Page:The Indian Civil Service as a profession.djvu/12

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8
The Indian Civil Service

tive line. He will then by virtue of seniority sooner or later, become the chief magistrate of a District, and the local representative of His Majesty and the Government of India for all purposes. The 'District,' I must explain, is the unit of administration in India, and means a big tract of country, fifty or a hundred miles across, inhabited by a vast population, numbering generally from a million to three millions. The post of District Magistrate, although one attainable in the ordinary course by the rank and file of the Service, is, perhaps the most interesting appointment which an ofiicer holds in the course of his career; but it usually implies hard work and much wear and tear. A successful District Officer may expect to be selected for the high post of Commissioner of Division. The Commissioner stands between the District Officer and the provincial government, and exercises a general supervision over the affairs of several districts constituting a 'Division.'[1] In the province

  1. In the Madras Presidency there are no Commissioners, and 'Districts ' are very large.