DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0167
ROYAL COMMISSION UPON DECENTRALIZATION.
161
Council, who may be in charge of this department.
This Board should exercise the necessary control over
District Board and mufassal municipalities, which is
now exercised by the Divisional Commissioners and
other executive authorities. All Local Boards should
be entirely elected. The District Board should have
|th of its members nominated in order to secure the
representation of minorities and of the Government
interests. All mufassal municipalities should also have
the same proportion of nominated members for the
same reason. But there should be non-official Chair-
man for all. The Vice-Chairman may be official, but
there should be a well-paid Secretary tp each
municipality and District Board to be the head of its
executive staff. Men with administrative experience,
such as Deputy Magistrates and Sub-Deputy Magis-
trates of seven to ten years’ standing, may be available
for these posts, if it is made worth their while to
accept them.
Rightly or wrongly the Indian public believe that
Collectors and Commissioners are as a rule against
imparting any high education to the wards, especially
to those inheriting any considerable estates. There is
ground for complaint in the excessive cost of manage-
ment incurred under the Court of Wards by the
appointment of European managers, assistant managers,
and guardian-tutors on big salaries with house accom-
modation and large stables. My proposal is that
instead of a member of the Board of Revenue forming
the Court of Wards, as now, a Court of Wards
Committee or Council may be formed at the capital to
consist of three representatives from each of the
recognised Associations in the province (British Indian
Association, Bengal Landholders’ Association, and
Bihar Landholders’ Association) ; two members of the
Local Legislative Council, representing the landholding
classes, the Inspectors General of Education and
Agriculture, and to be presided over by the member of
the Governor’s Executive Council. The proposed
Inspector-General of the Wards’ estates should be the
Secretary, and he should inspect the local wards’
offices regularly.
The provincial Government ought to have borrowing
powers within certain limits and under certain restric-
tions, and they might issue debentures like those that
are issued by the Calcutta Corporation and Calcutta
Port Trust.
I am not at all for curtailment of the right of
appeal, nor for any restrictions being put upon it. If
any changes be made in that direction, the measure
will be highly unpopular and give rise to general
discontent.
As a rule Executive Officers belonging to the Indian
Civil Service are not much in touch with the people.
There may be a few noble exceptions. Very few of
them possesses sufficient knowledge of the vernaculars.
Want of courteous treatment is the chief obstacle
amongst others. It is difficult to suggest methods of
removal of those obstacles, as much depends upon the
temper and training of individuals.
In Bengal the village communities are not in
existence. Village unions with panchayats are their
substitutes; the status of the President of the
panchayat should be at least co-ordinate with, and not
subordinate to, the local police officers. He ought
to be a link between the police and the District
Magistrate.
18280. You sketch out a scheme of decentralisation
which may be briefly described as depending upon the
person at the head of the provincial Government, a
system of Inspectors-General, and below them again
District Officers. Would not the creation of all these
Inspectors-General, with water-tight departments below
them, tend towards centralization ?—No, there would
not be centralization, there would be division ; there
would be supervision and inspection by Heads of
Departments, and what I suggest is that they would
have an expert exclusive staff.
18281. You do not think that the expert staff would
try to get into their hands the whole management of
things ?—Sometimes they do, but so far as my
experience goes one of the departments which is
successful is the Excise Department. They have an
exclusive staff ; they have got Excise Deputy Collectors
and inspectors, and sub-inspectors : of course there
ought to be certain safeguards.
18282. You think that the power of appeal both in
administrative and personal matters ought to remain
28 Jan., 1908.
for
of
the
the
Babu
Baikunta
Nath Sen.
as it is at present ?—Yes, it would be very unpopular
to curtail it, and the people would feel that a certain
vested right, as it were, which they have been enjoying,
had been taken away from them.
18283. Has the habit of appealing increased of
recent years?—No, I think not.
18284. You tell us that there are cart-loads of
manuals issued by the Board of Revenue ; upon what
is that belief grounded ?—In almost all departments
there are manuals. In the Land Records Department,
Settlement, Survey, Income-tax, Customs, etc., in all
the different departments, there are a large number of
manuals which are not necessary. They enter into
details which are certainly unnecessary and which
handicap the subordinate officers; the subordinate
officers act as it were like machines—they are restricted
to a great many details which might be avoided.
18285. Could the manuals be easily reduced both in
volume and in number ?—I think so, and the correction
slips again which are issued make it very difficult
subordinates to act.
18286. Where did you get your experience
educational administration ?—As a member of
municipality, and I happen to be a member of
Board of Trustees for the management of the Krish-
nanath College at Berhampore.
18287. What schools could be best entrusted to
municipal bodies ?—In my judgment primary teaching
might be entrusted to the municipal bodies, not
secondary education. The middle schools ought to be
under the control of the District Boards. The non-
collegiate schools ought to be under the control of
the Education Department. The collegiate schools
ought to be entirely in the hands of the University.
18288. How would you deal with the primary schools
in the villages ?—-They ought to be under the control
of the District Boards, and there ought to be co-opera-
tion with the officers in the Education Department.
18289. Would it be possible to entrust the primary
schools to a village body ?—Village bodies are not so
constituted now as to be capable of being entrusted
with such institutions.
18290. If it were possible, or desirable, to create a
panchayat, would you put the primary village schools
under them ?—Yes, provided that the constitution of
the panchayats was of a satisfactory character. It
would depend on the personal qualifications and
attainments of the members of the panchayat.
18291. With regard to the District Boards, would
you keep the Chairman an official?—No, a non-official.
The Vice-Chairman may be an official of experience ; I
would not insist upon his always being a non-official.
18292. Would it be easy to get men to act as Chair-
men of the District Boards and to do all the work
which the position entails ?—I think so.
18293. How long would it take a man to get through
a day’s work of the District Board ?—If he devotes
three hours every day that ought to be sufficient.
18294. And you think it would be easy to get a
gentleman to give that time ?—Yes, I think so. From
the experience I have had of non-official Vice-Chairman,
they do most of the work of the Chairman, devoting
their whole time almost, as it were, and without any
honorarium or fee. I think that such men would be
found to act as Chairmen, and that they would devote
the necessary time.
18295. Would you say the same thing of the
municipality—that the Chairman ought to be a non-
official ?—Yes.
18296. Do you desire to see any control exercised by
Government over the municipality or the District
Board?—Yes, some outside control. I much prefer
the sort of control we had in the olden days. When I
was Chairman there was a sort of control, but now-a-
days the control has developed into detailed super-
vision, criticising, curtailing and restricting to which I
object.
18297. What was the earlier control of which you
speak ?—Under big heads at the time of the budget;
the minor heads they did not take into consideration.
18298. So much was allotted for sanitation, so much
for roads and so on, and within those limits the Board
was left free ?—Yes, now they are not.
33263
X
161
Council, who may be in charge of this department.
This Board should exercise the necessary control over
District Board and mufassal municipalities, which is
now exercised by the Divisional Commissioners and
other executive authorities. All Local Boards should
be entirely elected. The District Board should have
|th of its members nominated in order to secure the
representation of minorities and of the Government
interests. All mufassal municipalities should also have
the same proportion of nominated members for the
same reason. But there should be non-official Chair-
man for all. The Vice-Chairman may be official, but
there should be a well-paid Secretary tp each
municipality and District Board to be the head of its
executive staff. Men with administrative experience,
such as Deputy Magistrates and Sub-Deputy Magis-
trates of seven to ten years’ standing, may be available
for these posts, if it is made worth their while to
accept them.
Rightly or wrongly the Indian public believe that
Collectors and Commissioners are as a rule against
imparting any high education to the wards, especially
to those inheriting any considerable estates. There is
ground for complaint in the excessive cost of manage-
ment incurred under the Court of Wards by the
appointment of European managers, assistant managers,
and guardian-tutors on big salaries with house accom-
modation and large stables. My proposal is that
instead of a member of the Board of Revenue forming
the Court of Wards, as now, a Court of Wards
Committee or Council may be formed at the capital to
consist of three representatives from each of the
recognised Associations in the province (British Indian
Association, Bengal Landholders’ Association, and
Bihar Landholders’ Association) ; two members of the
Local Legislative Council, representing the landholding
classes, the Inspectors General of Education and
Agriculture, and to be presided over by the member of
the Governor’s Executive Council. The proposed
Inspector-General of the Wards’ estates should be the
Secretary, and he should inspect the local wards’
offices regularly.
The provincial Government ought to have borrowing
powers within certain limits and under certain restric-
tions, and they might issue debentures like those that
are issued by the Calcutta Corporation and Calcutta
Port Trust.
I am not at all for curtailment of the right of
appeal, nor for any restrictions being put upon it. If
any changes be made in that direction, the measure
will be highly unpopular and give rise to general
discontent.
As a rule Executive Officers belonging to the Indian
Civil Service are not much in touch with the people.
There may be a few noble exceptions. Very few of
them possesses sufficient knowledge of the vernaculars.
Want of courteous treatment is the chief obstacle
amongst others. It is difficult to suggest methods of
removal of those obstacles, as much depends upon the
temper and training of individuals.
In Bengal the village communities are not in
existence. Village unions with panchayats are their
substitutes; the status of the President of the
panchayat should be at least co-ordinate with, and not
subordinate to, the local police officers. He ought
to be a link between the police and the District
Magistrate.
18280. You sketch out a scheme of decentralisation
which may be briefly described as depending upon the
person at the head of the provincial Government, a
system of Inspectors-General, and below them again
District Officers. Would not the creation of all these
Inspectors-General, with water-tight departments below
them, tend towards centralization ?—No, there would
not be centralization, there would be division ; there
would be supervision and inspection by Heads of
Departments, and what I suggest is that they would
have an expert exclusive staff.
18281. You do not think that the expert staff would
try to get into their hands the whole management of
things ?—Sometimes they do, but so far as my
experience goes one of the departments which is
successful is the Excise Department. They have an
exclusive staff ; they have got Excise Deputy Collectors
and inspectors, and sub-inspectors : of course there
ought to be certain safeguards.
18282. You think that the power of appeal both in
administrative and personal matters ought to remain
28 Jan., 1908.
for
of
the
the
Babu
Baikunta
Nath Sen.
as it is at present ?—Yes, it would be very unpopular
to curtail it, and the people would feel that a certain
vested right, as it were, which they have been enjoying,
had been taken away from them.
18283. Has the habit of appealing increased of
recent years?—No, I think not.
18284. You tell us that there are cart-loads of
manuals issued by the Board of Revenue ; upon what
is that belief grounded ?—In almost all departments
there are manuals. In the Land Records Department,
Settlement, Survey, Income-tax, Customs, etc., in all
the different departments, there are a large number of
manuals which are not necessary. They enter into
details which are certainly unnecessary and which
handicap the subordinate officers; the subordinate
officers act as it were like machines—they are restricted
to a great many details which might be avoided.
18285. Could the manuals be easily reduced both in
volume and in number ?—I think so, and the correction
slips again which are issued make it very difficult
subordinates to act.
18286. Where did you get your experience
educational administration ?—As a member of
municipality, and I happen to be a member of
Board of Trustees for the management of the Krish-
nanath College at Berhampore.
18287. What schools could be best entrusted to
municipal bodies ?—In my judgment primary teaching
might be entrusted to the municipal bodies, not
secondary education. The middle schools ought to be
under the control of the District Boards. The non-
collegiate schools ought to be under the control of
the Education Department. The collegiate schools
ought to be entirely in the hands of the University.
18288. How would you deal with the primary schools
in the villages ?—-They ought to be under the control
of the District Boards, and there ought to be co-opera-
tion with the officers in the Education Department.
18289. Would it be possible to entrust the primary
schools to a village body ?—Village bodies are not so
constituted now as to be capable of being entrusted
with such institutions.
18290. If it were possible, or desirable, to create a
panchayat, would you put the primary village schools
under them ?—Yes, provided that the constitution of
the panchayats was of a satisfactory character. It
would depend on the personal qualifications and
attainments of the members of the panchayat.
18291. With regard to the District Boards, would
you keep the Chairman an official?—No, a non-official.
The Vice-Chairman may be an official of experience ; I
would not insist upon his always being a non-official.
18292. Would it be easy to get men to act as Chair-
men of the District Boards and to do all the work
which the position entails ?—I think so.
18293. How long would it take a man to get through
a day’s work of the District Board ?—If he devotes
three hours every day that ought to be sufficient.
18294. And you think it would be easy to get a
gentleman to give that time ?—Yes, I think so. From
the experience I have had of non-official Vice-Chairman,
they do most of the work of the Chairman, devoting
their whole time almost, as it were, and without any
honorarium or fee. I think that such men would be
found to act as Chairmen, and that they would devote
the necessary time.
18295. Would you say the same thing of the
municipality—that the Chairman ought to be a non-
official ?—Yes.
18296. Do you desire to see any control exercised by
Government over the municipality or the District
Board?—Yes, some outside control. I much prefer
the sort of control we had in the olden days. When I
was Chairman there was a sort of control, but now-a-
days the control has developed into detailed super-
vision, criticising, curtailing and restricting to which I
object.
18297. What was the earlier control of which you
speak ?—Under big heads at the time of the budget;
the minor heads they did not take into consideration.
18298. So much was allotted for sanitation, so much
for roads and so on, and within those limits the Board
was left free ?—Yes, now they are not.
33263
X