government is recovered regularly without much coercion and that all such collections are properly credited and accounted for. In addition to the duties relating to land revenue, the Deputy Commissioner is responsible for collection of fees and taxes under various other enactments like Stamps and Registration Act etc. He exercises various powers under several Acts and Rules, such as the Land Reforms Act, Land Acquisition Act, Religious and Charitable endowments Act, Irrigation Act etc.
The Deputy Commissioner is also empowered to survey and settle boundary disputes relating to lands. He is the custodian of all Muzrai Institutions in the district and he is also concerned with the Small Savings Scheme. Recently he has been invested with powers to inspect all Government Offices, except judicial and police officers in the district.
As regards his judicial functions, the Deputy Commissioner being the District Magistrate is responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the district. Being the head of all Executive Magistrates in the district, he exercises extensive powers under the code of Criminal Procedure, Indian Penal Code, Karnataka Policy Act etc., for the maintenance of law and order. In his capacity as the District Magistrate he directly controls the police force at times of protecting public peace; he has special powers to make use of preventive detention or get persons bound in the interest of public safety.
Being the head of the executive machinery in the district, he issues licences and permits under Indian Arms Act, Indian Explosives Act, etc., with powers to supervise the general administration of these Acts. He is also authorised to issue licences under the Cinematograph Act and exercises power vested with regard to the Prevention of Untouchability Act and the like.
The Deputy Commissioner was the Deputy Development Commissioner till the starting of the Zilla Parishads. As such now the District Rural Development Society (DRDS) ceases to exist as the entire activities of the society came to be transferred to the Zilla Parishad.
The Deputy Commissioner is assisted by a number of people in the exercise of his functions. These include the Head Quarters Assistant who also functions as the Additional District Magistrate. He is also assisted by a Food Assistant and a Food and Civil Supplies Assistant. There is a group -B officer designated as Office Assistant for supervising the subordinate staff of the office and a District Planning Officer to assist in planning matters. There are various sections in the establishment of the Deputy Commissioner. In the Revenue section, there is one Head Quarters Assistant, three Tahsildars (one Leave Reserve Tahsildar, One Municipal Tahsildar and one Muzrai Assistant), one Office Assistant, two Stenographers, four Sheristedards, Rent Control Inspector and other subordinate staff. The registration section has one Headquarters Assistant to the District Registrar and other staff. The food section has one Food Assistant, Food Tahsildar, one Accounts Superintendent and other necessary staff. In the Planning Section, there is one District Planning Officer, one Assistant Director of Planning, one Assistant Statistical Officer and other subordinate staff.
The post of the Special Deputy Commissioner (Development) for the Bengaluru rural District was originally created to mainly look after the developmental projects and schemes of the Government. But, with the starting of the Zilla Parishad all development functions have been transferred to the Parishad. But the revenue functions of the Special Deputy Commissioner who still assists the Deputy Commissioner remain unchanged. The Office of the Special Deputy Commissioner comprises of one Gazetted Manager, two Accounts Superintendents and other necessary staff. The Special D.C. will deal with various matters relating to Land and Land Revenue including recovery of all Government dues, Land Acquisition, Stamps and Registration, Societies Registration Act (1950), Registration of Firms under Indian Partnership Act (1932), Religious and Charitable Institutions and Endowments etc.
Each Sub-division is under the charge of an Assistant Commissioner who is responsible to the Deputy Commissioner. The Bengaluru Rural District has the sub divisions at Doddaballapur and Ramanagaram respectively. The Assistant Commissioner is the immediate superior authority over the Tahsildars and Chief Officers of the Town Municipal Councils.
The Assistant Commissioner is generally assisted by a Manager (Sheristedar), four First Division Assistants, four Second Division Assistants and other subordinate staff. He should exercise effective supervision over the whole office establishment, systematise and co-ordinate the office administration and guard against delay in official procedure. The Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Sub-division has been vested with powers of the Deputy Commissioner under many sections of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act (1964) and also other state laws. He is the first appellate authority in respect of revenue matters and he is also the authority at the lowest level, at which powers of revision under section 56 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act (1964) are vested. The Assistant Commissioner is also the Land Acquisition Officer and Betterment Levy Officer. He is the Chairman of the Tribunals constituted under Karnataka Land Reforms Act (1961), for the taluks in his sub-division. He is the Returning Officer for one or more of the Assembly constituencies in his sub-division. Being the head of the General Administration of the sub-division, the Assistant Commissioner also discharges several magisterial powers. He has been designated as the Sub-divisional Magistrate. At the taluk level, he is the presiding authority of several committees.
The Tahsildar (or "Amildar" as formerly known) is in charge of the taluk. The Tahsildar is responsible to the Assistant Commissioner of his sub division and through him to the Deputy Commissioner. He has also to execute the orders passed by them. The Tahsildar is generally regarded as representative of the Government at the taluk level; he has to accept mutations, hear and pass orders in disputed cases, test the Record of Rights and crops in respect of the village sites etc. The Tahsildar is assisted by taluk Shiristedars (Deputy Tahsildars), Revenue Inspectors, Special Revenue Inspectors, Record keepers and other staff. There had been Special Tahsildars for the purpose of effecting Land Reforms. Twenty Point Economic Programme etc.
The Block Development Officer also functions at the taluk level each taluk being regarded as a Community Development Block. With effect from 1-4-1987 the revenue functions of the Block Development Officers have ceased as he has to work under the purview of the Zilla Parishad. He is assisted by one Manager, and other necessary staff. He is the Secretary of the Taluk Panchayat Samiti under the newly introduced set-up.
The taluks are further divided into hoblis or revenue circles. The Revenue Inspector is in charge of the administration of the hobli. The eight taluks of the Bengaluru Rural District have been further sub-divided into 33 hoblies or revenue circles, each under the charge of a Revenue Inspector. In the administration of revenue matters, he is directly responsible to the Tahsildar of the taluk. He is the main field official, who will be instrumental in the actual execution of the orders of the government in respect of revenue matters. The Revenue Inspector has to supervise the work of the Village Accountants in charge of the villages and also to inspect the boundary/marks, government lands, and encroachments etc.
With a view to decentralise the revenue administration and ease the pressure of work on the taluk offices, whose powers and functions have increased enormously, Nad Kacheris or hobli level offices have been opened on an experimental basis from the 15th August 1986. The Nad Kacheri is headed by one Deputy Tahsildar and the necessary staff. Out of the 21 revenue functions of the Tahsildar, nine have been delegated to this office at present. These Nad Kacheris are functioning in all the taluks of the Bengaluru Rural District selected in one of the revenue circles.
With the abolition of the hereditary Shanbhogues as per the provisions of the 1970 rules, the village administration is entrusted to the Village Accountant. He is the lowest revenue functionary in the administrative chain, being the custodian of village revenue records and collector of revenues. The Gram Sahayak assists him in survey work and serves as a messenger.
It is through the above discussed set-up that the administration of Bengaluru rural district is carried out.
