🗂️ District Administration System

Administrative Hierarchy of UP

Uttar Pradesh's administrative machinery is a layered system that connects the state capital in Lucknow to the remotest village. Understanding this hierarchy is essential for UPSSSC AGTA and all UP government examinations.

The most useful way to study this lesson is to remember the chain of command from coordination to implementation:

• Division supervises a group of districts
• District is the core field-administration unit
• Tehsil handles revenue and land administration below the district
• Block is the key rural-development unit
• Village / Gram Panchayat is the grassroots level

Level	Unit	Head	Number in UP
1	State	Chief Secretary / CM	1
2	Division (Mandal)	Divisional Commissioner	18
3	District (Zila)	District Magistrate (DM)	75
4	Tehsil / Sub-Division	Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM)	350+
5	Block (Vikas Khand)	Block Development Officer (BDO)	821
6	Village (Gram)	Gram Pradhan (elected)	~1,00,000+

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Divisions (Mandals)

UP is divided into 18 administrative divisions, each headed by a Divisional Commissioner (an IAS officer).

#	Division	Headquarters	Key Districts
1	Lucknow	Lucknow	Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Hardoi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri
2	Varanasi	Varanasi	Varanasi, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli
3	Prayagraj	Prayagraj	Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur
4	Agra	Agra	Agra, Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah
5	Kanpur	Kanpur	Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj
6	Meerut	Meerut	Meerut, Hapur, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr
7	Gorakhpur	Gorakhpur	Gorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj
8	Bareilly	Bareilly	Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur
9	Moradabad	Moradabad	Moradabad, Rampur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal
10	Aligarh	Aligarh	Aligarh, Hathras, Kasganj
11	Jhansi	Jhansi	Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun
12	Chitrakoot	Chitrakoot	Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Chitrakoot
13	Faizabad (Ayodhya)	Ayodhya	Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Amethi, Ambedkar Nagar
14	Azamgarh	Azamgarh	Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia
15	Basti	Basti	Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharthnagar
16	Devipatan	Gonda	Gonda, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich
17	Mirzapur	Mirzapur	Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Bhadohi
18	Saharanpur	Saharanpur	Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli

Role of the Divisional Commissioner

• Coordinates between the state government and district-level officers.
• Supervises revenue administration and development work.
• Hears appeals in revenue cases.
• Oversees disaster management at the divisional level.

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The District — Core Administrative Unit

The District is the most important unit of administration. It is where policy meets implementation. UP has 75 districts — the highest of any Indian state.

The District Magistrate (DM) / Collector

The District Magistrate is the single most powerful administrative officer at the district level — an IAS officer who wears multiple hats.

Role	Responsibilities
District Magistrate	Law and order, criminal administration
District Collector	Revenue collection, land records
District Election Officer	Conducting parliamentary and assembly elections
District Census Officer	Census operations
Disaster Management head	Coordinating relief during floods, droughts

• The DM chairs the District Development Committee.
• Handles CrPC Section 144 orders (prohibitory orders) for maintaining peace.
• Supervises all government schemes at the district level — MGNREGA, PM-Kisan, ration distribution.

Students often get confused between the DM and SP. A simple rule helps:

• DM = civil administration, revenue, elections, coordination
• SP / Commissioner system = policing and crime control

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Tehsil / Sub-Division

Each district is divided into tehsils (often aligned with sub-divisional administration), headed at the sub-divisional level by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) — typically a PCS officer.

• The SDM handles revenue matters, land disputes, and is the first appellate authority for revenue cases.
• The Tehsildar manages land records, mutation, and revenue collection at the tehsil level.
• UP has 350+ tehsils across its 75 districts.

The key distinction is:

• SDM = magisterial and supervisory role at sub-divisional level
• Tehsildar = operational revenue officer at tehsil level

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Block (Vikas Khand)

The Block is the main unit of rural development administration, headed by the Block Development Officer (BDO).

Feature	Detail
Total blocks in UP	821
Head	BDO (Block Development Officer)
Function	Rural development, implementing central/state schemes
Link to Panchayati Raj	Each block corresponds to a Kshetra Panchayat

• The BDO coordinates implementation of schemes like MGNREGA, Swachh Bharat, PM Awas Yojana at the grassroots level.
• Works closely with the elected Block Pramukh (head of Kshetra Panchayat).

This is another high-yield distinction:

• BDO = administrative/development officer
• Block Pramukh = elected local body head

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District Police Administration

Officer	Jurisdiction
Superintendent of Police (SP)	District level — overall law and order (IPS officer)
Additional SP	Assists SP in larger districts
Circle Officer (CO)	Sub-division level
Station House Officer (SHO)	Police station level

• In metropolitan cities (Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Agra, Ghaziabad), the police is headed by a Commissioner of Police instead of an SP.

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Urban Governance

Body	Head	Areas
Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation)	Mayor	Large cities (Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, etc.)
Nagar Palika Parishad (Municipality)	Chairman	Medium towns
Nagar Panchayat	Chairman	Small towns transitioning from rural

UP has 17 Municipal Corporations (Nagar Nigams). The total number of urban local bodies can change over time, so it is better to remember the institutional categories more strongly than one fluctuating aggregate figure.

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Summary Cheat Sheet

Exam Fact	Answer
Number of divisions	18
Number of districts	75
Number of blocks	821
Division head	Divisional Commissioner
District head	District Magistrate (IAS)
Sub-division head	SDM
Tehsil revenue officer	Tehsildar
Block head	BDO
District police head	SP (IPS)
Municipal Corporation head	Mayor
Total Nagar Nigams	17