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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
small, compact territory and has enabled the government to provide services without regard to the capacity of residents of various districts to pay taxes.
Home Affairs Department and New Territories Administration
The two government departments most closely concerned with the reactions of the people to government policies and plans are the Home Affairs Department and the New Territories Administration. The Home Affairs Department was formerly known as the Secretariat for Home Affairs but as a result of the major reorganisation of the Colonial Secretariat, the Secretary for Home Affairs is now the head of the Home Affairs and Information Branch of the Secretariat, and the department is headed by the Director of Home Affairs. The Home Affairs Department controls the 10 City District Officers in the urban areas while the New Territories Administration is in charge of the five District Officers stationed in the New Territories. A primary function of both departments is to assess the impact of contemplated new policies on the population and, when they are adopted, to explain these policies to the public. They also report on trends of public opinion in the districts. In this general connec- tion it has long been the practice of these two departments to foster links with a variety of private organisations including, in the urban areas, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Po Leung Kuk, kaifong associations, district and clansmen's associa- tions, multi-storey building associations and religious organisations and youth groups.
The City District Office scheme, modelled on the long-established District Officer system, was introduced during 1968. The 10 City District Officers (six in Kowloon and four in Hong Kong) are charged with the three-fold duty of rendering services on behalf of the government, services for the community and services for the in- dividual. They exercise a local co-ordinating function, test public opinion, watch for sources of grievance and tension, and in general try to interpret to the man in the street the measures adopted by a specialised and sophisticated administration. They also deal with individual complaints, answer enquiries, provide information and mediate in a variety of disputes.
During 1973 the City District Officers devoted a great deal of time and effort to mobilising the community in active involvement in the Fight Violent Crime Campaign and the Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign. In particular, a special effort was made to form large numbers of mutual aid committees, with the aim of improving manage- ment, security and cleanliness in multi-storey buildings in both private and public sectors. By the end of 1973 a total of 1,214 mutual aid committees had been formed.
At the City District Offices and sub-offices, almost all of which are located in shop-type premises easily accessible to the public, enquiry service counters are com- bined with the reception facilities. The primary objects of the enquiry services are to give the man in the street information and guidance on the services provided and functions performed by government departments, to explain rules and procedures, and to supplement broadcast information during tropical storms and other emer- gencies. During the year, the Home Affairs Department handled a total of about 1.5 million enquiries of all kinds.