In which of the following year, for the first time Rajasthan Administrative Service Officers were posted as District Collector?

Correct — option (3), 2009.

RPSC's final answer key gives 2009 as the year in which officers of the Rajasthan Administrative Service were posted as District Collectors for the first time.

No other source for the 2009 date could be checked, so the districts, the officers and the exact date are not given here.

The year settles the other options too. If the first such postings came in 2009, then 2013, 2018 and 2021 cannot be the first time, whatever postings may have followed in those years.

What the posting means is clearer from the office itself. The Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979) describes the Collector as the principal officer of a district's general administration, responsible for its land revenue and, as District Magistrate, for law and order.

The idea to remember: RAS officers as District Collectors — first in 2009, per RPSC's key.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  2021 — 2021 is the year of this exam, not of the first postings. RPSC's key places the first posting of RAS officers as Collectors in 2009.

  Any posting in 2021 would come after that first instance, so it cannot answer "for the first time".

• (2)
  2013 — 2013 is later than the year RPSC's key gives. The key marks 2009 as the first time RAS officers were posted as District Collectors.

  A later year cannot be the first occasion if the practice had already begun four years earlier.

• (4)
  2018 — 2018 is nine years after the year in RPSC's key. The key gives 2009 for the first such postings.

  The stem asks for the first time, so only the earliest year fits.

The Collector heads the district. The Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979) describes him as the principal officer in the district for general administration, who maintains law and order, collects land revenue and co-ordinates the district offices of various departments.

The Gazetteer sets out his revenue work: collecting land revenue, managing government land, preparing land records, administering revenue and stamp laws, and hearing appeals against tahsildars' orders.

As District Magistrate he is responsible for law and order, controls the magistrates in the district, and works with the Superintendent of Police. He also issues arms and explosives licences.

The Gazetteer adds that after Panchayati Raj institutions came to Rajasthan in 1959, the Collector's functions grew, including supervision of panchayats and Panchayat Samitis.

Key facts

• RPSC's final answer key gives 2009 as the year RAS officers were first posted as District Collectors.
• Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979): the Collector is the principal officer in the district for general administration.
• The Collector is responsible for collecting land revenue and for revenue records and revenue courts in the district.
• As District Magistrate, the Collector is responsible for law and order and controls the magistrates in the district.
• The Gazetteer notes that the Collector's functions increased after Panchayati Raj institutions were introduced in Rajasthan in 1959.

Common traps

• Choosing a recent year. The stem asks for the first time, which RPSC's key places in 2009.
• Mixing the Collector's revenue role with the District Magistrate's law-and-order role. The Gazetteer describes one officer holding both.
• Treating the Collector as only a revenue officer. The Gazetteer also gives him development and co-ordination duties, which grew after 1959.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2016 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979), as District Magistrate the Collector is responsible for —

  • (a)Hearing appeals against High Court judgments
  • (b)Maintaining law and order in the district
  • (c)Electing the Zila Pramukh
  • (d)Auditing the State's accounts
  Answer(2) — The Gazetteer says that as District Magistrate he is responsible for maintaining law and order, assisted by an Additional District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police. Appeals against High Court judgments (1), electing the Zila Pramukh (3) and auditing the State's accounts (4) are not among the duties it lists.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979), who hears revenue appeals against the orders of tahsildars?

  • (a)The Sub-Divisional Officer
  • (b)The Collector
  • (c)The Superintendent of Police
  • (d)The Zila Parishad
  Answer(2) — The Gazetteer says that in revenue cases the Collector hears appeals against orders passed by tahsildars. The Superintendent of Police (3) and the Zila Parishad (4) have no revenue jurisdiction there, and the Sub-Divisional Officer (1) is not the officer it names for these appeals.