Administration of Karimganj District in Assam is headed by the Deputy Commissioner. The administrative set-up of this district of Assam comprises only one sub-division which is also named as Karimganj. Under this sub-division, there are five Revenue Circles (Tehsils), namely Karimganj, Badarpur, Nilambazar, Patherkandi and Ramkrishna Nagar. Furthermore, Karimganj District is divided into seven Community Development Blocks - North Karimganj, South Karimganj, Patherkandi, Ramkrishna Nagar, Dullavcherra and Lowairpoa. Below the block level set-up, there are 96 Gram Panchayats each comprising about ten villages on the average and local-self bodies govern them.
The Deputy Commissioner in Karimganj District also acts as the Collector in case of Revenue matters, as District Magistrate in case of maintenance of Law and Order and General Administration, as District Election Officer in case of conduct of Election and so on. A number of officers like Additional Deputy Commissioner, Sub-divisional Officers, Extra Assistant Commissioners and others, assist the Deputy Commissioner.
In Karimganj District, revenue administration has historically been the primary responsibility of district administration. This involves collection and fixing of land revenue, registration, mutation and overall management in matters related with land property both private and public. The Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) looks after revenue branch of the Deputy Commissioners Office. Further, there are five outlying Revenue Circles (Tehsils) in the district, supervised by Circle Officers. The Circle Officers are responsible for collecting land revenue from land-owners. All the Circle Officers are answerable to Deputy Commissioner of the district.
As per Assam Land Revenue Regulation, a Settlement Officer is appointed. The Settlement Officer shall exercise the power of the Deputy Commissioner as conferred by these rules for settlement of any local area or class of estate. Apart from revenue matters, development of the district is one of the prime objectives of the administration of Karimganj District.
As head of the district administration, Deputy Commissioner is responsible for all round developmental activities in the district under various programmes. His functions include MP`s Local Area Fund, MLA`s fund, Untied Fund, Sub-divisional Plan Scheme Fund, Border Area Development Fund, Employment Assurance Scheme fund and so on. For this work, the Deputy Commissioner assigns one Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) the specific task of looking after and coordinating various developmental activities undergoing in various sectors. The decentralized Planning Cell of the Deputy Commissioner`s office assists the Additional Deputy Commissioner in this matter.
All development departments in the district, like PWD, Irrigation, Health, Education and others work in coordination and a District Development Committee (DDC) headed by Deputy Commissioner ensures this coordination. Under the Government policy of rapid upliftment of rural population, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) is functioning in the district, which has Deputy Commissioner as the Chairman and one Project Director as its functional head.
Maintenance of law and order is another important aspect of district administration and the Deputy Commissioner also being the District Magistrate is responsible for it. Several officers aid the Deputy Commissioner. The Circle Officers of the Tehsils also function as Executive Magistrates and are responsible for maintenance of law and order in their respective circle areas. The District Magistrate and other magistrates take the necessary assistance from the police department. The Superintendent of Police heads district Police Administration.
Moreover, under the local administration of Karimganj District, for management and implementation of various developmental schemes, elected bodies are constituted at the Corporation, Municipality levels and Town Committees for Urban Areas and Panchayat Bodies are constituted for the rural areas. Karimganj District has two urban local administration bodies. As for the rural areas in Karimganj District, a hierarchy of local administrative bodies is in place with Mahakuma Parishad at the top (that is at the sub-division level) followed by Anchalik and Gram Panchayats, which cover a huge number of villages in the district.
