DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0027
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
21
devolution in matters of detail has been done in
Bengal of recent years—and probably more might be
done—but I see no opening for any general change.
As regards Court of Wards’ work the final authority
might rest with the Board of Revenue, who should
have a specialised officer under them who would work
direct with the managers, Commissioners and Collectors
being only advisory authorities with no definite
responsibilities. The necessity of relieving District
Officers of some portion of their work is generally
admitted. Court of Wards’ work is of a specialised
nature ; and, except on certain points, requires little
local knowledge. On the other hand, the work,
especially where newly-assumed, encumbered, or
litigious estates are concerned, falls very heavily on
the Collector. Expert managers are rare, and the
Collector is constantly called on at a moment’s notice
to go into complicated legal questions and decide
off-hand the action to be taken with regard to pending
litigation.
Allotments to local officers for special objects may
be made more freely than at present, but the idea of
separate budgets for divisions and districts seems to be
quite impracticable. This would necessitate small
local Secretariats and greatly increased audit offices.
There can be no question that the authority of local
officers has fallen off of late years. This is in part
due to the pursuit of departmental efficiency. For
instance, in the Registration Department, the old
system of part-time local Registrars has been sup-
planted by a highly qualified whole-time provincial
establishment. But in the main the improvement of
communications has made this inevitable—formerly
the difficulties of appeal to higher authority rendered
it wiser to accept the decision of local officers. There
is now no doubt that in a great part of the province
the order of a local officer is regarded merely as a
vehicle for an appeal to higher authority. Transfers
also have much to do with this. It is vitally important
that a District Officer should know his people, and
even more important that his people should know him.
Transfers are certainly far too frequent, but this is
owing to unavoidable circumstances, specially the
shortness in the supply of officers capable of managing
important districts. In Bengal the difficulties of
avoiding transfers are increased by the unhealthiness
of many of the districts, and the language difficulty is
accentuated by the fact that the Bengali-speaking
districts are, as a rule, the least desirable in every
respect. No officer would wish to be in the Bengali
area longer than he can help, and has therefore little
motive to become expert in Bengali. No officer should
be confirmed in the charge of a district until he knows
its language really well, and special allowances should
be attached to those districts of which the amenities
are the least.
Office work is certainly too heavy to allow sufficient
Contact with the people. Many districts are too large,
and the absence of competent subordinates ties the
District Officer to his desk. A good Joint-Magistrate
is a necessity for every large district. Selection of
officers on a freer scale than at present is desirable.
If obviously unsuitable candidates could be weeded out
before the open competition, it would save much
vexation later. At the same time every safeguard is
necessary to ensure that the power of selection is used
reasonably—it would ruin the Service, and with it the
administration, if any suspicion of personal animus
governing promotion once got established. There is
no question that we are short of officers in Bengal, and
that the ever-increasing demand for picked officers for
special work has lowered the average qualifications of
District Officers. The ordinary district administration
is in the lump infinitely more important than any
department, and it would be lamentable if the idea
were established that it was carried on by junior men
and comparative failures.
I am not in favour of the grant of larger powers to
local bodies or the creation of Advisory or Admini-
strative Councils until, by a revised election system, or
some other means, we have contrived to arouse more
general public interest in local institutions than exists
at present. In my personal opinion the village com-
munity in Bengal is defunct past any possibility of
resuscitation.
14710. With what matters do you deal ?—I have to
deal in the General Department with education,
emigration (that is inland emigration and emigration
to the colonies), registration, ecclesiastical, and mis-
cellaneous matters such as mines, factories, explosives
and things of that kind. In the Judicial Department
I deal with all questions directly affecting judicial
matters, criminal and civil appeals in which Govern-
ment is concerned, departmental appeals of all kinds
from all departments, and with the Jail Department.
14711. Have you any remarks to make upon
Mr. Earle’s suggestions as to making the Director of
Public Instruction a Joint-Secretary to Government ?
—I am not in favour of that proposal myself.
Educational matters, when they come up from a
specialist such as the Director of Public Instruction,
should be considered from a non-departmental and
general point of view before they are finally submitted
to the Lieutenant-Governor, and although it might be
very well that matters should be discussed by the
Director and Secretary before the Director formulates
his proposals in an official letter, I think it is right
that he should have the opportunity of putting
generally what he has to say in a final form before it is
criticised by the Secretary, as it would be very difficult
for the Secretary to criticise it before he had the
proposals in a complete form before him.
14712. Is the Director of Pubic Instruction in-
variably a specialist ?—At present he is not, but as a
general rule he is.
14713. Would your objections to this principle be
fatal ?■—I think it would be better for his own sake
that the Director should have a chance of fairly
stating any scheme which he might wish to push
through.
14714. While you think the Local Government
should have freedom in detail, is there any objection
to there being some control in matters of principle ?
—No.
14715. How are you going to draw the line between
principle and detail ?—The principles, I should
say, were laid down by the financial rules. For
instance, if a scheme costs more than ten lakhs of
rupees, it would have to go up for sanction. Possibly
principle and detail are hardly the right words to
supply, but what I mean is if the Government of India
objected to a scheme in toto, they have a full right to
veto it, but, on the other hand, if they approve of a
scheme, it leads to a good deal of delay and discourage-
ment on the part of the officers who have sent it up,
if it comes back on minor matters of detail, such as
the class of construction and site, and other things of
that kind.
14716. You have referred to a work costing ten
lakhs of rupees which you have now power to sanction.
Have the Government of India an adviser in the
Public Works Department ?—Yes.
14717. Suppose on examination of the principle of
your scheme their expert adviser detects serious
defects in details, are the Government of India to
make any objection ?—Certainly, I should say they
could make an absolutely final objection in that
case.
14718. But they ought not to object to details
although they might object on matters of principle ?
—Where they simply advise alterations in matters of
detail, it should be left to the discretion of the Local
Government to accept those amendments or to go on
with the scheme as originally devised ; but where
fatal objections, even in the matter of detail, were
discovered by the Government of India, it is only
right that they should say the scheme should be
altered.
14719. Who is to be the judge of whether an
objection is a fatal one or not ?—The Government of
India themselves.
14720. Therefore they must examine the details ?—
I think they should examine the details.
14721. Then with regard to educational matters,
you think there has been rather a hypercritical
attitude taken up by the Government of India ?
Will you give an example of what you mean ?—The
transfer of the Sibpur Civil Engineering College,
which was a very large scheme, came back with a
suggestion that the playground and laboratories of
the College should be amalgamated with those of
another College. The suggestion did not cause any
The Hon.
Mr. H. C.
Streatfe'M.
27 Dec., 1907.
21
devolution in matters of detail has been done in
Bengal of recent years—and probably more might be
done—but I see no opening for any general change.
As regards Court of Wards’ work the final authority
might rest with the Board of Revenue, who should
have a specialised officer under them who would work
direct with the managers, Commissioners and Collectors
being only advisory authorities with no definite
responsibilities. The necessity of relieving District
Officers of some portion of their work is generally
admitted. Court of Wards’ work is of a specialised
nature ; and, except on certain points, requires little
local knowledge. On the other hand, the work,
especially where newly-assumed, encumbered, or
litigious estates are concerned, falls very heavily on
the Collector. Expert managers are rare, and the
Collector is constantly called on at a moment’s notice
to go into complicated legal questions and decide
off-hand the action to be taken with regard to pending
litigation.
Allotments to local officers for special objects may
be made more freely than at present, but the idea of
separate budgets for divisions and districts seems to be
quite impracticable. This would necessitate small
local Secretariats and greatly increased audit offices.
There can be no question that the authority of local
officers has fallen off of late years. This is in part
due to the pursuit of departmental efficiency. For
instance, in the Registration Department, the old
system of part-time local Registrars has been sup-
planted by a highly qualified whole-time provincial
establishment. But in the main the improvement of
communications has made this inevitable—formerly
the difficulties of appeal to higher authority rendered
it wiser to accept the decision of local officers. There
is now no doubt that in a great part of the province
the order of a local officer is regarded merely as a
vehicle for an appeal to higher authority. Transfers
also have much to do with this. It is vitally important
that a District Officer should know his people, and
even more important that his people should know him.
Transfers are certainly far too frequent, but this is
owing to unavoidable circumstances, specially the
shortness in the supply of officers capable of managing
important districts. In Bengal the difficulties of
avoiding transfers are increased by the unhealthiness
of many of the districts, and the language difficulty is
accentuated by the fact that the Bengali-speaking
districts are, as a rule, the least desirable in every
respect. No officer would wish to be in the Bengali
area longer than he can help, and has therefore little
motive to become expert in Bengali. No officer should
be confirmed in the charge of a district until he knows
its language really well, and special allowances should
be attached to those districts of which the amenities
are the least.
Office work is certainly too heavy to allow sufficient
Contact with the people. Many districts are too large,
and the absence of competent subordinates ties the
District Officer to his desk. A good Joint-Magistrate
is a necessity for every large district. Selection of
officers on a freer scale than at present is desirable.
If obviously unsuitable candidates could be weeded out
before the open competition, it would save much
vexation later. At the same time every safeguard is
necessary to ensure that the power of selection is used
reasonably—it would ruin the Service, and with it the
administration, if any suspicion of personal animus
governing promotion once got established. There is
no question that we are short of officers in Bengal, and
that the ever-increasing demand for picked officers for
special work has lowered the average qualifications of
District Officers. The ordinary district administration
is in the lump infinitely more important than any
department, and it would be lamentable if the idea
were established that it was carried on by junior men
and comparative failures.
I am not in favour of the grant of larger powers to
local bodies or the creation of Advisory or Admini-
strative Councils until, by a revised election system, or
some other means, we have contrived to arouse more
general public interest in local institutions than exists
at present. In my personal opinion the village com-
munity in Bengal is defunct past any possibility of
resuscitation.
14710. With what matters do you deal ?—I have to
deal in the General Department with education,
emigration (that is inland emigration and emigration
to the colonies), registration, ecclesiastical, and mis-
cellaneous matters such as mines, factories, explosives
and things of that kind. In the Judicial Department
I deal with all questions directly affecting judicial
matters, criminal and civil appeals in which Govern-
ment is concerned, departmental appeals of all kinds
from all departments, and with the Jail Department.
14711. Have you any remarks to make upon
Mr. Earle’s suggestions as to making the Director of
Public Instruction a Joint-Secretary to Government ?
—I am not in favour of that proposal myself.
Educational matters, when they come up from a
specialist such as the Director of Public Instruction,
should be considered from a non-departmental and
general point of view before they are finally submitted
to the Lieutenant-Governor, and although it might be
very well that matters should be discussed by the
Director and Secretary before the Director formulates
his proposals in an official letter, I think it is right
that he should have the opportunity of putting
generally what he has to say in a final form before it is
criticised by the Secretary, as it would be very difficult
for the Secretary to criticise it before he had the
proposals in a complete form before him.
14712. Is the Director of Pubic Instruction in-
variably a specialist ?—At present he is not, but as a
general rule he is.
14713. Would your objections to this principle be
fatal ?■—I think it would be better for his own sake
that the Director should have a chance of fairly
stating any scheme which he might wish to push
through.
14714. While you think the Local Government
should have freedom in detail, is there any objection
to there being some control in matters of principle ?
—No.
14715. How are you going to draw the line between
principle and detail ?—The principles, I should
say, were laid down by the financial rules. For
instance, if a scheme costs more than ten lakhs of
rupees, it would have to go up for sanction. Possibly
principle and detail are hardly the right words to
supply, but what I mean is if the Government of India
objected to a scheme in toto, they have a full right to
veto it, but, on the other hand, if they approve of a
scheme, it leads to a good deal of delay and discourage-
ment on the part of the officers who have sent it up,
if it comes back on minor matters of detail, such as
the class of construction and site, and other things of
that kind.
14716. You have referred to a work costing ten
lakhs of rupees which you have now power to sanction.
Have the Government of India an adviser in the
Public Works Department ?—Yes.
14717. Suppose on examination of the principle of
your scheme their expert adviser detects serious
defects in details, are the Government of India to
make any objection ?—Certainly, I should say they
could make an absolutely final objection in that
case.
14718. But they ought not to object to details
although they might object on matters of principle ?
—Where they simply advise alterations in matters of
detail, it should be left to the discretion of the Local
Government to accept those amendments or to go on
with the scheme as originally devised ; but where
fatal objections, even in the matter of detail, were
discovered by the Government of India, it is only
right that they should say the scheme should be
altered.
14719. Who is to be the judge of whether an
objection is a fatal one or not ?—The Government of
India themselves.
14720. Therefore they must examine the details ?—
I think they should examine the details.
14721. Then with regard to educational matters,
you think there has been rather a hypercritical
attitude taken up by the Government of India ?
Will you give an example of what you mean ?—The
transfer of the Sibpur Civil Engineering College,
which was a very large scheme, came back with a
suggestion that the playground and laboratories of
the College should be amalgamated with those of
another College. The suggestion did not cause any
The Hon.
Mr. H. C.
Streatfe'M.
27 Dec., 1907.