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9-548: The origins of the role of Government Agent, can be traced back to the appointment of Madrassi Revenue Collectors, whose office became known as a Kachcheri . Following the annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy , the British Governor appointed Resident Agents and Assistant Agents to different parts of the island to overlook revenue collection and maintain government control. The administrative reforms carried out following

18-567: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kachcheri [REDACTED] A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka . Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and activities of the central government and Divisional Secretariats. The District Secretariat

27-630: Is also responsible for implementing and monitoring development projects at the district level and assisting lower-level subdivisions in their activities, as well as revenue collection and coordination of elections in the district. The head of a District Secretariat is the District Secretary formally known as the Government Agent . Kachcheri is a Hindustani word initially used for the Revenue Collector's Office in

36-572: The kachcheri was converted into the Government Agent ’s Office. Even after the independence, kachcheri was retained as the district administrative centre and focal point of the provincial administration and placed it under a government agent. However, in 1987, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka made provisions for the establishment of Provincial Councils. Thus,

45-567: The Colebrooke–Cameron Commission of Inquiry , the administration of the coastal provinces and the provinces of the former Kingdom of Kandy were merged into a central system which divided the island into five provinces on 1 October 1833. Each province would be headed by a Government Agent (GA) appointed by the British Governor of Ceylon and with Assistant Government Agents (AGA) in charge of outlying districts answerable to

54-562: The CCS in 1870. However it was only in the 1920s did the first Ceylonese GA appointed. The role of the GA during the colonial administration, was primary collection of revenue, administration of law and order, allocation of crown land, and supervision of irrigation. Until 1956 there were nine Provincial Kachcheries, headed by a GA who administered their own district and exercised nominal authority over thirteen District Kachcheries, headed by AGAs. In 1956,

63-652: The GA of the province. With these reforms the Ceylon Civil Service was established and GAs and AGAs were exclusively appointed from the Ceylon Civil Service. Each GA had has his office the local Kachcheri , which was the Revenue Collector's Office dating back from the Dutch period. GA and AGA appointments were made from the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) which was formed in 1833. CCS was initially made up of British, Ceylonese were first admitted to

72-608: The early years of the British Colonial Administration in Ceylon . ( Sri Lanka ) Revenue collection was a main feature of the Dutch pattern of colonial administration. In the first half of the 19th century, the British colonial administrators were able to move towards a more organised form of government with civil and revenue administration. Thus, the collector's office, which continued to be locally known as

81-514: The heads of all twenty-two districts were now designated GAs, who were all from the CCS and came under the preview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The GA functioned as the reprehensive of the government in the district. The original responsibility to maintain law and order, soon transferred to the police and Judiciary; GA retained residual control over the police, and excided during times of crisis. This Sri Lankan politics-related article

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