DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0150
144
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE :
The 17910. Whatever happens, you think that a Collector
Maharaja should be immediately concerned in such matters ?—
Bahadur oj Yes, in any case the Collector must be cognisant of
JJarohanga. happens and be in touch -with the whole thing.
4 Jan., 1908. 17911. Are you in favour of having a separate
- officer in charge of the headquarters sub-division ?—■
Yes.
17912. (Sir Steyning Edgerley.) With regard to your
suggestion of an Administrative Council for the Com-
missioners, the jurisdiction of this Council would, I
understand, extend over all matters which are at
present within the scope of District Boards and muni-
cipalities. That is to say, you would give the people
another stage in managing their own affairs, and they
would share the outside control which is at present
exercised by the Commissioner alone ?—Yes.
17913. Supposing you could find a district in which
it would be possible to have non-official Chairmen of
municipalities and non-official Chairmen of District
Boards, would you be prepared to put the outside
control in the hands of an Administrative Council
under the presidency of the Collector ?—I do not
think it would do any harm—the Collector must
remain the chief.
17914. Would you say, within the limits of your
experience, that there has been a satisfactory growth
in local self-government ?—I think the people would
take more interest in matters now. Municipalities
have made more progress than District Boards for the
reason that there are more local men upon munici-
palities. Educated men congregate more in the towns.
17915. And the municipality is more interesting to
them, and therefore they have gradually learnt to take
more interest in it ?—Yes, I think that is so ; with
regard to District Boards the members come from a
distance, they have no responsibility, and therefore do
not take much interest in the proceedings.
17916. But you say that it would be very difficult
to find a non-official Chairman who would know a
district as well as the Collector ?—I do not mean to
say that he would not know it, but it would be difficult
to find a non-official Chairman who would be able to
spare the time.
17917. Are there not gentlemen of means who live
all their lives in a district ?—Yes, but it would be a
trouble to find anyone who would do it unpaid. Some
of them might.
17918. How long does a Collector stay in a district ?
—Sometimes three years, sometimes less.
17919. Taking a man of intelligence who has lived
say 40 years in a district, would he not know more of
that district than any Collector?—I think not, be-
cause he is not able to go about it so much. There
are roads to be made and supervision and so on, so
that he would not care to find the time unless he had
some personal interest in a particular road which was
near his own house.
(The witness withdrew.)
Sir C. G. H.
Allen.
4 Jan., 1908.
Sir Charles Cl. H. Allen was called and examined.
17920. (Chairman.) You are Chairman of the Cal-
cutta Corporation?—Yes. I am a member of the
Indian Civil Service. I was for seven years engaged
in settlement, and for another year as Director of
Land Records.
Executive Officers have too much work to do to
come into sufficient personal contact with the people.
The main cause of this failure is that the administra-
tion generally is under-manned. There is not a
sufficient number of officers to supply Joint-Magis-
trates, Assistant Magistrates and Deputy Magistrates
where they are needed, and the result is that the
District Officer is generally overburdened with work.
Recruiting has not kept pace with the increased
requirements which are occasioned by the greater
complexity of the work which has led to specialisation,
and to the placing of a number of officers on special
duty, and the necessity of manning the Settlement
Department. While recruiting has failed to keep pace
with requirements for additional men for this purpose,
the volume of work in the districts has undoubtedly
increased, with the result that men are overworked to
breaking point. In many instances reforms, which are
in themselves advisable, have been vetoed for the
reason that they will impose additional labour upon
already overworked District Officers. A District
Officer of to-day spends far too much of his time in
writing reports and other routine work, while at the
same time a higher standard of inspection is insisted
upon, with the result that his opportunities for coming
into personal contact with the people of his district are
reduced. No business firm would attempt to carry on
the administration with the small amount of European
supervision which is apparently considered sufficient
by the Government, and this is evident from the con-
sideration of the number of Europeans employed in
any large Calcutta business. A comparison of the
number of Civilians employed in the districts 20 or 25
years ago, with the present establishment, will show
that there were more senior Joint-Magistrates and far
more Civilian Sub-Divisional Officers than there are
now, and the administration must consequently have
deteriorated within this period. One of the prominent
causes of this deterioration is that officers are now so
rapidly promoted that they get insufficient experience
and training during the early years of their service.
As regards districts, there are some which are too
large, e.g., Midnapore, but the sub-divisional arrange-
ment requires remodelling. With the exception of a
few metropolitan districts and the Sonthal Parganas,
sub-divisions have never been scientifically mapped
out throughout the province, and in almost all the
districts the work requires revision. There are 100
sub-divisions in Bengal, the average population being
504,000 and the average area 1170 square miles. The
number of sub-divisions should be nearly doubled, the
unit aimed at being 600 square miles, and I look upon
this as the most important direction in which decentra-
lization can be usefully advanced. Unless a sub-
division is of manageable size, so that a Sub-Divisional
officer can thoroughly know it from end to end, the
police and the tyrannical zamindar have much too
much their own way. An officer should always be
placed in charge of the Sadar sub-division, which, for
want of a Sadar Sub-divisional Officer, is too often
neglected.
Selection should play a larger part in the making of
appointments than at present, and the principle should
be introduced at a much earlier stage of an officer’s
career. At present officers are promoted by seniority
up to the first grade of Collector, and it is only when
Commissioners are appointed that the principle of
selection is for the first time introduced. A n officer
who has received his promotion in regular course for
25 years or so by seniority, is naturally chagrined if
he is for the first time passed over for promotion to a
Commissionership. Promotion by selection, within
certain limits of seniority, should be introduced from
the outset of an officer’s career, and officers should be
selected even for sub-divisions, and certainly to hold
charge of districts.
Frequent transfers are a notorious evil, and they
may be avoided to some extent in the higher posts, if
the pay of these is graded as in the case of the
Inspector-General of Police. The increase of the
staff: will also reduce the number of transfers. It
should be an understood thing that a District Officer
must remain in a district for at least three years, and
in appointing an officer newly to a district, preference
should be given to a man who has recently returned
from leave, and is therefore likely to remain in the
district. Officers should also be discouraged from
taking leave so as to necessitate a transfer within
this period. Less attention should also be paid to the
caprices of individual officers who may wish for a
transfer. Moreover, when an appointment has been
made to an important post, the officer selected for
it should not be transferred until he had held it for
three years, merely in order that he may take up a
more lucrative post. In fact, less consideration should
be paid to the claims of the individual, and more to
the exigencies of the work.
So far as the Calcutta Corporation is concerned,,
the measure of control exercised by the Government
is not excessive, and in my experience it has been
very considerately exercised. Something might be
done to make the Commissioners’ duties more attrac-
tive by transferring to them certain functions which
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE :
The 17910. Whatever happens, you think that a Collector
Maharaja should be immediately concerned in such matters ?—
Bahadur oj Yes, in any case the Collector must be cognisant of
JJarohanga. happens and be in touch -with the whole thing.
4 Jan., 1908. 17911. Are you in favour of having a separate
- officer in charge of the headquarters sub-division ?—■
Yes.
17912. (Sir Steyning Edgerley.) With regard to your
suggestion of an Administrative Council for the Com-
missioners, the jurisdiction of this Council would, I
understand, extend over all matters which are at
present within the scope of District Boards and muni-
cipalities. That is to say, you would give the people
another stage in managing their own affairs, and they
would share the outside control which is at present
exercised by the Commissioner alone ?—Yes.
17913. Supposing you could find a district in which
it would be possible to have non-official Chairmen of
municipalities and non-official Chairmen of District
Boards, would you be prepared to put the outside
control in the hands of an Administrative Council
under the presidency of the Collector ?—I do not
think it would do any harm—the Collector must
remain the chief.
17914. Would you say, within the limits of your
experience, that there has been a satisfactory growth
in local self-government ?—I think the people would
take more interest in matters now. Municipalities
have made more progress than District Boards for the
reason that there are more local men upon munici-
palities. Educated men congregate more in the towns.
17915. And the municipality is more interesting to
them, and therefore they have gradually learnt to take
more interest in it ?—Yes, I think that is so ; with
regard to District Boards the members come from a
distance, they have no responsibility, and therefore do
not take much interest in the proceedings.
17916. But you say that it would be very difficult
to find a non-official Chairman who would know a
district as well as the Collector ?—I do not mean to
say that he would not know it, but it would be difficult
to find a non-official Chairman who would be able to
spare the time.
17917. Are there not gentlemen of means who live
all their lives in a district ?—Yes, but it would be a
trouble to find anyone who would do it unpaid. Some
of them might.
17918. How long does a Collector stay in a district ?
—Sometimes three years, sometimes less.
17919. Taking a man of intelligence who has lived
say 40 years in a district, would he not know more of
that district than any Collector?—I think not, be-
cause he is not able to go about it so much. There
are roads to be made and supervision and so on, so
that he would not care to find the time unless he had
some personal interest in a particular road which was
near his own house.
(The witness withdrew.)
Sir C. G. H.
Allen.
4 Jan., 1908.
Sir Charles Cl. H. Allen was called and examined.
17920. (Chairman.) You are Chairman of the Cal-
cutta Corporation?—Yes. I am a member of the
Indian Civil Service. I was for seven years engaged
in settlement, and for another year as Director of
Land Records.
Executive Officers have too much work to do to
come into sufficient personal contact with the people.
The main cause of this failure is that the administra-
tion generally is under-manned. There is not a
sufficient number of officers to supply Joint-Magis-
trates, Assistant Magistrates and Deputy Magistrates
where they are needed, and the result is that the
District Officer is generally overburdened with work.
Recruiting has not kept pace with the increased
requirements which are occasioned by the greater
complexity of the work which has led to specialisation,
and to the placing of a number of officers on special
duty, and the necessity of manning the Settlement
Department. While recruiting has failed to keep pace
with requirements for additional men for this purpose,
the volume of work in the districts has undoubtedly
increased, with the result that men are overworked to
breaking point. In many instances reforms, which are
in themselves advisable, have been vetoed for the
reason that they will impose additional labour upon
already overworked District Officers. A District
Officer of to-day spends far too much of his time in
writing reports and other routine work, while at the
same time a higher standard of inspection is insisted
upon, with the result that his opportunities for coming
into personal contact with the people of his district are
reduced. No business firm would attempt to carry on
the administration with the small amount of European
supervision which is apparently considered sufficient
by the Government, and this is evident from the con-
sideration of the number of Europeans employed in
any large Calcutta business. A comparison of the
number of Civilians employed in the districts 20 or 25
years ago, with the present establishment, will show
that there were more senior Joint-Magistrates and far
more Civilian Sub-Divisional Officers than there are
now, and the administration must consequently have
deteriorated within this period. One of the prominent
causes of this deterioration is that officers are now so
rapidly promoted that they get insufficient experience
and training during the early years of their service.
As regards districts, there are some which are too
large, e.g., Midnapore, but the sub-divisional arrange-
ment requires remodelling. With the exception of a
few metropolitan districts and the Sonthal Parganas,
sub-divisions have never been scientifically mapped
out throughout the province, and in almost all the
districts the work requires revision. There are 100
sub-divisions in Bengal, the average population being
504,000 and the average area 1170 square miles. The
number of sub-divisions should be nearly doubled, the
unit aimed at being 600 square miles, and I look upon
this as the most important direction in which decentra-
lization can be usefully advanced. Unless a sub-
division is of manageable size, so that a Sub-Divisional
officer can thoroughly know it from end to end, the
police and the tyrannical zamindar have much too
much their own way. An officer should always be
placed in charge of the Sadar sub-division, which, for
want of a Sadar Sub-divisional Officer, is too often
neglected.
Selection should play a larger part in the making of
appointments than at present, and the principle should
be introduced at a much earlier stage of an officer’s
career. At present officers are promoted by seniority
up to the first grade of Collector, and it is only when
Commissioners are appointed that the principle of
selection is for the first time introduced. A n officer
who has received his promotion in regular course for
25 years or so by seniority, is naturally chagrined if
he is for the first time passed over for promotion to a
Commissionership. Promotion by selection, within
certain limits of seniority, should be introduced from
the outset of an officer’s career, and officers should be
selected even for sub-divisions, and certainly to hold
charge of districts.
Frequent transfers are a notorious evil, and they
may be avoided to some extent in the higher posts, if
the pay of these is graded as in the case of the
Inspector-General of Police. The increase of the
staff: will also reduce the number of transfers. It
should be an understood thing that a District Officer
must remain in a district for at least three years, and
in appointing an officer newly to a district, preference
should be given to a man who has recently returned
from leave, and is therefore likely to remain in the
district. Officers should also be discouraged from
taking leave so as to necessitate a transfer within
this period. Less attention should also be paid to the
caprices of individual officers who may wish for a
transfer. Moreover, when an appointment has been
made to an important post, the officer selected for
it should not be transferred until he had held it for
three years, merely in order that he may take up a
more lucrative post. In fact, less consideration should
be paid to the claims of the individual, and more to
the exigencies of the work.
So far as the Calcutta Corporation is concerned,,
the measure of control exercised by the Government
is not excessive, and in my experience it has been
very considerately exercised. Something might be
done to make the Commissioners’ duties more attrac-
tive by transferring to them certain functions which