A good administration draws its authority from the Constitution, its legitimacy from accountability and its purpose from public service. When administrative rank begins to look like inherited privilege, democracy suffers and citizens become the unintended victims.The civil service holds great power in a constitutional democracy, but this power is not its own. It flows from the Constitution and the law, and it stays legitimate only when officers are impartial, accountable and responsive to the public. Authority helps governance. Arrogance harms it.This habit has a history. India inherited an administrative system shaped by colonial needs, in which officials were expected to protect imperial power, not to invite public participation. Independence changed the source and purpose of governance, but attitudes did not change at the same speed. Aloofness, rigid hierarchy and an inflated sense of entitlement can outlive the conditions that produced them.

Jammu and Kashmir’s reorganisation in 2019 changed its institutional framework, but it did not reduce the basic duties of public administration. Executive power still answers to law, procedure and democratic scrutiny. A district office is not a private space, and the seniority of its occupant does not protect him from fair questions.

The Deputy Commissioner holds a very important place in this system. He coordinates district administration and oversees government programmes. The post needs firmness and impartiality, but it also needs accessibility and restraint. Its stature grows when authority is used without distance or display.Elected representatives are part of this picture. Members of the Legislative Assembly are........

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