What is the full form of SDO?

SDO: Sub Divisional Officer

SDO stands for Sub Divisional Officer. He or she is the head of the sub-division of a govt. Organization. The post of SDO can be found in many government departments such as Electricity Board, PWD irrigation, etc. We can say that SDOs are appointed in almost every government department.

As the name suggests, he or she is a divisional level officer who performs various tasks. So, the designation SDO is followed by the name of the respective organization or departments such as SDO PWD. Alone SDO is same as the SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate).

How to become SDO

The employees of a department can be promoted to the post of SDO based on their experience and performance. Besides this, the SDOs are also recruited by the State government through PSC (Public Service Commission) exams. The minimum qualification required to appear in this exam is a bachelor degree in the relevant field. Besides this function of a SDO depends on the department to which he or she belongs.

For example, the role of sub-divisional officers (civil) in the state of Punjab is described below:

• The functions of SDO (civil) of a sub-division are almost similar to the functions of the Deputy Commissioner of a district. He serves as the main agent of the Deputy Commissioner.
• He is the head of the development projects in the sub-division and plays an important role in coordinating the works of various departments.
• He can take decisions independently as in most of the cases he is solely responsible for everything that happens in his subdivision.
• The scope of his powers is as per the land revenue and tenancy acts.
• He also serves as Assistant Collector as per the Punjab Land Revenue Act and Punjab Tenancy acts. He also plays the role of an appellate authority as per the demand of his subordinate revenue officers.
• He is subordinate to the District Magistrate and is accountable for maintaining the peace, law and order in his area of jurisdiction.