DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0159
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
153
would that have been resented or welcomed?—The
University as it is constituted is a self-governing
institution, subject to certain powers of control by the
Chancellor, who is the Governor-General of India, and
I do not think the University would submit to outside
influences unless offered in a spirit of friendly advice,
and not in a spirit of criticism or fault-finding.
18092. Was such advice ever tendered to you by the
Director-General ?—I do not think so.
18093. Was it ever asked for by the University?—
I do not think so.
18094. You have pointed to the desire of the pro-
vincial Government merely to acquire revenue, and
you illustrate it by the fact that the receipts from
income-tax has gone up, although the taxable limit
has been raised. Are you aware that that is regarded
as a sign of prosperity in most countries ?—Yes, but in
this case the result of the next year’s operations after
an enhancement of the taxable limit showed that there
was practically no diminution. In one year I do not
think the theory of advancing prosperity was sufficient
explanation.
18095. Would you be surprised to hear that in other
countries, notwithstanding the raising of the taxable
limit, the income-tax limit has increased ?—No, but a
question was asked upon this head in the local Council,
and so far as I remember the answer was not that the
non diminution was due to the increasing prosperity
of the people, but was due to the closer scrutiny
exercised by the assessing officers over the incomes of
the assessees, thereby including many people who had
previously escaped from paying the income tax.
18096. When the Head of a district or division goes
on tour, do the people find some difficulty in approach-
ing him ?—Before dealing with that question, I might
bring to notice a general impression which prevails
that in matters, for example, like the excise revenue,
though there are directions which apparently restrict
the number of liquor and opium shops in the mufassal,
the local officers are careful to see that the revenue
does not suffer by any restrictions imposed by the
central authority. That was also in my mind when I
said that Local Governments are more or less influenced
by considerations of revenue.
18097. Do you suggest that while the Imperial
Government desires to restrict the number of liquor
shops, the provincial Government takes no notice of
that desire?—The provincial Government does, but
the officials under the provincial Government do not
enforce those restrictions or at least enforce them in
such a way that the revenue does not suffer any
sensible diminution. The idea amongst the people is
that a Revenue Officer who fails to return to the
Government treasury the estimated revenue of his
department does not find his position a very comfort-
able one.
18098. You think when District Officers go on tour
the people have difficulty in getting access to them.
Do you suggest that that is caused by the action of
the police and the chaprassies ?—I think so.
18099. Would you suggest that this is the case fre-
quently or in isolated cases ?— It occurs in most
cases.
18100. No matter how great is the experience of
the District Officer ?—No. I think the greater expe-
rience he has the more accessible he is, and the higher
an official goes up the more accessible he becomes per-
sonally to the people.
18101. At what stage in an officer’s career does this
difficulty of access which is experienced by the people
cease ?—I cannot say that it does cease, but the diffi-
culty diminishes as the officer gains greater experience
of the people and knowledge of the country. For
instance, when he has been District Officer for some
years, or the Commissioner of a division, he is less
hampered in his intercourse with the people than in
his younger days.
18102. Would that extend not merely to his younger
days, but up to the earlier days of his administration
of a particular district ?—Relatively it would.
18103. You suggest that an officer ought to be kept
for some time in a district ?—Yes, for between three
and five years.
18104. Would you make the period longer than five
years ?—That question has two aspects. Sometimes,
33263
unfortunately there have been District Officers who
have not been popular, and we cannot contemplate
with equanimity the continuance of their regime for a
longer period than five years ; therefore I have sug-
gested that the maximum period should not exceed five
years. Of course, on the other hand, with a good and
sympathetic officer a longer period would be much
more useful, both to the officer and to the people.
18105. When an officer is unpopular in a district, is
he unpopular amongst all classes, or is he popular with
certain classes and unpopular with others ?—Generally
he is unpopular with all classes, if he is unpopular.
His unpopularity is sometimes due to a lack of sym-
pathy which affects all classes ; sometimes, but very
rarely, it is due to an antagonistic feeling against a
particular class, but that is very rare, and therefore his
unpopularity is generally with all classes.
18106. Might a District Officer become unpopular
because he took up the rights of one particular class
as against another ?—It has happened, unhappily, in
my experience of District Officers, that owing to their
taking up the cause of one class against another that
has been the result.
18107. For instance, with regard to such questions as
disputes between landlord and tenant ?—Yes, that has
happened, but not very frequently, and when an officer
like Sir Henry Harrison thought that the rights of
one class should be vindicated against the other, he
proceeded with a degree of caution which eliminated
to a great extent any feeling of hostility against his
measures ; but sometimes in cases between landlords
and tenants young officers coming out from England,
with preconceived notions as regards the strict rights
between the tenantry and the landlord, have sought to
carry out those notions, irrespective of their want of
knowledge of the country, and have thereby pro-
voked opposition which might otherwise have been
avoided.
18108. In cases where there is this lack of sympathy
shown, is it possible to overcome the effects of it ?—
We find that by experience it is overcome.
18109. It is suggested that sometimes social gather-
ings or visits without ceremony overcome on either
side, and so forth, might take place ; would you lead
us to believe that those are possible as well as desir-
able ?—They are possible and very desirable.
18110. Would there be no hanging back if they were
proposed by the British Officer ?—I do not think it
would be so.
18111. Have you ever noticed that Indian Civilian
Officers have shown equally with British Officers what
might be called official pride and hauteur ?—Unfor-
tunately that has been the case in some instances.
18112. Might it therefore be thought that it is the
pride of office rather than the difference of nationality
which creates these difficulties ?—I have qualified my
answer by saying that it is sometimes the sense of
belonging to the ruling caste that works against better
relations between the people and the rulers ; it is often
the feeling of the ruling race, but it is also the
feeling of the ruling caste, and I am sorry to say
that I have known Civilians of Indian nationality who
have been foolish enough to think that stand-offishness
would be a source of strength in the discharge of
their official duties, and would assimilate them more
closely to the ruling classes, of which they form, for
the time being, a component part.
18113. So that difficulties do arise very often in
your judgment, not from differences of religion and
race and so forth, but from the possession of autho-
rity and power and the way in which it is exercised?
—Yes, to a great extent ; in the case of Civilians of
Indian birth, some of them have a mistaken notion
that to put themselves on a par with their European
colleagues they should imitate the manner of their
colleagues, and that has been at the root of much of
the mischief.
18114. I suppose their European colleagues have
themselves perhaps been influenced by the same sense
of authority and power ?—It may be so.
18115. Generally speaking, you wish to see less inter-
ference by the District Officer with municipalities.
Have you seen the working of any mufassal munici-
pality ?—Yes, I have, because I have property in the
mufassal, and therefore I am more or less acquainted
with how they work.
U
Babu
Bhupendra*
nath Bam,
28 Jan,. 1908,
153
would that have been resented or welcomed?—The
University as it is constituted is a self-governing
institution, subject to certain powers of control by the
Chancellor, who is the Governor-General of India, and
I do not think the University would submit to outside
influences unless offered in a spirit of friendly advice,
and not in a spirit of criticism or fault-finding.
18092. Was such advice ever tendered to you by the
Director-General ?—I do not think so.
18093. Was it ever asked for by the University?—
I do not think so.
18094. You have pointed to the desire of the pro-
vincial Government merely to acquire revenue, and
you illustrate it by the fact that the receipts from
income-tax has gone up, although the taxable limit
has been raised. Are you aware that that is regarded
as a sign of prosperity in most countries ?—Yes, but in
this case the result of the next year’s operations after
an enhancement of the taxable limit showed that there
was practically no diminution. In one year I do not
think the theory of advancing prosperity was sufficient
explanation.
18095. Would you be surprised to hear that in other
countries, notwithstanding the raising of the taxable
limit, the income-tax limit has increased ?—No, but a
question was asked upon this head in the local Council,
and so far as I remember the answer was not that the
non diminution was due to the increasing prosperity
of the people, but was due to the closer scrutiny
exercised by the assessing officers over the incomes of
the assessees, thereby including many people who had
previously escaped from paying the income tax.
18096. When the Head of a district or division goes
on tour, do the people find some difficulty in approach-
ing him ?—Before dealing with that question, I might
bring to notice a general impression which prevails
that in matters, for example, like the excise revenue,
though there are directions which apparently restrict
the number of liquor and opium shops in the mufassal,
the local officers are careful to see that the revenue
does not suffer by any restrictions imposed by the
central authority. That was also in my mind when I
said that Local Governments are more or less influenced
by considerations of revenue.
18097. Do you suggest that while the Imperial
Government desires to restrict the number of liquor
shops, the provincial Government takes no notice of
that desire?—The provincial Government does, but
the officials under the provincial Government do not
enforce those restrictions or at least enforce them in
such a way that the revenue does not suffer any
sensible diminution. The idea amongst the people is
that a Revenue Officer who fails to return to the
Government treasury the estimated revenue of his
department does not find his position a very comfort-
able one.
18098. You think when District Officers go on tour
the people have difficulty in getting access to them.
Do you suggest that that is caused by the action of
the police and the chaprassies ?—I think so.
18099. Would you suggest that this is the case fre-
quently or in isolated cases ?— It occurs in most
cases.
18100. No matter how great is the experience of
the District Officer ?—No. I think the greater expe-
rience he has the more accessible he is, and the higher
an official goes up the more accessible he becomes per-
sonally to the people.
18101. At what stage in an officer’s career does this
difficulty of access which is experienced by the people
cease ?—I cannot say that it does cease, but the diffi-
culty diminishes as the officer gains greater experience
of the people and knowledge of the country. For
instance, when he has been District Officer for some
years, or the Commissioner of a division, he is less
hampered in his intercourse with the people than in
his younger days.
18102. Would that extend not merely to his younger
days, but up to the earlier days of his administration
of a particular district ?—Relatively it would.
18103. You suggest that an officer ought to be kept
for some time in a district ?—Yes, for between three
and five years.
18104. Would you make the period longer than five
years ?—That question has two aspects. Sometimes,
33263
unfortunately there have been District Officers who
have not been popular, and we cannot contemplate
with equanimity the continuance of their regime for a
longer period than five years ; therefore I have sug-
gested that the maximum period should not exceed five
years. Of course, on the other hand, with a good and
sympathetic officer a longer period would be much
more useful, both to the officer and to the people.
18105. When an officer is unpopular in a district, is
he unpopular amongst all classes, or is he popular with
certain classes and unpopular with others ?—Generally
he is unpopular with all classes, if he is unpopular.
His unpopularity is sometimes due to a lack of sym-
pathy which affects all classes ; sometimes, but very
rarely, it is due to an antagonistic feeling against a
particular class, but that is very rare, and therefore his
unpopularity is generally with all classes.
18106. Might a District Officer become unpopular
because he took up the rights of one particular class
as against another ?—It has happened, unhappily, in
my experience of District Officers, that owing to their
taking up the cause of one class against another that
has been the result.
18107. For instance, with regard to such questions as
disputes between landlord and tenant ?—Yes, that has
happened, but not very frequently, and when an officer
like Sir Henry Harrison thought that the rights of
one class should be vindicated against the other, he
proceeded with a degree of caution which eliminated
to a great extent any feeling of hostility against his
measures ; but sometimes in cases between landlords
and tenants young officers coming out from England,
with preconceived notions as regards the strict rights
between the tenantry and the landlord, have sought to
carry out those notions, irrespective of their want of
knowledge of the country, and have thereby pro-
voked opposition which might otherwise have been
avoided.
18108. In cases where there is this lack of sympathy
shown, is it possible to overcome the effects of it ?—
We find that by experience it is overcome.
18109. It is suggested that sometimes social gather-
ings or visits without ceremony overcome on either
side, and so forth, might take place ; would you lead
us to believe that those are possible as well as desir-
able ?—They are possible and very desirable.
18110. Would there be no hanging back if they were
proposed by the British Officer ?—I do not think it
would be so.
18111. Have you ever noticed that Indian Civilian
Officers have shown equally with British Officers what
might be called official pride and hauteur ?—Unfor-
tunately that has been the case in some instances.
18112. Might it therefore be thought that it is the
pride of office rather than the difference of nationality
which creates these difficulties ?—I have qualified my
answer by saying that it is sometimes the sense of
belonging to the ruling caste that works against better
relations between the people and the rulers ; it is often
the feeling of the ruling race, but it is also the
feeling of the ruling caste, and I am sorry to say
that I have known Civilians of Indian nationality who
have been foolish enough to think that stand-offishness
would be a source of strength in the discharge of
their official duties, and would assimilate them more
closely to the ruling classes, of which they form, for
the time being, a component part.
18113. So that difficulties do arise very often in
your judgment, not from differences of religion and
race and so forth, but from the possession of autho-
rity and power and the way in which it is exercised?
—Yes, to a great extent ; in the case of Civilians of
Indian birth, some of them have a mistaken notion
that to put themselves on a par with their European
colleagues they should imitate the manner of their
colleagues, and that has been at the root of much of
the mischief.
18114. I suppose their European colleagues have
themselves perhaps been influenced by the same sense
of authority and power ?—It may be so.
18115. Generally speaking, you wish to see less inter-
ference by the District Officer with municipalities.
Have you seen the working of any mufassal munici-
pality ?—Yes, I have, because I have property in the
mufassal, and therefore I am more or less acquainted
with how they work.
U
Babu
Bhupendra*
nath Bam,
28 Jan,. 1908,