  PanjÁb Districts.—The administrative unit in the PanjÁb is the district in charge of a Deputy Commissioner. The districts are divided into tahsÍls, each on the average containing four, and are grouped together in divisions managed by Commissioners. There are 28 districts and five divisions. An ordinary PanjÁb district has an area of 2000 to 3000 square miles and contains from 1000 to 2000 village estates. Devon, the third in size of the English counties, is about equal to an average PanjÁb district. Branches of Administration.—The provincial governments of India are organized in three branches, Executive, Judicial, and Revenue, and a number of special departments, such as Forests and Irrigation. Under "Judicial" there are two subdivisions, civil and criminal. The tendency at first is for powers in all three branches to be concentrated in the hands of single individuals, development tends to specialization, but it is a matter of controversy how far the separation of executive and magisterial functions can be carried without jeopardy to the common weal. The Lieutenant Governor.—At the head of the whole administration is the Lieutenant Governor, who holds office for five years. He has a strong Secretariat to help in the dispatch of business. The experiment of governing the PanjÁb by a Board was speedily given up, and for sixty years it has enjoyed the advantage of one man government, the Lieutenant Governor controlling all subordinate authorities and being himself only controlled Official hierarchy.—The following is a list of the official hierarchy in the different branches of the administration:
The letters in brackets indicate the classes of functions which the official concerned usually exercises. Translated into a diagram we have the following: TahsÍldÁrs and Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners.—Thus the chain of executive authority runs down to the tahsÍldÁr's assistant or nÁib through the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner, the tahsÍldÁr being directly responsible to the latter. The Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners are the Deputy Commissioner's Assistants at headquarters, and as such are invested with powers in all branches. The tahsÍldÁr, a very important functionary, is in charge of a tahsÍl. He is linked on to the village estates by a double chain, one official consisting of the kanungos and the patwÁris or village accountants whom they supervise, the other non-official consisting of the village headmen and the zaildÁrs, each of whom is the intermediary between the revenue and police staffs and the villages. Subdivisional Officers.—In some heavy districts one or more tahsÍls are formed into a subdivision and put in charge of a resident Assistant or Extra Assistant Commissioner, exercising such independent authority as the Deputy Commissioner thinks fit to entrust to him. The Deputy Commissioner and his Assistants.—As the officer responsible for the maintenance of order the Deputy Commissioner is District Magistrate and has large powers both for the prevention and punishment of crime. The District Superintendent is his Assistant in police matters. The Civil Surgeon is also under his control, and he has an Indian District Inspector of Schools to assist him in educational business. The Deputy Commissioner is subject to the control of the Divisional Commissioner. Financial Commissioners.—In all matters connected with land, excise, and income tax administration the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner are subject to the control of the Financial Commissioners, who are also the final appellate authority in revenue cases. As Settlement Officers, etc.—With the periodical revisions of the land revenue assessment the Deputy Commissioner has no direct concern. That very responsible duty is done by a special staff of Settlement Officers, selected chiefly from among the Assistant Commissioners and working under the Commissioners and Financial Commissioners. The Director of Land Records, the Registrar of Co-operative Credit Societies, and in some branches of his work the Director of Agriculture and Industries, are controlled by the Financial Commissioners. The Chief Court.—It must be admitted that PanjÁbÍs are very litigious and that in some tracts they are extremely vindictive and reckless of human life. The volume of litigation is swollen by the fact that the country is one of small-holders subject as regards inheritance and other matters to an uncodified customary law, which may vary from tribe to tribe and tract to tract. A suit is to the PanjÁbÍ a rubber, the last game of which he will play in Lahore, if the law permits. It is not therefore extraordinary that the Chief Court constituted in 1865 with two judges has now five, and that even this number has in the past proved insufficient. In the same way the cadre of divisional and sessions judges had in 1909 to be raised from 12 to 16. Administration of N. W. F. Province.—In the N. W. F. Province no Commissioner is interposed between the district officers and the Chief Commissioner, under whom the Revenue Commissioner and the Judicial Commissioner occupy pretty much the position of the Financial Commissioners and the Chief Court in the PanjÁb. Departments.—The principal departments are the Railway, Post Office, Telegraphs, and Accounts, under the Government of India, and Irrigation, Roads and Buildings, Forests, Police, Medical, and Education, under the Lieutenant Governor. In matters affecting the rural population, as a great part of the business of the Forest Department must do, the Conservator of Forests is subject to the control of the Financial Commissioners, whose relations with the Irrigation Department are also very intimate. Legislative Council.—From 1897 to 1909 the PanjÁb had a local Legislative Council of nine nominated members, which passed a number of useful Acts. Under 9 Edward VII, cap. 4, an enlarged council with increased powers has been constituted. It consists of 24 members of whom eight are elected, one by the University, one by the Chamber of Commerce, three by groups of Municipal and cantonment committees, and three by groups of district boards. The other sixteen members are nominated by the Lieutenant Governor, and at least six of them must be persons not in Government service. The right of interpellation has been given, and also some share in shaping the financial arrangements embodied in the annual budget. |
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