DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0051
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
45
15370. Would there be any difficulty in getting
unofficial people to take that work up ?—There would
be no difficulty in Bengal ; I cannot speak for other
provinces.
15371. Are the other members interested in the
work ?—Yes.
15372. Are there any committees or sub-committees
in your municipality ?—Yes.
15373. Do they take an interest in the work ?—Yes;
a great interest; they always help in the administra-
tion of the municipality.
15374. {Chairman.) What are the population and
size of the municipality of which you are Chairman ?
—The population is about 25,000.
15375. Are the returns and statistics and general
work of the municipality in English ?—Yes.
15376. Is that a good thing At the present day it
is a good thing, no doubt, because every one knows
English—previously it was not so.
15377. Does that not increase the number of papers
and returns and correspondence ?—Yes, no doubt it
does.
{The witness withdrew.)
Rai Kisori Lal Goswami Bahadur was called and examined.
15378. {Chairman.) Where do you live?—At Ser-
ampur, in the district of Hooghly. I am a zamindar.
The people of this country do not want the con-
trolling power of the Government of India over the
provincial Governments to be in any way relaxed or
diminished, or the right of appeal to the Government
of India to be curtailed in any way. A strict central
control should be exercised in such a way as not to
unduly restrict the legitimate degree of local inde-
pendence of the provincial Governments.
The most important official in direct touch with the
people is the Collector, who, under existing arrange-
ments, has to perform the two-fold duties of Collector
and Magistrate. I beg to suggest that-
The Collector should be purely an Executive
Officer, directly responsible to the Government
or Board of Revenue, and he should actively
co-operate with the Heads of the special De-
partments under the provincial Government in
their respective work, and so far as his district
is concerned, he should have all the powers
now vested in the Divisional Commissioner.
The Divisional Commissioner, as an intermediate
authority between the provincial Government
or the Board of Revenue and the Collector,
is a superfluity. The Divisional Commissioner-
ships were created under Regulation I. of 1829.
The reasons given in that Regulation for the
creation of this intermediate supervising
authority do not now hold good.
The Collector should be an officer of at least 12
years’ standing, and should ordinarily hold
charge of a district for at least five years at a
stretch. At present many junior officers are
entrusted with the charge of districts and
transfers are much too frequent.
The Sub-Divisional Officer should be shorn of all
judicial powers and should be a purely
Executive Officer directly under the District
Officer. He should be an officer of at least six
years’ standing, and he should ordinarily hold
charge of a sub-division for at least five years
at a stretch.
The number of the members of the Board of
Revenue will, perhaps, have to be increased if
the Commissionerships are abolished, so as to
enable them to inspect the work of the District
Officers.
The Sub-Divisional Officers and District Magis-
trates should possess a sufficient knowledge of
the vernacular of the district in which they are
posted so as to be able to make themselves
quite intelligible to all classes of people who
can talk only in the vernacular of the locality
and to be able to understand what they say.
The examinations to test their proficiency in
the vernacular languages should be more
strictly conducted. They should at least be
able to understand petitions written in the
vernacular of the district when read to them.
The Executive Officers have sufficient opportunities
for personal contact with the people, but they are not
generally availed of in a manner which would conduce
to establish mutual confidence. The stiffness and
overbearing manners on the part of some officers
repel the people, and a want of knowledge of the
manners and social Aptitudes on both sides lead to
misunderstanding. Personally I have met with
courtesy and attention in all my interviews with the
officers, notably with the higher officers.
Some of the districts are much too large for one
District Officer, such as Midnapore. The areas of all
the districts ought to be revised in the light of the
population, area, and the accessibility from the head-
quarters to all parts of the district.
The official control over the municipalities and the
District Boards should be relaxed. The provision in
the Local Self-Government Act for the election of a
Chairman of the District Board is practically a dead
letter. The experiment of having non-official Chair-
men, in advanced districts, where capable persons can
be found, ought bo be tried. Section 124 of the Local
Self government Act lays down the circumstances
under which the District Magistrate or the Divisional
Commissioner can suspend the execution of any
order or resolution of a local authority. Unless the
injury, or annoyance, or breach of peace be of a
serious character, this power should not be exercised ;
cf. section 63 of the Bengal Municipal Act. The
power given both under the Local Self-Government
Act and the Bengal Municipal Act to the Divisional
Commissioner to modify the budget prepared by the
local bodies is much too wide. His powers of inter-
ference should be limited only to cases of contraven-
tion of any provisions of the aforesaid Acts or any
rule or bye-law having the force of law, or of any
specific direction or order of the Local Government.
I am in favour of the creation of Administrative
Councils to assist District Officers. It will be very
helpful to the officers to understand the popular views
and wishes in all important matters. The Adminis-
trative Council may be partly constituted on an
elective basis. I venture to suggest the following :—-
Constitution.
{a) There ought to be an electorate of land-
holders residing in the district having a
net annual income of Rs 3,000 or more a
year from landed properties ascertained
from Road Cess papers or otherwise. They
may return four members.
(6) The non official members of the District
Board—one member.
(c) The non-official members of all the Local
Boards of the district—one member.
{d) The non-official members of all the munici-
palities—two members.
(e) Three panchayats of the district to be
selected by the District Officer.
(/) The non-official members of the Provincial
Council residing in the district.
Any, or all, of the following officers may be asked
by the District Officer to attend the meetings of the
Council :—The Sub-Divisional Officers ; the Civil
Surgeon ; the Inspector of Schools or Deputy Inspec-
tor of Schools ; the District Engineer.
The District Officer may call meetings of the
Administrative Council as often as he may deem
necessary, to consider such subjects as he may think
proper. There should be at least two meetings of the
Council in each year. A requisition from half the
number of members of the Council to consider any
particular question at a meeting should be given effect
to by the District Officer. The District Officer should
not, without special sanction of the Local Govern-
ment, do a thing which is opposed to the views of two-
thirds of the members of the Council.
I think the Madras system of village administration
might be introduced in Bengal. Selected panchayats
Maharaja
Manindra
Chandra
Nandy.
2d Dec., 1907.
Rai Kisori
Lal Gosioami
Bahadur.
28 Dec., 1907.
45
15370. Would there be any difficulty in getting
unofficial people to take that work up ?—There would
be no difficulty in Bengal ; I cannot speak for other
provinces.
15371. Are the other members interested in the
work ?—Yes.
15372. Are there any committees or sub-committees
in your municipality ?—Yes.
15373. Do they take an interest in the work ?—Yes;
a great interest; they always help in the administra-
tion of the municipality.
15374. {Chairman.) What are the population and
size of the municipality of which you are Chairman ?
—The population is about 25,000.
15375. Are the returns and statistics and general
work of the municipality in English ?—Yes.
15376. Is that a good thing At the present day it
is a good thing, no doubt, because every one knows
English—previously it was not so.
15377. Does that not increase the number of papers
and returns and correspondence ?—Yes, no doubt it
does.
{The witness withdrew.)
Rai Kisori Lal Goswami Bahadur was called and examined.
15378. {Chairman.) Where do you live?—At Ser-
ampur, in the district of Hooghly. I am a zamindar.
The people of this country do not want the con-
trolling power of the Government of India over the
provincial Governments to be in any way relaxed or
diminished, or the right of appeal to the Government
of India to be curtailed in any way. A strict central
control should be exercised in such a way as not to
unduly restrict the legitimate degree of local inde-
pendence of the provincial Governments.
The most important official in direct touch with the
people is the Collector, who, under existing arrange-
ments, has to perform the two-fold duties of Collector
and Magistrate. I beg to suggest that-
The Collector should be purely an Executive
Officer, directly responsible to the Government
or Board of Revenue, and he should actively
co-operate with the Heads of the special De-
partments under the provincial Government in
their respective work, and so far as his district
is concerned, he should have all the powers
now vested in the Divisional Commissioner.
The Divisional Commissioner, as an intermediate
authority between the provincial Government
or the Board of Revenue and the Collector,
is a superfluity. The Divisional Commissioner-
ships were created under Regulation I. of 1829.
The reasons given in that Regulation for the
creation of this intermediate supervising
authority do not now hold good.
The Collector should be an officer of at least 12
years’ standing, and should ordinarily hold
charge of a district for at least five years at a
stretch. At present many junior officers are
entrusted with the charge of districts and
transfers are much too frequent.
The Sub-Divisional Officer should be shorn of all
judicial powers and should be a purely
Executive Officer directly under the District
Officer. He should be an officer of at least six
years’ standing, and he should ordinarily hold
charge of a sub-division for at least five years
at a stretch.
The number of the members of the Board of
Revenue will, perhaps, have to be increased if
the Commissionerships are abolished, so as to
enable them to inspect the work of the District
Officers.
The Sub-Divisional Officers and District Magis-
trates should possess a sufficient knowledge of
the vernacular of the district in which they are
posted so as to be able to make themselves
quite intelligible to all classes of people who
can talk only in the vernacular of the locality
and to be able to understand what they say.
The examinations to test their proficiency in
the vernacular languages should be more
strictly conducted. They should at least be
able to understand petitions written in the
vernacular of the district when read to them.
The Executive Officers have sufficient opportunities
for personal contact with the people, but they are not
generally availed of in a manner which would conduce
to establish mutual confidence. The stiffness and
overbearing manners on the part of some officers
repel the people, and a want of knowledge of the
manners and social Aptitudes on both sides lead to
misunderstanding. Personally I have met with
courtesy and attention in all my interviews with the
officers, notably with the higher officers.
Some of the districts are much too large for one
District Officer, such as Midnapore. The areas of all
the districts ought to be revised in the light of the
population, area, and the accessibility from the head-
quarters to all parts of the district.
The official control over the municipalities and the
District Boards should be relaxed. The provision in
the Local Self-Government Act for the election of a
Chairman of the District Board is practically a dead
letter. The experiment of having non-official Chair-
men, in advanced districts, where capable persons can
be found, ought bo be tried. Section 124 of the Local
Self government Act lays down the circumstances
under which the District Magistrate or the Divisional
Commissioner can suspend the execution of any
order or resolution of a local authority. Unless the
injury, or annoyance, or breach of peace be of a
serious character, this power should not be exercised ;
cf. section 63 of the Bengal Municipal Act. The
power given both under the Local Self-Government
Act and the Bengal Municipal Act to the Divisional
Commissioner to modify the budget prepared by the
local bodies is much too wide. His powers of inter-
ference should be limited only to cases of contraven-
tion of any provisions of the aforesaid Acts or any
rule or bye-law having the force of law, or of any
specific direction or order of the Local Government.
I am in favour of the creation of Administrative
Councils to assist District Officers. It will be very
helpful to the officers to understand the popular views
and wishes in all important matters. The Adminis-
trative Council may be partly constituted on an
elective basis. I venture to suggest the following :—-
Constitution.
{a) There ought to be an electorate of land-
holders residing in the district having a
net annual income of Rs 3,000 or more a
year from landed properties ascertained
from Road Cess papers or otherwise. They
may return four members.
(6) The non official members of the District
Board—one member.
(c) The non-official members of all the Local
Boards of the district—one member.
{d) The non-official members of all the munici-
palities—two members.
(e) Three panchayats of the district to be
selected by the District Officer.
(/) The non-official members of the Provincial
Council residing in the district.
Any, or all, of the following officers may be asked
by the District Officer to attend the meetings of the
Council :—The Sub-Divisional Officers ; the Civil
Surgeon ; the Inspector of Schools or Deputy Inspec-
tor of Schools ; the District Engineer.
The District Officer may call meetings of the
Administrative Council as often as he may deem
necessary, to consider such subjects as he may think
proper. There should be at least two meetings of the
Council in each year. A requisition from half the
number of members of the Council to consider any
particular question at a meeting should be given effect
to by the District Officer. The District Officer should
not, without special sanction of the Local Govern-
ment, do a thing which is opposed to the views of two-
thirds of the members of the Council.
I think the Madras system of village administration
might be introduced in Bengal. Selected panchayats
Maharaja
Manindra
Chandra
Nandy.
2d Dec., 1907.
Rai Kisori
Lal Gosioami
Bahadur.
28 Dec., 1907.