Deputy commissioner (Pakistan)

Deputy commissioner (popularly abbreviated as "DC" and DCO) is a chief administrative, land revenue officer/collector and representative of government in district or an administrative sub-unit of a division in Pakistan.[1] The office-holder belongs to the commission of Pakistan Administrative Service[2] erstwhile DMG/CSP or the Provincial Management Service erstwhile Provincial Civil Service.

The deputy commissioner is assisted by additional deputy commissioners (general, revenue, finance, and planning) and assistant commissioners and district monitoring officer, deputy director development and General assistant revenue.[citation needed]

Divisional commissioner is assisted by additional commissioners (revenue, consolidation, coordination) and assistant commissioners (general, revenue) and director development.

In absence or transfer of the commissioner, deputy commissioner of division headquarter holds the acting charge, normally.

List of the serving Deputy Commissioners

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As of July 2024, following are the names of serving DCs in Pakistan:

Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Federal Capital

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Chief commissioner ICT Incumbent name Predecessor
Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon

Punjab Province

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District Incumbent DC Posting date Posted from (District)
Attock (Campbellpur) Rao Atif Raza None
Bahawalnagar Zulfiqar Bhoon Bhakkar
Bahawalpur Zaheer Anwar Jappa None
Bhakkar Ali Akbar Bhinder None
Chakwal Qurat ul Ain Malik None
Chiniot Muhammad Asif Raza Hafizabad
Dera Ghazi Khan Shahid Zaman Lak Narowal
Faisalabad (Lyallpur) Capt Nadeem Nasir Sargodha, Chiniot
Gujranwala Muhammad Tariq Qureshi None
Gujrat Safdar Virk Vehari
Hafizabad Sundas Irshad None
Jhang Muhammad Umair Mianwali
Jhelum Syedah Ramallah Ali None
Kasur Capt. Aurangazeb Sargodha, Khushab
Khanewal Muhammad Ali Bukhari None
Khushab Zeeshan Shabbir Khanewal
Lahore Syed Musa Raza Bhakkar, Muzaffargarh, RahimYar Khan
Layyah Ameera Baidar None
Lodhran Abdul Rauf Mahar Rawalpindi
Mandi Bahauddin Shahid Imran Marth None
Mianwali Khalid Javed Goraya None
Murree Zaheer Abbas Sherazi Khanewal, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh
Multan Wasim Hamid Khanewal
Muzaffargarh Mian Usman Ali None
Narowal Syed Hasan Raza None
Nankana Sahib Muhammad Arshad None
Okara Capt Farrukh Attique Khan None
Pakpattan Sadia Mehr None
Rahim Yar Khan Khuram Pervaiz None
Rajanpur Shafqatullah Mushtaq Bahawalnagar
Rawalpindi Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema Attock
Sahiwal (Montgomery) Saima Ali None
Sargodha Capt Muhammad Waseem Bahawalnagar
Sheikhupura Shahid Imran Marth None
Sialkot Muhammad Zulqarnain Attock
Toba Tek Singh Muhammad Naeem Ali None
Vehari Muhammad Asif Hussain Shah Pakpattan

Balochistan Province

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# District Incumbent DC Predecessor
1 Mastung Muhammad Sami Agha
2 Kalat Bilal Bashir
3 Surab Zulfiqar Ali Karrar
4 Khuzdar Muhammad Arif Zarkoon
5 Awaran Ms Ayesha Zehri
6 Hub Ms Roohana Gul Kakar
7 Barkhan
8 Chagai Atiq Shahwani
9 Chaman
10 Dera Bugti Azhar Ali
11 Duki
12 Gwadar Izzat Nazeer Baloch
13 Harnai
14 Jafarabad Abdul Razzaq Khan Khujjak
15 Jhal Magsi Syed Rahmatullah
16 Kachhi
17 Kech
18 Kharan
19 Kohlu
20 Lasbela Humera Baloch
21 Loralai Kashif Nabi
22 Musakhel
23 Nasirabad Muhammad Qasim
24 Nushki
25 Panjgur Sadaf Baloch
26 Pishin Dr. Yasir Khan Bazai
27 Quetta Shehak Baloch
28 Qila Abdullah Muhammad Asghar Harifal
29 Qilla Saifullah
30 Sherani
31 Sibi
32 Sohbatpur
33 Washuk Mansoor Qazi
34 Zhob
35 Ziarat
36 Usta Muhammad

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

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# District Incumbent DC Predecessor
1 Abbottabad Nadeem Nasir Khalid Iqbal
2 Allai
3 Bajaur Muhammad Anwar-ul-Haq Fayyaz Khan
4 Bannu Mohammad Khan Bangash
5 Battagram
6 Buner Hamid Ali
7 Charsadda Saad Hussain
8 Central Dir District
9 Dera Ismail Khan Nasrullah Khan
10 Hangu Irfan Ullah
11 Haripur
12 Karak Sharukh Ali Khan
13 Khyber Capt(R) Sanaullah Khan
14 Kohat Roshan Mehsud
15 Kolai Palas Fazal Hussain
16 Kurram
17 Lakki Marwat Iqbal Hussain
18 Lower Chitral Muhammad Ali Khan
19 Lower Dir Muhammad Fawad
20 Lower Kohistan
21 Malakand Shahid Khan Mohmand
22 Mansehra Bilal Shahid Rao
23 Mardan Habibullah Arif
24 Mohmand Mr. Arifullah Awan
25 North Waziristan Manzoor Ahmed Afridi
26 Nowshera
27 Orakzai Mr Muhammad Khalid
28 Peshawar
29 Shangla
30 Upper South Waziristan Mr. Ashfaq Khan
31 Lower South Waziristan Mohammad Nasir Khan
32 Swabi Gohar Ali Khan
33 Swat
34 Tank
35 Torghar Zia-ur-Rehman Marwat
36 Upper Chitral Mr. Muhammad Irfan Uddin
37 Upper Dir Gohar Zaman Wazir
38 Upper Kohistan

Sindh Province

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# District Incumbent DC Posted from
1 Badin
2 Dadu Syed Murtaza Ali Shah
3 Ghotki Dr. Syed Muhammad Ali
4 Hyderabad Bilal Memon
5 Jacobabad
6 Jamshoro
7 Karachi Central Taha Saleem
8 Karachi East Altaf Sheikh
9 Karachi South Altaf Hussain Sario
10 Karachi West Ahmed Ali Siddiqui
11 Kashmore
12 Keamari Mukhtiar Ali Abro
13 Khairpur Syed Ahmed Fawad Shah
14 Korangi Saleemullah Odho
15 Larkana Tariq Manzor chandio (since 2019)
16 Malir Saeed Leghari
17 Matiari
18 Mirpur Khas Zain Ul Abideen Memon
19 Naushahro Feroze Muhammad Arslan Saleem
20 Qambar Shahdadkot Sajjad Haider Qadri
21 Sanghar
22 Shaheed Benazirabad Kanwal Nizam Shaikh
23 Shikarpur
24 Sujawal
25 Sukkur
26 Tando Allahyar
27 Tando Muhammad Khan Dharmoon Bhawani
28 Tharparkar Muhammad Nawaz Sohoo
29 Thatta
30 Umerkot[3]

List of serving Commissioners in divisions

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Islamabad, ICT, federal capital

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Chief commissioner ICT Incumbent Commissioner Predecessor
Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa Capt. Anwar ul Haq

Punjab Province

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# Division Incumbent Posted from
1 Bahawalpur Nadir Chattha
2 Dera Ghazi Khan Nasir Mehmood Bashir
3 Faisalabad Silwat Saeed
4 Gujranwala Naveed Shirazi
5 Gujrat Naveed Shirazi (Additional Charge)
6 Lahore Zaid Bin Maqsood
7 Multan Maryam Khan
8 Rawalpindi Aamer Khattak
9 Sahiwal Shoaib Iqbal Syed
10 Sargodha Muhammad Ajmal Bhatti
11 Mianwali N/A

Balochistan Province

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#[4] Division Incumbent Posted from
1 Kalat Muhammad Naeem Bazai
2 Loralai Saadat Hassan
3 Makran Dawood Khan Khilji
4 Naseerabad Moin ur Rahman
5 Quetta Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat
6 Rakhshan Mujeeb Ur Rehman Qambrani
7 Sibi Zahid Shah
8 Zhob Zeeshan Javed

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

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#[5] Division Incumbent Posted from
1 Bannu Parwaiz Sabatkhel
2 Dera Ismail Khan Amir Latif
3 Hazara Aamir Sultan Tareen
4 Kohat
5 Malakand
6 Mardan
7 Peshawar Riaz Khan Mehsud

Sindh Province

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#[6] Division Incumbent Posted from
1 Hyderabad Bilal Memon
2 Karachi Syed Hassan Naqvi
3 Larkana Ghulam Mustafa Phull
4 Mirpur Khas Faisal Ahmed Uqaili
5 Shaheed Benazirabad Syed Muhammad Sajjad Hyder
6 Sukkur Fayaz Hussain Abbasi

History

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Post devolution Local Government Reforms (2001 to 2008)

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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.[7][8][9]

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[as of?] executed by judicial officers and judges.

Post-independence of Pakistan

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Deputy commissioners/district magistrates of Rawalpindi District

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

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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.[10]

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."[11][12][13]

 
Deputy Commissioners of Attock (erstwhile Campbellpur) district, Punjab, Pakistan

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.[14] 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.[11][12][13]

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.[11][12][13]

Responsibilities

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The responsibilities of deputy commissioner vary from province to province. In Pakistan, these responsibilities changed with the passage of time.[10] 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.[1]
  • Coordination of work of all the sister offices and public facilities in the district.[1]
  • Efficient use of public resources for the integrated development and effective service delivery.[1]
  • To supervise and coordinate the implementation of the government policies, instructions and guidelines of the Government.[1]
  • To support and facilitate the offices and public facilities in the district.[1]
  • 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.[1]
  • 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.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "The Punjab Civil Administration Act 2017". punjablaws.gov.pk. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  2. ^ Federal Public Service Commission
  3. ^ "Historically & Geographically". District Government Umerkot. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Divisional commissioners – The Official Web Gateway to Balochistan".
  5. ^ "Commissioner & Deputy Commissioner of KPK".
  6. ^ "Commissioners - Government of Sindh".
  7. ^ a b "Deputy commissioners to replace DCOs in Punjab - Pakistan - Dunya News". dunyanews.tv. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  8. ^ "DCs blank about powers". The Nation. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  9. ^ "Commissioners, DCs posted in Sindh". The Nation. 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  10. ^ a b Noorani, Tasneem (2017-06-22). "District magistrate". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  11. ^ a b c Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th ed.). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. pp. 573–597. ISBN 9788125019886.
  12. ^ a b c Singh, G.P. (1993). Revenue administration in India: A case study of Bihar. Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 50–124. ISBN 978-8170993810.
  13. ^ a b c Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd ed.). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. pp. 6.1–6.6. ISBN 978-9339204785.
  14. ^ Report of the Indian Statutory Commission Volume 1 - Survey. Presented by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. May, 1930 AND Volume 2 - Recommendations Presented to the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. May 1930. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1930. p. 255.