THE two-day meeting of over 450 Collectors (known as District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners north of the Vindhyas) in various States called by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at New Delhi on May 19-20, is the first occasion when the nation's present chief political executive, along with his Cabinet colleagues, will have a comprehensive review of the issues and problems impinging on district administration in order to devise measures to strengthen and streamline its ability and effectiveness in the delivery of services to the people at the grassroots.

The fact that they would be held accountable by the Prime Minister himself for any failure or deficiency in carrying out the decisions reached at the meeting is expected to spur them to put their full weight behind the efforts towards implementation.

Of course, it was Rajiv Gandhi who first thought of this method of galvanising the administrative heads of districts so that they went back to their tasks fired by the mission and vision articulated by the Prime Minister.

Indeed, Rajiv Gandhi even toyed with the idea of using information technology to help the Centre deal with them directly in matters which he considered to be of vital importance to hasten the pace of rural development and boost the panchayati raj institutions.

At one point, he even caused no little consternation in the State corridors of power by making allocations of funds for these purposes directly to Collectors — an innovation which his successors were quick to scratch.

The master key to bettering the lot of the people and toning up the system where it matters is to give the Collectors a free hand and provide them with the facilities and resources to prove their mettle.

This will be possible only by the devolution of adequate powers and authority to function without having to submit to political dictates.

Also, the tenure of the Collectors should be long enough — say, three years as against the ridiculous average of eight months, or less, at present — to show results.

If the meet now being held is to serve its real purpose of energising the kingpins of administration, it should arrive at a clear understanding of not just what to do, but exactly how to do it. Otherwise, it will be a waste of time for all concerned.

B. S. Raghavan

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