There was a time when seeing the Deputy Commissioner of a district meant something. The DC arrived when there was a major government programme, a crisis, an important public meeting, a national function or an event carrying genuine administrative significance.
Today, scroll through social media in Kashmir, and one can sometimes wonder whether the job description has quietly changed.
A felicitation here. A private function there. A seminar organised by an organisation nobody had heard of until yesterday. A school anniversary. An award ceremony. A cultural evening. A tournament. A book release. A society function. Bouquet. Shawl. Memento. Photograph. Facebook upload.
And there sits the Deputy Commissioner.
The question is not whether a DC is entitled to have a social life. Of course he or she is. The question is something entirely different:
Should the institutional authority of the Deputy Commissioner’s office be made available to practically anybody capable of arranging a stage and printing an invitation card?
What does the rule book say?
Interestingly, the rule book does not appear to contain a blanket prohibition saying that an IAS officer cannot attend a private or social function. So, attending such an event is not, by itself, misconduct.
But that is hardly the end of the matter.
IAS officers are governed by the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, which the Department of Personnel and Training continues to list as the governing conduct rules for members of the All India Services.
More importantly, the Government of India strengthened Rule 3 in 2014. It requires members of the Service to maintain high ethical standards, integrity, political neutrality, fairness and impartiality, accountability and transparency, besides responsiveness to the public. The rules further require officers to take decisions solely in the public interest, use public resources efficiently and economically, disclose private interests connected with public duties and resolve conflicts in a manner protecting the public interest.
That is where the uncomfortable question begins.
Every hour of a Deputy Commissioner’s official day is a public resource.
So is the government vehicle.
So is accompanying staff.
So, arguably, is the enormous symbolic authority carried by the designation Deputy Commissioner.
If that authority is repeatedly lent to private organisers without any identifiable public purpose, somebody should be entitled to ask: what public interest was served?
For officers belonging to the J&K services, the UT also continues to maintain the J&K Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1971 in its official service-rule framework.
The principle running through government conduct regulation is therefore not that officers must live like monks. It is that official position must remain above private influence, conflict of interest and questionable association.
There are even specific safeguards concerning hospitality. Government instructions note that government servants should avoid lavish or frequent hospitality from individuals, firms or organisations having official dealings with them, and expressly state that similar provisions exist for members of the All India Services.
Now apply that principle to the district.
An NGO invites the DC. A businessman invites the DC. A private educational institution invites the DC. An association invites the DC.
Tomorrow one of them requires a permission, licence, NOC, revenue intervention, administrative recommendation or some other action from the district administration.
Nobody needs to allege wrongdoing.
The appearance of proximity itself becomes valuable.
That photograph with the DC can travel much farther than the DC’s speech.
The organiser may spend ₹2,000 on a shawl and bouquet and walk away with something considerably more valuable: a photograph suggesting proximity to the district’s highest civil authority.
And that is precisely why discretion matters.
The citizen waits. The organiser gets an hour.
Here lies the bitterest irony.
A villager wanting to discuss land acquisition may wait.
A widow seeking relief may wait.
A delegation complaining about a road may wait.
A citizen trapped in a revenue dispute may wait.
But organise a sufficiently impressive function, erect a banner, put three sofas on a stage and print Chief Guest: Deputy Commissioner, and suddenly an hour of the administration’s time becomes available.
The ordinary citizen needs an appointment;
The event organiser merely needs a bouquet
That cannot be healthy administrative culture.
This does not mean DCs should withdraw from society. Quite the opposite. They should attend events that advance education, health, sports, culture, disaster preparedness, social welfare, national occasions and genuine community causes.
But there should be a simple test:
Would the Deputy Commissioner attend this programme if there were no cameras, no felicitation and no chief guest chair?
If the answer is no, perhaps the DC should not be there.
An administration that speaks endlessly about efficiency should value the time of its senior-most district officer. The CVC’s vigilance framework itself treats conflict of interest as an important concern in public administration. It points to the AIS Conduct Rules as a principal mechanism for guarding against it.
J&K perhaps needs a clear protocol. DCs have a lot on their shoulders. The UT has gone back by 60 years in the last 36 years. If DCs realize this, it is a silver lining; if they don’t, then apparently, they are here for some other reasons than work, which brings about a change.
Private commercial inaugurations, vanity award functions, personal felicitation ceremonies and events offering no demonstrable public benefit should ordinarily not require the presence of the Deputy Commissioner. Invitations should be examined for the identity of the organiser, public purpose, possible official dealings and whether attendance could reasonably create an impression of governmental endorsement.
Because a Deputy Commissioner is not merely another guest.
The DC carries the government into the room
And Government cannot afford to become the chief guest at every Tom, Dick and Harry’s function.
A shawl may be harmless. A bouquet may cost nothing to the exchequer.
But institutional dignity has a price.
And once every stage can acquire it simply by sending an invitation, the office of Deputy Commissioner becomes easier to access as a photograph than as an institution.
That is the bitter truth.
Table 1: Non-Government / Private Institutional Functions Attended by Kashmir DCs in Last 1 Year
| DC / Date | Function | Organiser / Institution | Nature of Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC Srinagar (25 Dec 2025) | TEDxDalLake – Changemakers of Kashmir | TEDxDalLake | Independently organised non-government event |
| DC Budgam (25 Apr 2026) | IGCSE Graduation / Felicitation Ceremony | Foundation World School | Private educational institution |
| DC Baramulla (20 Mar 2026) | Centenary Celebration | St Joseph’s Church, Baramulla | Religious/community institution |
| DC Baramulla (31 Mar 2026) | Meet the Orphans & Widows welfare programme | Human Aid Society | NGO / welfare programme |
| DC Kulgam (13 Jun 2026) | Graduation Day Ceremony | Ayesha Ali Academy | Private educational institution |
| DC Srinagar (27 Jul 2026) | Ethical Tourism Conclave | Tourist Trade Interest Guild, J&K | Private trade organisation / tourism event |
Table 2: Revenue/Land-Record Pendency Across Kashmir Districts — Snapshot of 13 May 2026
| District Administration | Approval/Completion | Pending / Unapproved Position |
|---|---|---|
| DC Shopian (13 May 2026) | 100% | 0 reported |
| DC Ganderbal (13 May 2026) | 100% | 0 reported |
| DC Srinagar (13 May 2026) | 99.97% | 83 specifically reported |
| DC Budgam (13 May 2026) | 99.96% | 208 unapproved balance |
| DC Kupwara (13 May 2026) | 99.13% | 4,746 pending |
| DC Baramulla (13 May 2026) | 98.70% | 8,846 pending |
| DC Bandipora (13 May 2026) | 98.61% | Exact pending count not separately published |
| DC Kulgam (13 May 2026) | 98.58% | Exact pending count not separately published |
| DC Pulwama (13 May 2026) | 80.54% | 89,683 pending |
| DC Anantnag (13 May 2026) | 74.65% | More than 1.22 lakh pending |
(What this represents: khasra/land-record digitisation and approval pendency within the district revenue machinery.
It does NOT mean: 89,683 files were personally lying with DC Pulwama or 1.22 lakh files were sitting on DC Anantnag’s desk.
Also, Anantnag subsequently reported major improvement after these reports got public, so the current situation may be different.)
Table 3: What Does the Host Gain — and What Does the DC’s Office Put at Stake?
| What the Host / Organiser Gains | What the DC / Institution Risks Losing |
|---|---|
| Prestige from having the district’s highest civil authority on stage | The dignity and exclusivity of constitutional-administrative office |
| A photograph with the DC for publicity, brochures and social media | Control over the symbolic authority of Government |
| Instant credibility before parents, customers, donors, members or investors | Public confidence that Government keeps an equal distance from private interests |
| The right to advertise: “DC inaugurated/attended our event” | Risk of creating the appearance of official endorsement of a private institution |
| Media attention that the event might otherwise never receive | Scarce administrative time diverted from citizens, files, grievances and projects |
| Enhanced social status of promoters and organisers | Administrative gravitas, when the office becomes too easily available for ceremonial display |
| Visible proximity to the district administration | Risk of creating a perception of privileged access to power |
| Photographs that can be circulated and reused indefinitely | The Government’s institutional distance from people who may later seek permissions, licences, contracts or administrative intervention |
| Brand enhancement for a private school, company, association or organisation | Risk that public authority becomes an unintended marketing asset for a private brand |
| Greater attraction for sponsors, members, clients or admissions | The perception of commercial neutrality of the administration |
| Social legitimacy merely by sharing a stage with the DC | The moral authority to tell other private organisations that their invitations are less deserving |
| Opportunity to display familiarity with the administration | Risk of creating an appearance of patronage, favour or an informal relationship, even where none exists |
| A powerful “chief guest” who elevates an otherwise routine programme | The stature of the DC’s chair itself, when every ordinary event begins to claim it |
| A photograph suggesting access to power | Public faith that access to Government depends on need rather than connections |
| A shawl-and-bouquet opportunity that costs the organiser very little | The credibility of an office whose value rests partly on restraint, distance and selectivity |
| Long-term promotional value from one official visit | Risk of the DC becoming perceived less as the district’s chief administrator and more as its most sought-after ceremonial prop |
POSTSCRIPT: The question that one has a right to ask is: “When work remains pending, what should qualify for a DC’s time — extra working hours or a bouquet at a private function? Mind it: the bouquet wilts in three days; the photograph stays for years. And so does the cocaine of influence on the host’s mind.”
