Many youth in the country dream of joining administrative services. In such a situation, there is often discussion about posts like SDM and Tehsildar. Both the posts are related to the district administration and revenue department, but their work, responsibilities and rights are different. Many people also want to know who is more powerful between SDM and Tehsildar. Let us understand the difference between these two posts.

SDM
SDM i.e. Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the chief administrative officer of a sub-division of a district. He handles the administrative work in that area and works on the instructions of the District Officer. Generally, officers who pass the UPSC Civil Services Examination become SDM after training. Apart from this, officers selected from the State Public Service Commission can also be appointed to the post of SDM.

Tehsildar
Tehsildar is also an important officer of the administrative system, but his work is mainly limited to the tehsil level. The main job of the Tehsildar is to handle revenue related matters.
Often Naib Tehsildar is promoted to Tehsildar. Apart from this, one can also be appointed to this post after passing the State Public Service Commission examination.

Who is more powerful?
If we talk about rights and responsibilities, the post of SDM is considered bigger and more powerful than Tehsildar. SDM has administrative, revenue and magistrate powers, while Tehsildar mainly handles revenue related work. For this reason, SDM is considered a senior officer than Tehsildar in the administrative system.

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What are the responsibilities?
Both SDM and Tehsildar play an important role in the district administration and revenue system. The SDM is responsible for the administration of his area i.e. sub-division, where he monitors land related matters, oversees land revenue collection and maintains coordination in the functioning of various government departments. Along with this, SDM also coordinates with the police administration in maintaining law and order and keeps an eye on the proper implementation of government schemes.

Whereas Tehsildar handles the revenue related work at the Tehsil level. His main work is to safeguard land records and crop data, collect land revenue and government dues and give reports to the government to provide relief to the people when needed. Tehsildar also plays an important role in providing help to the affected people during natural disasters. In this way both the officers work together to run the administration and revenue system smoothly.

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Youth Congress’ march on the rights of MNREGA workers in Jodhpur took the form of a controversy. MLA Abhimanyu Punia, angry with the attitude of the administrative officials, tore the memorandum papers and threw them in the air in front of the SDM.

According to the information, this dramatic incident became a cause of tension in the Collectorate premises. Or it can be said that this high profile drama continued.

What is the whole matter?

Youth Congress’s ‘MNREGA Rescue Mahasangram’ march left Sojati Gate and reached the District Collectorate. The leaders requested the Collector and Additional Collector to come out and take the memorandum. On behalf of the administration, SDM Pankaj Jain came to the spot and was ready to take the memorandum, but the Congress leaders insisted that he should come outside the gate among the common workers.

During the Congress demonstration in Jodhpur, a controversy broke out when the Collector did not arrive to collect the memorandum. Angry MLA Abhimanyu Punia tore the memorandum in anger and threw it towards the SDM’s face.#Jodhpur #ViralVideo #Rajasthan #ABPNews pic.twitter.com/zkgiHrmH4k

— ABP News (@ABPNews) January 21, 2026

Amidst this debate, MLA Abhimanyu Punia got angry and tore the pages of the memorandum and threw it towards the SDM. During this, they raised slogans making serious allegations against the police and administration.

Administration remains away from the general public – MLA

MLA Abhimanyu Poonia said, “When the District Collector and Additional Collector do not come out to take the memorandum of the public representatives, then who will listen to the problems of the common people?” He said that this step had to be taken due to the distance between the administration and public representatives. He warned that if the rights of MNREGA workers are not protected, the agitation will be further intensified.

Who were there on the spot?

Former minister Rajendra Chaudhary, Bhopalgarh MLA Geeta Barwad and other Congress leaders were also present in this demonstration. After the memorandum was torn, there was an atmosphere of tension in the Collectorate office premises for some time and Congress workers even argued with the police.

It is worth noting that many times a situation of tension arises during the rallies and protests organized by public representatives and politicians. But the action of the public representative in Jodhpur, instead of handing over the memorandum to the SDM, tearing it in front of him and throwing it in the air has put the pride of Jodhpur to shame.

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Major negligence of the administration has come to light in the voter list revision work (SIR) in Mahoba. The names of about 2300 villagers, including the head of Srinagar Gram Panchayat of Kabrai development block, have been missing from the voter list. The surprising thing is that even the name of the present head is not in the list. After complaining about this matter, the SDM has asked to fill the claim form and get the name added.

With the sound of three-tier Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, the work of revising the voter list is going on at a fast pace. But in Mahoba district, such negligence of BLO and related employees has been exposed, which has raised questions on the entire election process.

Village head’s name removed from voter list

According to the information, the matter pertains to Srinagar Gram Panchayat of Kabrai development block. Where not one or two, but entire 2300 voters have been shown the way out of the list. The most shocking fact is that the current village head of Srinagar, Ashish Rajput himself has fallen prey to this negligence.

The names of Ashish Rajput as well as other members of his family and thousands of respected voters of the village are missing from the voter list. This major mistake made in a cursory manner has created a stir among the villagers. The distressed village head hastily reached the office of District Magistrate Ghazal Bhardwaj and pleaded for justice.

Voter list is being revised again – SDM

Taking cognizance of this serious matter, Mahoba SDM Shivdhyan Pandey said that the voter list is being amended under the instructions of the State Election Commission. Investigation is being done on the complaint given by Srinagar village head. The administration says that those whose names have been removed from the list should not panic. Voters can submit their claim by filling the relevant form between December 24 and December 30.

However, now the question arises that due to whose carelessness such a large number of names were deleted? At present, villagers and heads have started the process of filling forms to get back their democratic rights.

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Who is bigger in ADM and SDM and who has how much power, this question often comes in people’s mind because both the posts are considered very important in government administration. While handling matters related to work, law and order and revenue in the districts, the names of these two officers come up again and again, but most of the people are not able to clearly understand the difference between them. In such a situation, it is important to know what is the role of SDM and ADM and whose post is considered higher.

First of all let’s talk about Additional District Magistrate of ADM and he is called Additional District Magistrate. According to his responsibilities, ADM is considered the second highest officer in the district after DM. ADM keeps an eye on the administration, law and order and development plans of the entire district.

These responsibilities rest on ADM

IAS officers or senior PCS officers are appointed to this post. In the absence of DM, the entire district runs under the control of ADM. From the hearing of big revenue cases to the progress of government schemes running in the district, ADM plays an important role in every major decision. Important tasks like security of the district, monitoring of big programs and monitoring of administrative orders are the responsibility of ADM.

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What is the work of SDM?

At the same time, the full form of SDM is Sub-Divisional Magistrate and he is also called Sub-District Officer. This officer is the head of the tehsil created within a district. Generally, PCS officers or IAS officers are appointed to the post of SDM.

The responsibilities of the SDM include resolving revenue and land related disputes, controlling law and order, overseeing elections, handling relief work in case of any natural disaster or accident and monitoring officers like Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar. SDM does most of the administrative work directly related to the public, hence his role is very important for the administration’s reach to the public.

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