" Collector " I saw the title 'collector' written on the official vehicle of the IAS officer hitting and breaking phone of a person in a video from Chattisgarh. Wondered why is the administrative head of the district called 'collector', since his role is that of administrative management, development, law and order of a district. Then why didn't the car have the plate "Deputy Commissioner/ District magistrate" or "Chief Administrative Officer" etc. In Assam, I have noticed that "Deputy Commissioner" is used in official vehicles but in Chattisgarh the plate had "Collector" as if it is some kind of show off in hindi belt where 'collector' word resonates with people as per movies and books. During mughal rule there was an officer of the Mughal courts who was incharge of collecting 'diwani' or tax from people. When British won battle of Buxar in 1764 under Robert Clive, they demanded diwani rights over Bengal (Bengal-Bihar-Odisha) and Mughal emperor Shah Alam II sight the treaty of Alahabad an year later granting the same to the British. This was a turning point in Indian history that made the British supreme powers in Bengal (and later India) till 1947. The British after getting Diwani rights appointed officers who had to collect the revenue from people in an area based on laws of East India Company. Those officers were called 'collectors', first introduced in 1772 by Warren Hastings. With time as Indian administrative service evolved, more powers were added by British and post Independence Indian governments. The collectors were British and had to often resort to brutal means to "collect" from people. Later when Indians became officers under British they also carried the attitude and exploited the 'word', sometimes literally. It's a shame that decades after independence we are still not out of the colonial trait, it seems. Many' aspirants' are 'aspirants' for the sole purpose of being called 'collector' because it symbolises power, it fetches a good dowry and it is a service where one can't be fired. The maximum punishment is 'Transfer' which is again an obligation because if rules are changed to allow firing of IAS then politicians will fire them at will. Just because a person is an IAS/IPS, can he play god or behave like a don of an area? Should we continue the brutal legacy of the word 'Collector' after 7 decades of Independence? #Humanity #collector
