DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0076
70
MINUTES or evidence:
Balm
Srigopal
Bhattachar-
jee.
30 Dec., 1907.
owing, to their detached attitude, their judgment is not
intiuenced by the prepossessions which local conditions
are apt to create. But, while viewing matters from
this departmental standpoint, they fail to observe them
in their true local perspective. This drawback tends,
at times, to make their decisions too impersonal, and
also occasionally to give too much importance to con-
siderations of revenue. But the district experience of
the Secretaries operates as a corrective of the draw-
back, and the efficacy of this corrective force depends
upon the measure in which these officials impress their
personality upon the work of the general establishment.
Though the tours afford opportunities for personal
contact with the people, the overworked District Officer
cannot utilise them to the best advantage. In order to
give this element of personal contact the place it
deserves, as a means of improving the relations between
the rulers and the ruled, the Collector should be allowed
to delegate a considerable part of his less important
duties to a gazetted subordinate who should have
similar status and position to the Commissioner’s
personal assistant. Some of the inspection work, which
now takes up so much of the Collector’s time, may
also be curtailed or delegated with advantage. Tours
should be less hurried than they are now, so that, with
more leisure at his disposal, the District Officer may
understand his people better and that the latter may
properly appreciate the personal qualities of the Head
of their district. Many officers know some of the
vernaculars fairly well. I think that a higher standard
of knowledge of the written and colloquial vernaculars
should be introduced.
Transfers used, in some former years, to be rather
frequent. I cannot suggest any method for their
reduction. In my own Service, they seem to have, of
late years, become less frequent.
I have not much faith in the utility of formal
Advisory or Administrative Councils. A tactful and
sympathetic Collector or Commissioner can easily
choose the right advisers and command their loyal
advice and assistance. The creation of formal Councils
will have certain drawbacks which may detract ma-
terially from their utility. In the District Boards the
Collector has a Council which he can utilise for advisory
purposes, and he may seek the advise of other residents
not belonging to these Boards.
I would not subordinate the smaller municipalities
to the District Boards.
I think that earnest and sustained efforts should be
made to increase the powers of the village communities.
Care should be taken to introduce the reform only in
the more advanced villages where there will be com-
paratively little risk of abuse.
16064. You do not share the views of the last
witness that the powers of the Divisional Com-
missioners and the Collectors of Districts are already
too large ?—I think that they might be increased.
16065. You say the tours of District Officers are apt
to be rather hurried ?—The District Officer has so
many duties at headquarters to attend to that he has
to return now and then during his tour. In former
years tours used to be more prolonged, and an attempt
ought to be made to go back to that practice.
16066. Then it is not that the officer wishes to get
through his touring more quickly, but that he is
compelled to cut it short ?—He is ; that is why I sug-
gest a delegation of some of his headquarters duties to
an assistant at headquarters.
16067. You are not very much in favour of formal
Advisory Councils, but think the present system of
informal consultations preferable ?—Yes, and if any
reform is wanted we might take steps to improve the
present system rather than introduce a new system of
formal Councils.
16068. Would an improvement of the present system,
be obtained by an instruction to all District Officers
of whatever grade to constantly consult local opinion ?
—Yes, in such a way that it will inspire confidence in
the people and encourage them to be candid with the
District Officers.
16069. With regard to village communities, do you
think something might be done in the direction of
giving them slightly larger powers ?—Yes.
16070. In the way of forming a village Bench for
judicial purposes?—To a very limited extent for
judicial purposes—mainly for the purposes of sanita-
tion and keeping the roads in proper condition ; for
municipal rather’ than judicial purposes.
16071. (Mr. Meyer.) Each Commissioner in Bengal
has a Deputy Collector as his personal assistant ?—-Yes.
16072. What are the duties of a personal assistant ?
—He relieves the Commissioner of a large mass of
routine work, and, subject to the orders and approval
of the Commissioner, he carries out much of the Com-
missioner’s duties in less important matters which
form a considerable portion of the office work.
16073. Does he pass orders on behalf of the Com-
missioner?—Not in important cases, but in routine
cases he passes orders, and there are certain classes of
cases which he submits to the Commissioner after
disposing of them.
16074. Do you mean cases such as sanction to expen-
diture?—No ; he does not dispose of those matters ;
he submits the matter to the Commissioner in every
case where expenditure is concerned.
16075. What are the sort of cases to which you
refer ?—There is a long list of them.
16076. Supposing the Commissioner’s sanction was
necessary to the spending of one hundred rupees,
would he send that to him ?—That is the practice.
16077. It was suggested at Madras that the limits of
income-tax assessment might be raised ; what are they
in Bengal ; who makes the original assessment ?—
Myself and my Collector. Of course, the lists are
submitted by assessors. They are non-gazetted officers
on pay ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 250 in Calcutta
and from Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 in mufassal districts.
16078. They are practically clerks?—-They are not
exactly clerks, because they are treated as belonging to
a class midway between the gazetted and ministerial
classes.
16079. Are they permanent men or are they changed
from year to year ?—They are permanent men, but
they are transferred from district to district at times.
Nowadays assessors are distributed according to
divisions, and a certain number are assigned to each
division, and the Commissioner arranges the length of
time they shall spend in a district.
16080. Who makes the assessment?—The deputy-
Collector in cases where the income is less than
Rs. 10,000 and the Collector in other cases.
16081. Does any case have to go to the Commis-
sioner ?—No, not for assessment.
16082. Have you a Deputy Collector in each district
in charge of income-tax work ?—The Deputy Collector
who is in charge of excise is also in charge of income-
tax.
16083. But are you not doing away with the Excise
Deputy Collector class and substituting special excise
superintendents?—The scheme, I understand, has not
been introduced into Bengal.
16084. Are you speaking now of the headquarters
sub-division ?—The Deputy Collector who is in charge
of excise and income-tax in the district is also in charge
of the sub-divisional area, but he is to some extent
assisted by the Sub-Divisional Officer in regard to the
assessment of markets and big places lying within a
sub-division.
16085. But as regards an outlying sub-division the
assessment is made by the Income-Tax Deputy Collec-
tor, and not primarily by the Sub-Divisional Officer ?
—Except in markets, where the Sub-Divisional Officer
makes it, and they are finally passed by the Deputy
Collector.
16086. Should not income-tax assessment be made
primarily by the local officer in charge of the sub-
division who ought to know the circumstances of the
people ?—Yes, when the Sub-Divisional Officer has
sufficient leisure for the purpose, that scheme might
well be tried, but of course the advantage of having
the work in charge of one officer for a district is that
experience of other parts of tie district tends to intro-
duce a sort of uniformity.
16087. Taking your district administration, the
Collector is in charge of the headquarters sub-division ?
—Yes.
16088. How many Deputy Collectors are there gene-
rally ?—There are different numbers fixed for different
districts ; there are districts of four classes.
MINUTES or evidence:
Balm
Srigopal
Bhattachar-
jee.
30 Dec., 1907.
owing, to their detached attitude, their judgment is not
intiuenced by the prepossessions which local conditions
are apt to create. But, while viewing matters from
this departmental standpoint, they fail to observe them
in their true local perspective. This drawback tends,
at times, to make their decisions too impersonal, and
also occasionally to give too much importance to con-
siderations of revenue. But the district experience of
the Secretaries operates as a corrective of the draw-
back, and the efficacy of this corrective force depends
upon the measure in which these officials impress their
personality upon the work of the general establishment.
Though the tours afford opportunities for personal
contact with the people, the overworked District Officer
cannot utilise them to the best advantage. In order to
give this element of personal contact the place it
deserves, as a means of improving the relations between
the rulers and the ruled, the Collector should be allowed
to delegate a considerable part of his less important
duties to a gazetted subordinate who should have
similar status and position to the Commissioner’s
personal assistant. Some of the inspection work, which
now takes up so much of the Collector’s time, may
also be curtailed or delegated with advantage. Tours
should be less hurried than they are now, so that, with
more leisure at his disposal, the District Officer may
understand his people better and that the latter may
properly appreciate the personal qualities of the Head
of their district. Many officers know some of the
vernaculars fairly well. I think that a higher standard
of knowledge of the written and colloquial vernaculars
should be introduced.
Transfers used, in some former years, to be rather
frequent. I cannot suggest any method for their
reduction. In my own Service, they seem to have, of
late years, become less frequent.
I have not much faith in the utility of formal
Advisory or Administrative Councils. A tactful and
sympathetic Collector or Commissioner can easily
choose the right advisers and command their loyal
advice and assistance. The creation of formal Councils
will have certain drawbacks which may detract ma-
terially from their utility. In the District Boards the
Collector has a Council which he can utilise for advisory
purposes, and he may seek the advise of other residents
not belonging to these Boards.
I would not subordinate the smaller municipalities
to the District Boards.
I think that earnest and sustained efforts should be
made to increase the powers of the village communities.
Care should be taken to introduce the reform only in
the more advanced villages where there will be com-
paratively little risk of abuse.
16064. You do not share the views of the last
witness that the powers of the Divisional Com-
missioners and the Collectors of Districts are already
too large ?—I think that they might be increased.
16065. You say the tours of District Officers are apt
to be rather hurried ?—The District Officer has so
many duties at headquarters to attend to that he has
to return now and then during his tour. In former
years tours used to be more prolonged, and an attempt
ought to be made to go back to that practice.
16066. Then it is not that the officer wishes to get
through his touring more quickly, but that he is
compelled to cut it short ?—He is ; that is why I sug-
gest a delegation of some of his headquarters duties to
an assistant at headquarters.
16067. You are not very much in favour of formal
Advisory Councils, but think the present system of
informal consultations preferable ?—Yes, and if any
reform is wanted we might take steps to improve the
present system rather than introduce a new system of
formal Councils.
16068. Would an improvement of the present system,
be obtained by an instruction to all District Officers
of whatever grade to constantly consult local opinion ?
—Yes, in such a way that it will inspire confidence in
the people and encourage them to be candid with the
District Officers.
16069. With regard to village communities, do you
think something might be done in the direction of
giving them slightly larger powers ?—Yes.
16070. In the way of forming a village Bench for
judicial purposes?—To a very limited extent for
judicial purposes—mainly for the purposes of sanita-
tion and keeping the roads in proper condition ; for
municipal rather’ than judicial purposes.
16071. (Mr. Meyer.) Each Commissioner in Bengal
has a Deputy Collector as his personal assistant ?—-Yes.
16072. What are the duties of a personal assistant ?
—He relieves the Commissioner of a large mass of
routine work, and, subject to the orders and approval
of the Commissioner, he carries out much of the Com-
missioner’s duties in less important matters which
form a considerable portion of the office work.
16073. Does he pass orders on behalf of the Com-
missioner?—Not in important cases, but in routine
cases he passes orders, and there are certain classes of
cases which he submits to the Commissioner after
disposing of them.
16074. Do you mean cases such as sanction to expen-
diture?—No ; he does not dispose of those matters ;
he submits the matter to the Commissioner in every
case where expenditure is concerned.
16075. What are the sort of cases to which you
refer ?—There is a long list of them.
16076. Supposing the Commissioner’s sanction was
necessary to the spending of one hundred rupees,
would he send that to him ?—That is the practice.
16077. It was suggested at Madras that the limits of
income-tax assessment might be raised ; what are they
in Bengal ; who makes the original assessment ?—
Myself and my Collector. Of course, the lists are
submitted by assessors. They are non-gazetted officers
on pay ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 250 in Calcutta
and from Rs. 80 to Rs. 100 in mufassal districts.
16078. They are practically clerks?—-They are not
exactly clerks, because they are treated as belonging to
a class midway between the gazetted and ministerial
classes.
16079. Are they permanent men or are they changed
from year to year ?—They are permanent men, but
they are transferred from district to district at times.
Nowadays assessors are distributed according to
divisions, and a certain number are assigned to each
division, and the Commissioner arranges the length of
time they shall spend in a district.
16080. Who makes the assessment?—The deputy-
Collector in cases where the income is less than
Rs. 10,000 and the Collector in other cases.
16081. Does any case have to go to the Commis-
sioner ?—No, not for assessment.
16082. Have you a Deputy Collector in each district
in charge of income-tax work ?—The Deputy Collector
who is in charge of excise is also in charge of income-
tax.
16083. But are you not doing away with the Excise
Deputy Collector class and substituting special excise
superintendents?—The scheme, I understand, has not
been introduced into Bengal.
16084. Are you speaking now of the headquarters
sub-division ?—The Deputy Collector who is in charge
of excise and income-tax in the district is also in charge
of the sub-divisional area, but he is to some extent
assisted by the Sub-Divisional Officer in regard to the
assessment of markets and big places lying within a
sub-division.
16085. But as regards an outlying sub-division the
assessment is made by the Income-Tax Deputy Collec-
tor, and not primarily by the Sub-Divisional Officer ?
—Except in markets, where the Sub-Divisional Officer
makes it, and they are finally passed by the Deputy
Collector.
16086. Should not income-tax assessment be made
primarily by the local officer in charge of the sub-
division who ought to know the circumstances of the
people ?—Yes, when the Sub-Divisional Officer has
sufficient leisure for the purpose, that scheme might
well be tried, but of course the advantage of having
the work in charge of one officer for a district is that
experience of other parts of tie district tends to intro-
duce a sort of uniformity.
16087. Taking your district administration, the
Collector is in charge of the headquarters sub-division ?
—Yes.
16088. How many Deputy Collectors are there gene-
rally ?—There are different numbers fixed for different
districts ; there are districts of four classes.