The District Collector is an institution and the foremost Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer responsible for the administration of a district. The office was introduced by Warren Hastings in 1772 through the Judicial Plan of 1772 to solve the chaotic state of revenue administration and secure land revenue for the East India Company. The name "Collector" is derived from this original purpose of collecting tax revenue.
The Collector is appointed by the State Government and performs a triple function: as Collector, District Magistrate (DM), and District Election Officer. As Collector, the officer is the highest authority for revenue administration, responsible for land assessment, collection of land revenue, and maintenance of land records under the respective state's Land Revenue Act. As District Magistrate, the officer is the chief executive magistrate, responsible for maintaining law and order, controlling the police, and exercising powers to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The post-independence era saw the separation of most judicial powers to judicial officers.
The role connects intrinsically to the IAS cadre and the district's administrative structure. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992 introduced decentralization, shifting the Collector's function from a controller to a coordinator with Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies. While the core revenue and law-and-order functions remain, the role has expanded to include development administration, disaster management, and implementation of government schemes. A recent change includes the new criminal procedure code, the BNSS, which now governs the magisterial powers. Furthermore, the Uttar Pradesh Land Revenue Act was amended in 2016 to allow for the designation of an Additional Collector (Judicial) to handle only judicial business.