Date:10/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/10/stories/2009011050450200.htm

Kerala - Kochi

A Collector’s burden

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Guess what, the Ernakulam District Collector heads 73 committees, most of them government-related. This massive responsibility is apart from the Collector’s regular work as head of the district administration.

The fact that the Collector chairs or supervises such an impossibly large number of committees and other bodies was revealed by the public information officer at the collectorate in response to a query under the Right to Information Act raised by the Human Rights Defence Forum. The forum had asked the PIO to provide information on the committees and other bodies of which the Collector is the chairperson, convenor or member. It also asked when these committees / agencies had met last. Though the PIO listed 73 committees headed by the Collector, more information about the committees and their meetings were not available.

Some of the committees and organisations the Collector headed include the District Development Committee, District Level Procurement Committee, District Level Expert Committee, Hospital Development Committee of the Ernakulam General Hospital, Regional Sports Centre, Pokkali Development Agency, District Council for Child Welfare, Apex Committee on Mosquito Control, Red Cross Society Committee for Selection of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers.

And, many of the 73 committees have not met for years or months.