The Board of Revenue in Andhra Pradesh (An Old and Rare Book)

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The Board of Revenue offers a fascinating subject of study to a student of Public Administration in the rather unexplored field of State Administration. The working of the Board with collegiate membership is somewhat intriguing. An overall survey of the variety of functions of the Board and its large jurisdiction prompt one to reflect upon the manner in which it manages its tasks especially when it is at variance with such concepts as "Staff" and "Line", and "Separation of Powers". Besides, one is encountered with a paradox in its continued existence with increasing responsibilities when time and again, there is a demand for its abolition.

To the practitioners of Public Administration, a theoretical articulation of the continued existence of the Board is of immense value. The study of an agency charged with revenue administration assumes great importance with the growing range of State responsibility for agricultural and industrial development, and social welfare, entailing the augmentation of sources of income and better revenue collections." As an agency for the administration of revenues, it supports the programmes and activities of other departments concerned with public welfare. Moreover, it is in charge of very important subjects like administration of land and its use along with the largest clientele. Therefore, the popularity of the Government is dependent upon the efficiency with which this delicate and arduous task is administered particularly when bulk of India lives in villages. So also the administration of Commercial Taxes, Excise, Civil Supplies, and Relief.

Further, the Board of Revenue has a unique position in the structure of State Administration as is illustrated through Chart 1. The Executive Branch of the State Government is headed by a Governor. He is aided and advised by a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as the primus inter pares. The administrative set-up consists of a three-tier structure. At the top is the Secretariat consisting of a dozen departments or so.2 The second tier comprises the executive organisation divided into thirty-one departments or so, each of which is under a Head of the Department and is integrated with some Secretariat department or the other. Finally, at the bottom there is district administration. To a purist, the first two levels represent the staff and line agencies, while the third, the sum total of the operating agencies.

The Secretariat is responsible for formulation of policy, overall supervision and coordination, and efficiency and economy in the functioning of executive departments. In the team of Secretaries to the Government in the various departments, the Chief Secretary occupies a prominent position, as he is the administrative parallel to his political chief-the Chief Minister-and is at the apex of the Secretariat organisation.