District Magistrate (DM) is one of the most prestigious posts of India. A DM is also known as District Collector (DC) in some states. He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

For administrative convenience, all states in India is divided into districts since British days. It is the point from where almost all schemes and development plans of the Union as well as state governments are channeled through. A District Magistrate is the Chief Administrator of a district. He gives supervision to the entire general administration of a district. Though he happens to be an IAS officer, he is appointed and controlled by the concerned state government.

Salary of a District Magistrate or District Collector

An IAS officer, usually, goes through five pay scales. He gets salary and other perks as per scale. Whether he is a DM or Joint Secretary, his take home salary will depend on his current scale, not according to the post he is occupying. Generally, an IAS officer becomes DM at Senior Time Scale (the second one). Hence, he gets salary for this scale. 

Following is the current pay scale of the Senior Time Scale:

15,000 – 39,100 and Grade Pay Rs. 6600

Currently, a District Magistrate gets around 52,000 per month.

Apart from this take home salary, a District Magistrate is also entitled to host of other facilities and perks including –

a. A bungalow

b. A car with red beacon

c. Free mobile, telephone and electricity connections

d. Servants like gardener, cook, and personal assistants

e. Bodyguards

f. Various allowances like conveyance, stationary etc.

Job Profile of a DM

It is said that there is no other post in the world with comparable powers and responsibilities. In fact, a DM gets powers through more than 1100 statutes of state and union governments. Being the head of general administration of a district, he is supposed to supervise the entire administration of a district. During the British days, he was the most powerful officer. He was feared and revered. He was considered as the steel pillar of the Indian administration. Some members of the Constituent Assembly even suggested the scrapping of this post as they had the first hand experience of some terrific DMs. But, it was the constant support of Sardar Patelwhich saved this post. As things stand out, Sardar was right. District Magistrates or Collectors, all over India, not only reoriented themselves, but have become a trusted line in the entire administrative hierarchy of the nation. Further, this post gives IAS officers essential knowledge about the prevailing situations in India which they can use while formulating policies as Secretary to the Union and state governments.

Following are some of the responsibilities of a District Magistrate. Note, this is not an exhaustive list.

The Role as a District Collector

- Land Acquisition

- Land Assessment

- Supervising the collection of land revenue, irrigation dues and exise duties, among others

- Agriculture loans

- Any other revenue related schemes launched by the government

The Role as a District Magistrate

- Law and order (The SP is in charge of the maintenance of law and order, but a DM is also supposed to give supervision. That is why a district police has dual control. The IPS association is demanding scrapping of this dual supervision.)

- Supervising jail and police set up (Again, this is a major irritant for an IPS officer posted in a district as ACP or SP)

- Supervising subordinate magistracy

- Agriculture loans

- Any other revenue related schemes launched by the government

The Role as a Crisis manager

- Some of the well-known IAS officers have utilized this power to become a power center in India. As a crisis administrator, a DM is expected to manage all sort of disasters. The National Disaster Management Program has also given lots of power to him. Remember Late Gautam Goswamy (the Patna DM during Bihar floods) and Radhakrishnan (for his work in Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts during 2004 tsunami).

- Supervising crisis emanating from riots or any other internal problems in the district.

The Role as a Development Administrator

- A DM is the ex-officio chairman of the DRDA (District Rural Development Agency). Many believes that the 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional Amendments abridged the power and prestige of District Magistrate as it constitutionally established the position of Panchayat. But, being the chairman of DRDA, a DM has become even more powerful.

There are many other duties of a District Magistrate. For example, during an election he gets more power by virtue of being the Returning Officer of a district. At that time he is directly controlled by the Election Commission of India. He also supervises the Census.