DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0137
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
131
dispose of smaller classes of money suits. They
should have powers to impose fines and decree damages
and suits—the powers to be exercised summarily, the
rural Benches and Courts to recover no stamp duty
for such matters, but expenses entailed to be met and
paid for by the District Officer from the district funds
at his disposal. Appeals from these decisions should
be to Sub-Divisional Courts and from them to the
District Courts.
The village panchayat should have the power to im-
pose chaukidari tax, drainage and sanitary taxes and
water and school taxes, and they should administer the
funds under the control and subject to the approval of
the District Advisory Council. No cash will be kept
or handled by them, but all sums so recovered will be
sent to the treasury which will bank with them. The
panchayat will also form Credit Societies, and that
money will be entirely at their disposal with the neces-
sary control. It may also be supplemented from time
to time by the funds at the disposal of the District
Council. The Local Boards, unions, and rural munici-
palities should be abolished or merged into the District
Council and chaukidari union panchayat.
I would further remove the police investigation
centres and convert them into petty Courts where
complaints can be lodged and judicially disposed of.
The men in charge of these petty Courts should be
paid servants and have higher powers than the village
Courts. They should be allowed to dispose of petty
criminal cases and money and rent-suits which are now
tried summarily. They should be under the control
of the Sub-Divisional Officers and the District Officers.
Appeals from their decisions would be to Sub-Divi-
sional Courts in the first instance, and then to the
District Courts. Muktears may be permitted to prac-
tice in these Courts. The Sub-Divisional Appellate
Courts should be associated with a lawyer in disposing
of such matters. The police being relieved of the
duties of investigation will be kept in reserve in each
centre for dispersing unlawful assemblies, pursuing
bad characters, dacoits, robbers, etc., and doing escort
duties. For such purposes they will be under the
Magistrate at the headquarters of a sub-division or
the district. For other departmental purposes and
discipline they will be under the control of the Super-
intendent of Police under the general control of the
District Officer. A police force of this description
should not be removed from the circle where they are
placed without the sanction of the Magistrate.
17684. I gather that you think that the power of
appeal at present goes too far. How far do you think
it ought to go ?—My suggestion has been that if there
are two Courts that are of one opinion there need not
be any further appeal ; but I also suggest that those
Appeal Courts might have the power of revising their
own orders in case of any error or mistake which might
subsequently come to their notice.
17685. You would like to see the local panchayat
invested with power to try petty criminal and civil
cases ; would a class of people be found in a village to
sit on such a committee?—Yes. I have introduced
the chaukidari system in my own district, and I have
had experience of it, and I find the villagers themselves
are trying cases without our knowledge and without
any control ; what I want is that they should be con-
trolled and given a legal status.
17686. Do your duties as Chairman of the District
Board take up much of your time?—To a certain
extent they do undoubtedly. I suppose they take me
a full hour a day for the office work alone.
17687. Could you, as a rule, find a native gentle-
man, or at all events on unofficial gentleman, who
would be likely to have the universal knowledge of the
district possessed by the Collector ?—I am afraid not.
17688. For that reason would you maintain the
present system ?—Yes.
17689. (Mr. Dutt ) You make a proposal to abolish
District Boards, Local Boards, municipalities and
village unions, and to merge them all into two bodies,
namely, the District Council and the village council ?—
Yes.
17690. You would give extensive powers to village
councils, thoroughly organising them and enlarging
their powers, and giving them the money that they get
from the villages to spend in the villages ; you would
also give them petty civil and criminal powers ?—Yes.
17691. (Sir Steyning Edgerley.) Your scheme really
is to do away with all municipalities and District
Boards, and to make them all into one District Council
with only the village council below and with the
Collector as Chairman ? What would be the size of
the Council ?—I should fix it according to the size of
the district; for instance, I have now 200 unions in
my district; out of these I should select, say, half for
the District Council.
17692. You mean that you would have a hundred
members?—Yes. They would meet once a month
and do the executive work of the district as the
District Board is doing now, only with enlarged
powers.
17693. Have you ever seen any body of that size
working in India ? - No, but I think it is possible ; it
could be worked. The number is large, but it could
be left to Government to be determined according to
the requirement of each District and the choice of the
people.
17694. (Chairman.) Have you yourself a good know-
ledge of the vernacular ?—Of my own mother tongue,
Hindustani, certainly. I can also speak Bengali.
17695. Therefore an Indian, as well as a European,
Commissioner or Collector might very easily have
difficulties with regard to the vernacular ?—I have
never seen yet any District Officer, whether a European
or a native of India, have any difficulty.
(The witness withdrew.)
Mr. F. W. Duke was called and examined.
17696. (Chairman.) What is your present position ?
—I am Officiating Commissioner of Orissa and
Superintendent of the Tributary Mahals. During
the last three years I have acted as Commissioner in
three divisions and also as Additional Commissioner
of Patna.
The Orissa Division differs from others in the
circumstance that the three districts of Cuttack, Puri
and Balasore are for the most part temporarily settled,
that the small jungle district of Angul is governed
under a Regulation of its own, while Sambalpur added
to the division in 1905, is still administered under the
Central Provinces Laws and Regulations. The Com-
missioner of Orissa as Superintendent of the Tributary
Mahals has also the political superintendence of
24 Feudatory States, of which 7 were added from the
Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur in 1905, 10 of
them being directly administered by Government on
account of minority and other reasons. The States
are in direct charge of a Political Agent, who stands
to the Superintendent in much the same relation as
Collectors to their Commissioners.
A more complete separation than at present exists
might be effected between the imperial and provincial
33263
finances, although I am unable to suggest the exact
measures. They ought, however, to be in the direction
of interesting the Local Government in the improve-
ment of those branches of the revenue which are
improvable by its own action, and this can only be
attained by leaving to it the whole or at any rate the
greater part of the increase under the particular heads.
I may instance a rule, which has now been corrected,
but which for several years created great obstacles to
the outlay of money on agricultural improvements by
Local Governments. It was that three-fourths of the
increased revenue should go to the Government of
India. Unless, therefore, the increase of revenue
from any improvement were at least four times as
great as the Government rate of interest, a Local
Government would lose by investing money in it. It
is of course obvious that many excellent and much
needed agricultural improvements would not return
14 per cent. Unless they did, Local Governments had
to face a financial loss in supporting them. The
Government of India might naturally enough consider
itself entitled to three-fourths of the natural and
spontaneous increase of land revenue, but increase of
revenue obtained by direct money outlay would surely
R 2
Mr. A.
Ahmad.
3 Jan., 1908<>
Mr. F. IF.
Duke.
3 Jan., 1908.
131
dispose of smaller classes of money suits. They
should have powers to impose fines and decree damages
and suits—the powers to be exercised summarily, the
rural Benches and Courts to recover no stamp duty
for such matters, but expenses entailed to be met and
paid for by the District Officer from the district funds
at his disposal. Appeals from these decisions should
be to Sub-Divisional Courts and from them to the
District Courts.
The village panchayat should have the power to im-
pose chaukidari tax, drainage and sanitary taxes and
water and school taxes, and they should administer the
funds under the control and subject to the approval of
the District Advisory Council. No cash will be kept
or handled by them, but all sums so recovered will be
sent to the treasury which will bank with them. The
panchayat will also form Credit Societies, and that
money will be entirely at their disposal with the neces-
sary control. It may also be supplemented from time
to time by the funds at the disposal of the District
Council. The Local Boards, unions, and rural munici-
palities should be abolished or merged into the District
Council and chaukidari union panchayat.
I would further remove the police investigation
centres and convert them into petty Courts where
complaints can be lodged and judicially disposed of.
The men in charge of these petty Courts should be
paid servants and have higher powers than the village
Courts. They should be allowed to dispose of petty
criminal cases and money and rent-suits which are now
tried summarily. They should be under the control
of the Sub-Divisional Officers and the District Officers.
Appeals from their decisions would be to Sub-Divi-
sional Courts in the first instance, and then to the
District Courts. Muktears may be permitted to prac-
tice in these Courts. The Sub-Divisional Appellate
Courts should be associated with a lawyer in disposing
of such matters. The police being relieved of the
duties of investigation will be kept in reserve in each
centre for dispersing unlawful assemblies, pursuing
bad characters, dacoits, robbers, etc., and doing escort
duties. For such purposes they will be under the
Magistrate at the headquarters of a sub-division or
the district. For other departmental purposes and
discipline they will be under the control of the Super-
intendent of Police under the general control of the
District Officer. A police force of this description
should not be removed from the circle where they are
placed without the sanction of the Magistrate.
17684. I gather that you think that the power of
appeal at present goes too far. How far do you think
it ought to go ?—My suggestion has been that if there
are two Courts that are of one opinion there need not
be any further appeal ; but I also suggest that those
Appeal Courts might have the power of revising their
own orders in case of any error or mistake which might
subsequently come to their notice.
17685. You would like to see the local panchayat
invested with power to try petty criminal and civil
cases ; would a class of people be found in a village to
sit on such a committee?—Yes. I have introduced
the chaukidari system in my own district, and I have
had experience of it, and I find the villagers themselves
are trying cases without our knowledge and without
any control ; what I want is that they should be con-
trolled and given a legal status.
17686. Do your duties as Chairman of the District
Board take up much of your time?—To a certain
extent they do undoubtedly. I suppose they take me
a full hour a day for the office work alone.
17687. Could you, as a rule, find a native gentle-
man, or at all events on unofficial gentleman, who
would be likely to have the universal knowledge of the
district possessed by the Collector ?—I am afraid not.
17688. For that reason would you maintain the
present system ?—Yes.
17689. (Mr. Dutt ) You make a proposal to abolish
District Boards, Local Boards, municipalities and
village unions, and to merge them all into two bodies,
namely, the District Council and the village council ?—
Yes.
17690. You would give extensive powers to village
councils, thoroughly organising them and enlarging
their powers, and giving them the money that they get
from the villages to spend in the villages ; you would
also give them petty civil and criminal powers ?—Yes.
17691. (Sir Steyning Edgerley.) Your scheme really
is to do away with all municipalities and District
Boards, and to make them all into one District Council
with only the village council below and with the
Collector as Chairman ? What would be the size of
the Council ?—I should fix it according to the size of
the district; for instance, I have now 200 unions in
my district; out of these I should select, say, half for
the District Council.
17692. You mean that you would have a hundred
members?—Yes. They would meet once a month
and do the executive work of the district as the
District Board is doing now, only with enlarged
powers.
17693. Have you ever seen any body of that size
working in India ? - No, but I think it is possible ; it
could be worked. The number is large, but it could
be left to Government to be determined according to
the requirement of each District and the choice of the
people.
17694. (Chairman.) Have you yourself a good know-
ledge of the vernacular ?—Of my own mother tongue,
Hindustani, certainly. I can also speak Bengali.
17695. Therefore an Indian, as well as a European,
Commissioner or Collector might very easily have
difficulties with regard to the vernacular ?—I have
never seen yet any District Officer, whether a European
or a native of India, have any difficulty.
(The witness withdrew.)
Mr. F. W. Duke was called and examined.
17696. (Chairman.) What is your present position ?
—I am Officiating Commissioner of Orissa and
Superintendent of the Tributary Mahals. During
the last three years I have acted as Commissioner in
three divisions and also as Additional Commissioner
of Patna.
The Orissa Division differs from others in the
circumstance that the three districts of Cuttack, Puri
and Balasore are for the most part temporarily settled,
that the small jungle district of Angul is governed
under a Regulation of its own, while Sambalpur added
to the division in 1905, is still administered under the
Central Provinces Laws and Regulations. The Com-
missioner of Orissa as Superintendent of the Tributary
Mahals has also the political superintendence of
24 Feudatory States, of which 7 were added from the
Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur in 1905, 10 of
them being directly administered by Government on
account of minority and other reasons. The States
are in direct charge of a Political Agent, who stands
to the Superintendent in much the same relation as
Collectors to their Commissioners.
A more complete separation than at present exists
might be effected between the imperial and provincial
33263
finances, although I am unable to suggest the exact
measures. They ought, however, to be in the direction
of interesting the Local Government in the improve-
ment of those branches of the revenue which are
improvable by its own action, and this can only be
attained by leaving to it the whole or at any rate the
greater part of the increase under the particular heads.
I may instance a rule, which has now been corrected,
but which for several years created great obstacles to
the outlay of money on agricultural improvements by
Local Governments. It was that three-fourths of the
increased revenue should go to the Government of
India. Unless, therefore, the increase of revenue
from any improvement were at least four times as
great as the Government rate of interest, a Local
Government would lose by investing money in it. It
is of course obvious that many excellent and much
needed agricultural improvements would not return
14 per cent. Unless they did, Local Governments had
to face a financial loss in supporting them. The
Government of India might naturally enough consider
itself entitled to three-fourths of the natural and
spontaneous increase of land revenue, but increase of
revenue obtained by direct money outlay would surely
R 2
Mr. A.
Ahmad.
3 Jan., 1908<>
Mr. F. IF.
Duke.
3 Jan., 1908.