DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68026#0108
102
MINUTES OE EVIDENCE :
Mr. L. M.
Jacob.
4 Apr., 1908.
short time ; but they were merely his assistants,
attached to him till they derived sufficient ex-
perience to qualify for the charge of divisions.
The Assistant Engineer had, I think, no separate
office, no official correspondence ; he was an en-
gineering assistant to the Executive Engineer. As
work gradually increased, the Assistant Engineer
became detached for a separate charge, a sub-
division of the division, he had a separate office,
and corresponded officially with his Executive
Engineer. The sizes of divisions increased, and
one Executive Engineer had many sub-divisions.
He then had no longer time to carry out work in
the same way he did before, the Sub-Divisional
Officer became the real executive officer, the
Executive Engineer evolved into a sort of Superin-
tending Engineer, and the Superintending En-
gineer might have developed into a Chief only
he had so little power. He consequently fell into
the invidious position of a correspondence-buffer
(between the Executive Engineers who superin-
tended the work of their Sub-Divisional Officers,
the Executives, and the Chief.
I think it is too late to revert to the old system
of Executives and Assistants, although it has a
good deal in its favour. Eor one thing the Pro-
vincial Engineer policy is against it. That policy
has been accepted by Government, and it would
be only waste of time to enlarge on that subject,
and the obvious alternative is to increase the
powers of the Superintending Engineers, making
them virtually Chief Engineers with a Secretary
guiding the policy of the Local Government.
I noted very much on these lines when I was
in Burma. In a large and developing province
the burden of work which fell on the Chief
Engineer was very heavy, and a second Chief
Engineer was applied for before my time, but
when sanctioned it was difficult to know what to
do with him. The work could not be divided
between Irrigation and Buildings and Roads,
because there was only one Irrigation and many
Buildings and Roads Circles. It was difficult to
divide the province territorially, and the
Lieutenant-Governor objected to two Secretaries
advising him on the same subject. He was quite
right; there can be but one policy and therefore
there should be only one man. It was con-
sidered whether the province could be divided
into J and j, the Secretary to work the | and be
Chief Engineer to it as well as Secretary to the
whole, while the other Chief Engineer would be
Chief Engineer only to the f. This idea was dis-
missed as resembling a man with two legs of
different lengths. I then advanced my views as
I have stated them here. They were approved by
the Lieutenant-Governor, but they meant time,
and to avoid depriving the province of the second
Chief Engineer, it was decided to place him
under my orders for the technical examination of
designs and estimates and inspections for which I
had no time.
Turning to the details of Superintending En-
gineers’ powers, under “ Repairs,” they have full
powers within the limits of the budget grants
placed at their disposal. The usual procedure is
for the Executive Engineers to submit annual
maintenance estimates by all the different heads
of works, and when these are sanctioned by
Superintending Engineers, they carry out the
repairs at the usual or special times, charging
the cost to the annual estimates. The Superin-
tending Engineer would also keep a certain reserve
in his hands for special works. Under this
item a good Superintending Engineer will have a
great deal to say to maintenance matters, specially
in the Irrigation Branch, but otherwise the work
is very much in the hands of the Executives. No
alteration in system is necessary here.
Under “works,” from 1862 (I have not dipped
into more ancient history) to 1882 the powers of
the Superintending Engineer were limited to
Rs. 500. In 1882 these powers, in the case of
selected officers, were raised to Rs. 2,500, and in
1888 to Rs. 10,000. At the present time, there-
fore, a Local Government has the power to allow
Superintending Engineers to sanction “ works ”
up to a maximum of Rs. 10,000. The power has
been too sparingly exercised, and when this has
been the case it shows that either Local Govern-
ments have been over-kind in recommending such
officers for circle charges or they are ridiculously
distrustful. We know that promotion is now
going to be more rapid, but even then it will be
wise policy to treat Superintending Engineers as
men and not as dummies. In the past men have
become Superintending Engineers when of ad-
vanced age and experience, and keeping them in
leading strings is neither the way to make them
efficient circle officers, nor to train them to be fit
to be Chief Engineers, when their responsibilities
will suddenly be so largely increased. The time
to exercise caution is when promoting a man to
circle charge. If there is any doubt he can be
placed on probation, and during that period be
allowed restricted powers ; but once he has shown
himself a good officer he should be trusted to the
full. He may make mistakes, every one makes
them, but let him be forgiven. It is not the man
who makes mistakes who is a bad officer ; the bad
bargains are the cautious do-nothings, who may
make no mistakes but make nothing else either.
My suggestions, however, go much further than
the present limit, and it will be necessary to quote
the powers of Local Governments and Local Ad-
ministrations. Under Imperial: —
Rs.
Madras and Bombay have ... ... 2,00,000
Bengal, Eastern Bengal and Assam,
United Provinces, Punjab and
Burma have ... ... ... 50,000
Central Provinces, Rajputana, Cen-
tral India, Hyderabad, North-
West Frontier, Baluchistan, and
Ooorg have ... ... ... 20,000
Port Blair has ... ... ... ... 5,000
I see no reason why Superintending Engineers,
made Engineers-in-Chief, should not ibe given
powers, as far as engineering is concerned, up to
Rs. 50,000, or less if the powers of the Local
Administrations are less. Local Governments
and Local Administrations are not concerned with
engineering details, they must be dependent on
their professional advisers, and all I want to do
is to divert this responsibility from the Secretary-
Chief-Engineer to the circle officer. Engineers?
in-Chief of Railways, on railway construction,
have powers up to Rs. 50,000, and they are Super-
intending Engineers, sometimes even Executive
Engineers.
Under Provincial, Local Governments and Local
Administrations have the same powers as the
Government of India, that is Rs. 10,00,000, and
under this head the powers of circle officers
might be still further increased to, say, a lakh,
or even 2 lakhs, or more. Take the case of a
road, if a Superintending Engineer can sanction
Rs. 10,000 for a certain length of road involving
earth work, metalling, and culverts, it is absurd
that he cannot sanction the engineering of a few
extra miles entailing exactly the same kind of
work. For it will be understood that I am
alluding entirely to engineering details, not to
administrative approval. New works would
require the administrative sanction of the Local
Government ; it is only when that stage is passed
that I would so largely increase the responsi-
bilities of the circle officer.
This then is the main point, and I urge it in
the interests of the duties both of Secretary and
of Superintending Engineer. If the former is
very conscientious he will examine the estimates
which come up from the Executives through the
Superintending Engineers in much detail, and
working with his nose to the ground he has no
time to keep a comprehensive look ahead. Or,
paying more attention to his administrative work,
he may leave the estimates to be dealt with by
his Undersecretary or Personal Assistant, in
which case they are examined by officers junior
to the Superintending Engineer, and who should
be inferior to him in attainments. The system
would also give the circle officers powers suitable
to their standing, and foster and encourage good
men instead of keeping them in a position in
which their energies are so successfully paralysed.
MINUTES OE EVIDENCE :
Mr. L. M.
Jacob.
4 Apr., 1908.
short time ; but they were merely his assistants,
attached to him till they derived sufficient ex-
perience to qualify for the charge of divisions.
The Assistant Engineer had, I think, no separate
office, no official correspondence ; he was an en-
gineering assistant to the Executive Engineer. As
work gradually increased, the Assistant Engineer
became detached for a separate charge, a sub-
division of the division, he had a separate office,
and corresponded officially with his Executive
Engineer. The sizes of divisions increased, and
one Executive Engineer had many sub-divisions.
He then had no longer time to carry out work in
the same way he did before, the Sub-Divisional
Officer became the real executive officer, the
Executive Engineer evolved into a sort of Superin-
tending Engineer, and the Superintending En-
gineer might have developed into a Chief only
he had so little power. He consequently fell into
the invidious position of a correspondence-buffer
(between the Executive Engineers who superin-
tended the work of their Sub-Divisional Officers,
the Executives, and the Chief.
I think it is too late to revert to the old system
of Executives and Assistants, although it has a
good deal in its favour. Eor one thing the Pro-
vincial Engineer policy is against it. That policy
has been accepted by Government, and it would
be only waste of time to enlarge on that subject,
and the obvious alternative is to increase the
powers of the Superintending Engineers, making
them virtually Chief Engineers with a Secretary
guiding the policy of the Local Government.
I noted very much on these lines when I was
in Burma. In a large and developing province
the burden of work which fell on the Chief
Engineer was very heavy, and a second Chief
Engineer was applied for before my time, but
when sanctioned it was difficult to know what to
do with him. The work could not be divided
between Irrigation and Buildings and Roads,
because there was only one Irrigation and many
Buildings and Roads Circles. It was difficult to
divide the province territorially, and the
Lieutenant-Governor objected to two Secretaries
advising him on the same subject. He was quite
right; there can be but one policy and therefore
there should be only one man. It was con-
sidered whether the province could be divided
into J and j, the Secretary to work the | and be
Chief Engineer to it as well as Secretary to the
whole, while the other Chief Engineer would be
Chief Engineer only to the f. This idea was dis-
missed as resembling a man with two legs of
different lengths. I then advanced my views as
I have stated them here. They were approved by
the Lieutenant-Governor, but they meant time,
and to avoid depriving the province of the second
Chief Engineer, it was decided to place him
under my orders for the technical examination of
designs and estimates and inspections for which I
had no time.
Turning to the details of Superintending En-
gineers’ powers, under “ Repairs,” they have full
powers within the limits of the budget grants
placed at their disposal. The usual procedure is
for the Executive Engineers to submit annual
maintenance estimates by all the different heads
of works, and when these are sanctioned by
Superintending Engineers, they carry out the
repairs at the usual or special times, charging
the cost to the annual estimates. The Superin-
tending Engineer would also keep a certain reserve
in his hands for special works. Under this
item a good Superintending Engineer will have a
great deal to say to maintenance matters, specially
in the Irrigation Branch, but otherwise the work
is very much in the hands of the Executives. No
alteration in system is necessary here.
Under “works,” from 1862 (I have not dipped
into more ancient history) to 1882 the powers of
the Superintending Engineer were limited to
Rs. 500. In 1882 these powers, in the case of
selected officers, were raised to Rs. 2,500, and in
1888 to Rs. 10,000. At the present time, there-
fore, a Local Government has the power to allow
Superintending Engineers to sanction “ works ”
up to a maximum of Rs. 10,000. The power has
been too sparingly exercised, and when this has
been the case it shows that either Local Govern-
ments have been over-kind in recommending such
officers for circle charges or they are ridiculously
distrustful. We know that promotion is now
going to be more rapid, but even then it will be
wise policy to treat Superintending Engineers as
men and not as dummies. In the past men have
become Superintending Engineers when of ad-
vanced age and experience, and keeping them in
leading strings is neither the way to make them
efficient circle officers, nor to train them to be fit
to be Chief Engineers, when their responsibilities
will suddenly be so largely increased. The time
to exercise caution is when promoting a man to
circle charge. If there is any doubt he can be
placed on probation, and during that period be
allowed restricted powers ; but once he has shown
himself a good officer he should be trusted to the
full. He may make mistakes, every one makes
them, but let him be forgiven. It is not the man
who makes mistakes who is a bad officer ; the bad
bargains are the cautious do-nothings, who may
make no mistakes but make nothing else either.
My suggestions, however, go much further than
the present limit, and it will be necessary to quote
the powers of Local Governments and Local Ad-
ministrations. Under Imperial: —
Rs.
Madras and Bombay have ... ... 2,00,000
Bengal, Eastern Bengal and Assam,
United Provinces, Punjab and
Burma have ... ... ... 50,000
Central Provinces, Rajputana, Cen-
tral India, Hyderabad, North-
West Frontier, Baluchistan, and
Ooorg have ... ... ... 20,000
Port Blair has ... ... ... ... 5,000
I see no reason why Superintending Engineers,
made Engineers-in-Chief, should not ibe given
powers, as far as engineering is concerned, up to
Rs. 50,000, or less if the powers of the Local
Administrations are less. Local Governments
and Local Administrations are not concerned with
engineering details, they must be dependent on
their professional advisers, and all I want to do
is to divert this responsibility from the Secretary-
Chief-Engineer to the circle officer. Engineers?
in-Chief of Railways, on railway construction,
have powers up to Rs. 50,000, and they are Super-
intending Engineers, sometimes even Executive
Engineers.
Under Provincial, Local Governments and Local
Administrations have the same powers as the
Government of India, that is Rs. 10,00,000, and
under this head the powers of circle officers
might be still further increased to, say, a lakh,
or even 2 lakhs, or more. Take the case of a
road, if a Superintending Engineer can sanction
Rs. 10,000 for a certain length of road involving
earth work, metalling, and culverts, it is absurd
that he cannot sanction the engineering of a few
extra miles entailing exactly the same kind of
work. For it will be understood that I am
alluding entirely to engineering details, not to
administrative approval. New works would
require the administrative sanction of the Local
Government ; it is only when that stage is passed
that I would so largely increase the responsi-
bilities of the circle officer.
This then is the main point, and I urge it in
the interests of the duties both of Secretary and
of Superintending Engineer. If the former is
very conscientious he will examine the estimates
which come up from the Executives through the
Superintending Engineers in much detail, and
working with his nose to the ground he has no
time to keep a comprehensive look ahead. Or,
paying more attention to his administrative work,
he may leave the estimates to be dealt with by
his Undersecretary or Personal Assistant, in
which case they are examined by officers junior
to the Superintending Engineer, and who should
be inferior to him in attainments. The system
would also give the circle officers powers suitable
to their standing, and foster and encourage good
men instead of keeping them in a position in
which their energies are so successfully paralysed.