The term ‘Collector’ for the head of a district administration still wields power and shows one’s stature especially in the Hindi heartland but the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to change the nomenclature.

In view of the multidimensional regulatory and developmental role with various responsibilities assigned to the ‘Collector’ as the administrative and executive head of the district, the Kamal Nath government has constituted a high-level committee to suggest alternatives for the designation of ‘collector’. The committee consists of a Chairperson, a Member Secretary and three Members.

I C P Keshari (IAS:1988:MP), ACS of Commercial Tax Department, heads the three member committee comprising Malay Kumar Srivastava, Manish Rastogi (IAS), Vishesh Garhpale. Preeti Maithil (IAS) District Collector, Sagar is the Member Secretary of the Committee.

The committee is expected to give its recommendations in a month’s time after consultation with all stakeholders including members of the public. Reportedly, the committee is also expected to explore the contours of jurisdiction of the  executive head of the district.

Actually it will necessitate the new term to be incorporated in the Land Revenue Code and Developmental Schemes which states 'Collector' as the head of the district. Though Police Manual, CRPC and Arms Act remain unchanged which states the district head as 'District Magistrate' and not 'Collector'.