DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0037
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
31
The following is the present strength of the
Gazetted staff of the Public Works Department in
Bengal, as a whole :—
Chief Engineers . 2.
Superintending Engineers ... 8.(a).
Executive Engineers ... ... 27(6), (c).
Assistant Engineers ... ... 24(d).
Temporary Engineers ... ... 6.
The sanctioned cadre of the province provides for
30 Executive Engineers and 30 Assistant Engineers.
There are also 114 members of the Upper Sub-
ordinate grades on salaries ranging from Rs. 80 to Rs.
500 a month, whose appointments and promotions’, etc.,
are notified in the Gazette, and who, to a large extent,
hold the sub-divisions of the executive charges and are
in the position of Resident Engineers. The officers
of the Department have to design, construct, and
maintain all provincial or imperial works. The Super-
intending Engineers are also Inspecting Officers of
local works, mainly roads.
I control, as Chief Engineer, the working of the
Irrigation Branch of the Department. I also, as Sec-
retary, advise the Lieutenant-Governor on all matters
connected with canals, rivers, embankments, and
drainage. As Secretary in the Marine Department,
I have to deal with questions relating to the Bengal
Pilot Service, of which the Port Officer is the executive
head ; the Calcutta Port Trust; the various acts re -
lating to shipping, including appointments of Courts
of Enquiry in cases of casualties and the survey of
vessels, both sea-going and inland ; the administration
of the Steam-boilers and Prime-movers Act and the
Smoke Nuisances Act ; and the Petroleum Act. In
the Railway Branch I have to deal with Bengal Tram-
ways Act and with light railways and the Darjeeling-
Himalayan Railway. The Bengal Government has no
control over, or responsibility for, the larger railway
systems, but questions have to be dealt with in respect
to the acquisition of land for railway purposes. Also
in cases of projected lines the opinion of the l ocal
Government is given with respect to general align-
ment and to the provision of waterways and road
crossings.
The sanction of the Government of India is
required to rules made by the Local Governments
under the provisions of most of the Acts which we
administer in the Marine Department. As these Acts
have mostly a general application throughout India, it
is right that the rules should be considered by the
Government of India, and no relaxation is required.
There is a tendency in the direction of making
regulations which are too rigid and which do not
allow sufficiently for varying local conditions. For
instance, it is, in many parts of this province, hardly
possible to comply with the regulations in the Public
Works Code, on the subject of the provision of
residences for Government officers, and deviations
have to be referred to the Government of India and
are not always received sympathetically. The Local
Government might be given a wider discretion, and it
might be left to the Financial Department of the
Local Government to exercise a check on any ten-
dency to extravagance. Again, in respect to the
scheme now being carried through for housing Officers
in Calcutta, or for giving a house allowance in lieu of
a Government residence. It is a mistake to try to
make one set of hard and fast rules which shall be
applied to all Departments. The conditions as to
salaries and pensions vary materially, and I see no
reason why there should be absolute uniformity in
the matter of house allowances. The Indian En-
gineers who, as a rule, always preferred service in
Calcutta on account of social amenities and educa-
tional advantages, are distinct gainers, while the
European and Eurasian Engineers are distinctly worse
off than they were before the present scheme was
initiated. It would be better to let each department
or branch of the Service work out its own scheme to
suit its own conditions.
(a) Of these one is Sanitary Engineer, and four have
charge of Irrigation Circles which include buildings and
roads. Three have charge of buildings and roads only.
(h) Of these seven are Assistant Engineers with tem-
porary rank.
(o) Twenty-four imperial, three provincial.
(rf) Fourteen imperial, ten provincial.
A broader view might with advantage be taken in
discussing schemes suggested for irrigation and navi-
gation which, though desirable in themselves, do not
promise to yield a sufficient profit on the capital
outlay to bring them within the category of produc-
tive public works as defined in the Public Works
Code. More consideration should be given to the
value which such works have to the State, over and
above the direct cash return to Government. To
illustrate this, we have at present in this province a
scheme for an irrigation canal from the river Damn-
dar. The net revenue which can be safely reckoned
on is sufficient only to pay 4 per cent, on a capital of
30 lakhs. It does not appear probable that the capital
outlay would be less than 40 lakhs. The scheme has
therefore to be put on the shelf, as the conditions of
the country commanded, in regard to scarcity or
famine, are not such as would justify outlay on a
purely protective work. In the season just past, when
there was a great need of irrigation, sufficient water
was flowing uselessly down the Damudar to provide
for nearly 100,000 acres of rice, and if this could
have been supplied, it would without doubt have been
of great value to the country. In the case of schemes
such as this a grant-in-aid might be made from
ordinary revenues, whether provincial or imperial,
which would rank as deferred stock. The appropria-
tion from loan funds might then be permitted up to
that sum, on which the revenues of the project could
be depended on to give a return of at least 4 per
cent.
We have under consideration a scheme of consider-
able magnitude for a canal to allow inland steamers
and flats more direct access to Calcutta. It is
doubtful if the estimate can be kept within limits
which would admit of its being classed as a productive
public work, and the same question arises whether it
would not be proper to supply a certain amount of the
capital from ordinary revenues without seeking a
profit. In several European countries much money is
expended by the State in giving such facilities as a
measure of general administration, and without ex-
pectation of direct gain to the State revenues. It
seems to me that a departmental spirit and desire for
direct return on all outlay does here obstruct the
general consideration of what is a very important
matter of administration. Similarly, this Govern-
ment has asked for some time that a general enquiry
may be made into the possibilities of improving the
natural waterways. So far this has received no
apparent consideration by the Government of India.
The only Inspector-General with whom 1. am
brought in contact is the Inspector-General of Irri-
gation. His sphere should be to criticise and suggest
in regard to the technical or engineering aspect of a
scheme, and it is better that he should not intervene
in regard to the administrative aspect.
As far as the Public Works Department is con-
cerned, the existing regulations on the subject of
appeals are suitable.
The Government of India have recently suggested
that Superintending Engineers and Executive Engi-
neers should be given wider powers to enable them to
deal finally with details of designs and estimates of
works to which administrative sanction has been
previously given, and also in respect to making
contracts. I am in agreement with those proposals.
The tendency of the provincial Secretariat is not
unduly departmental or unduly dominated by con-
siderations of revenue. The provincial Government,
having a more intimate acquaintance with the
requirements of the case, takes a more general and
broader view than the Government of India.
In the administration of the canals our Executive
Officers are brought into constant contact with the
cultivators. The vernacular question is rather
difficult in Bengal, as a knowledge of three vernaculars
is required, viz., Hindi in Bihar, Bengali in Bengal
proper, and Uriya in Orissa. It is desirable that
officers employed on canals should be encouraged to
have a better knowledge of vernacular than they
possess at present, and also to study the history and
the religion, and the manners and customs of the
people.
In the matter’ of transfers, there is not much to
complain of in regard to the Public Works staff. It
The Hon.
Mr. W. A.
Infflie.
27 Dec., 1907.
31
The following is the present strength of the
Gazetted staff of the Public Works Department in
Bengal, as a whole :—
Chief Engineers . 2.
Superintending Engineers ... 8.(a).
Executive Engineers ... ... 27(6), (c).
Assistant Engineers ... ... 24(d).
Temporary Engineers ... ... 6.
The sanctioned cadre of the province provides for
30 Executive Engineers and 30 Assistant Engineers.
There are also 114 members of the Upper Sub-
ordinate grades on salaries ranging from Rs. 80 to Rs.
500 a month, whose appointments and promotions’, etc.,
are notified in the Gazette, and who, to a large extent,
hold the sub-divisions of the executive charges and are
in the position of Resident Engineers. The officers
of the Department have to design, construct, and
maintain all provincial or imperial works. The Super-
intending Engineers are also Inspecting Officers of
local works, mainly roads.
I control, as Chief Engineer, the working of the
Irrigation Branch of the Department. I also, as Sec-
retary, advise the Lieutenant-Governor on all matters
connected with canals, rivers, embankments, and
drainage. As Secretary in the Marine Department,
I have to deal with questions relating to the Bengal
Pilot Service, of which the Port Officer is the executive
head ; the Calcutta Port Trust; the various acts re -
lating to shipping, including appointments of Courts
of Enquiry in cases of casualties and the survey of
vessels, both sea-going and inland ; the administration
of the Steam-boilers and Prime-movers Act and the
Smoke Nuisances Act ; and the Petroleum Act. In
the Railway Branch I have to deal with Bengal Tram-
ways Act and with light railways and the Darjeeling-
Himalayan Railway. The Bengal Government has no
control over, or responsibility for, the larger railway
systems, but questions have to be dealt with in respect
to the acquisition of land for railway purposes. Also
in cases of projected lines the opinion of the l ocal
Government is given with respect to general align-
ment and to the provision of waterways and road
crossings.
The sanction of the Government of India is
required to rules made by the Local Governments
under the provisions of most of the Acts which we
administer in the Marine Department. As these Acts
have mostly a general application throughout India, it
is right that the rules should be considered by the
Government of India, and no relaxation is required.
There is a tendency in the direction of making
regulations which are too rigid and which do not
allow sufficiently for varying local conditions. For
instance, it is, in many parts of this province, hardly
possible to comply with the regulations in the Public
Works Code, on the subject of the provision of
residences for Government officers, and deviations
have to be referred to the Government of India and
are not always received sympathetically. The Local
Government might be given a wider discretion, and it
might be left to the Financial Department of the
Local Government to exercise a check on any ten-
dency to extravagance. Again, in respect to the
scheme now being carried through for housing Officers
in Calcutta, or for giving a house allowance in lieu of
a Government residence. It is a mistake to try to
make one set of hard and fast rules which shall be
applied to all Departments. The conditions as to
salaries and pensions vary materially, and I see no
reason why there should be absolute uniformity in
the matter of house allowances. The Indian En-
gineers who, as a rule, always preferred service in
Calcutta on account of social amenities and educa-
tional advantages, are distinct gainers, while the
European and Eurasian Engineers are distinctly worse
off than they were before the present scheme was
initiated. It would be better to let each department
or branch of the Service work out its own scheme to
suit its own conditions.
(a) Of these one is Sanitary Engineer, and four have
charge of Irrigation Circles which include buildings and
roads. Three have charge of buildings and roads only.
(h) Of these seven are Assistant Engineers with tem-
porary rank.
(o) Twenty-four imperial, three provincial.
(rf) Fourteen imperial, ten provincial.
A broader view might with advantage be taken in
discussing schemes suggested for irrigation and navi-
gation which, though desirable in themselves, do not
promise to yield a sufficient profit on the capital
outlay to bring them within the category of produc-
tive public works as defined in the Public Works
Code. More consideration should be given to the
value which such works have to the State, over and
above the direct cash return to Government. To
illustrate this, we have at present in this province a
scheme for an irrigation canal from the river Damn-
dar. The net revenue which can be safely reckoned
on is sufficient only to pay 4 per cent, on a capital of
30 lakhs. It does not appear probable that the capital
outlay would be less than 40 lakhs. The scheme has
therefore to be put on the shelf, as the conditions of
the country commanded, in regard to scarcity or
famine, are not such as would justify outlay on a
purely protective work. In the season just past, when
there was a great need of irrigation, sufficient water
was flowing uselessly down the Damudar to provide
for nearly 100,000 acres of rice, and if this could
have been supplied, it would without doubt have been
of great value to the country. In the case of schemes
such as this a grant-in-aid might be made from
ordinary revenues, whether provincial or imperial,
which would rank as deferred stock. The appropria-
tion from loan funds might then be permitted up to
that sum, on which the revenues of the project could
be depended on to give a return of at least 4 per
cent.
We have under consideration a scheme of consider-
able magnitude for a canal to allow inland steamers
and flats more direct access to Calcutta. It is
doubtful if the estimate can be kept within limits
which would admit of its being classed as a productive
public work, and the same question arises whether it
would not be proper to supply a certain amount of the
capital from ordinary revenues without seeking a
profit. In several European countries much money is
expended by the State in giving such facilities as a
measure of general administration, and without ex-
pectation of direct gain to the State revenues. It
seems to me that a departmental spirit and desire for
direct return on all outlay does here obstruct the
general consideration of what is a very important
matter of administration. Similarly, this Govern-
ment has asked for some time that a general enquiry
may be made into the possibilities of improving the
natural waterways. So far this has received no
apparent consideration by the Government of India.
The only Inspector-General with whom 1. am
brought in contact is the Inspector-General of Irri-
gation. His sphere should be to criticise and suggest
in regard to the technical or engineering aspect of a
scheme, and it is better that he should not intervene
in regard to the administrative aspect.
As far as the Public Works Department is con-
cerned, the existing regulations on the subject of
appeals are suitable.
The Government of India have recently suggested
that Superintending Engineers and Executive Engi-
neers should be given wider powers to enable them to
deal finally with details of designs and estimates of
works to which administrative sanction has been
previously given, and also in respect to making
contracts. I am in agreement with those proposals.
The tendency of the provincial Secretariat is not
unduly departmental or unduly dominated by con-
siderations of revenue. The provincial Government,
having a more intimate acquaintance with the
requirements of the case, takes a more general and
broader view than the Government of India.
In the administration of the canals our Executive
Officers are brought into constant contact with the
cultivators. The vernacular question is rather
difficult in Bengal, as a knowledge of three vernaculars
is required, viz., Hindi in Bihar, Bengali in Bengal
proper, and Uriya in Orissa. It is desirable that
officers employed on canals should be encouraged to
have a better knowledge of vernacular than they
possess at present, and also to study the history and
the religion, and the manners and customs of the
people.
In the matter’ of transfers, there is not much to
complain of in regard to the Public Works staff. It
The Hon.
Mr. W. A.
Infflie.
27 Dec., 1907.