DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68026#0190
184
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE :
SMHerVert
Riiley.
1 Apr., 1908.
45862**. Could not power to sanction appoint-
ment of Europeans not statutory natives of India
to appointments carrying salary of Rs. 200 and
upwards be left to Local Governments?—I would
propose that power to sanction appointments of
Europeans in all cases may be delegated to Local
Governments, but that it should be subject to the
control of the Government of India; that each
appointment should be reported to them, and that
they should be at liberty to intervene if they con-
sidered that the power had been abused in any
instance.
45863-4**. When the pay of an appointment does
not exceed Rs. 50 per mensem, should not the Local
Governments be empowered to sanction full pay
being given to a temporary substitute when a
competent man cannot be obtained for less?—The
Secretary of State is about to be asked to authorise
the delegation of this power to Local Governments.
45865**. Is there any objection to officers who
are appointed to special posts, such as the Commis-
sioner of Excise or Inspector-General of Police,
being required, as a condition of appointment, to
.retain the post for a period of at least 5 to
10 years ; and does not the constant vacation under
the present system cause loss of efficiency?—The
suggestion is generally sound, and the pay of the
Inspector-General of Police in the larger provinces
was recently fixed so as to secure permanence of
tenure within reasonable limits. In the nature of
the case no hard-and-fast rule is possible.
45866**. Does the exercise of patronage inter-
fere with the utility of Government of India Heads
of Departments by making the personal element
too prominent? Does the absence of any power
of appointment increase the usefulness of Inspec-
tors-General, e.g., of Forests ; and could the same
principle be applied to other Departments, e.g.,
the Public Works Department, by placing the execu-
tive and administrative grades under provincial
control ?—The Heads of Departments under the
Home Department have no patronage in the ordi-
nary sense of the word.
45867**. Is there any objection to .Local Govern-
ment sanctioning the acceptance by their officers
of a fee for outside work of over Rs. 500 ; Heads
of Departments sanctioning where the fee is under
Rs. 500, and District Officers when it is under
Rs. 100 ?—In cases where the acceptance of a fee
is admissible, I see no objection to the power of
sanction being exercised in the manner suggested.
45868**. Should not the Local Government be
empowered to make temporary appointments of
outsiders to the Indian Educational Service pro-
vided that the pay does not exceed Rs. 250 a
month ?—I would suggest that the power to fill
temporary vacancies in the Indian Educational
Service by gentlemen other than members of the
Provincial or Subordinate Educational Services
should be delegated to Local Governments.
45869**. What are your views as to the allocation
of control over education to municipalities and
District Boards as regards primary, middle and
secondary schools ? — The Education Commission
did not recommend the devolution of control over
secondary education from provincial Governments
to municipalities or Local Boards, and expressly
abstained from making any such recommendation.
Since then there have been some experiments in
devolution of that kind. The experience gained
has been decisive against such a measure, and
the Governments which have abandoned control,
or have failed to establish it, have now resumed,
or are about to resume, the direct management of
a sufficient number of secondary schools. The
standard at present adopted is that Government
should manage one secondary school in every
district. I am in favour of this. I believe that
the educational authorities and the Local Govern-
ments generally are agreed in it, and I believe
that in the province where the acceptance of this
principle involves the largest departure from pre-
sent conditions, the Lieutenant-Governor has stated
that the announcement of the intended change
has been received with general approval. It is a
mistake to suppose public feeling to be on the
side of municipal or District Board control over
secondary education, as compared with control by
the provincial Governments. The standard of one
Government secondary .school to a district is a
minimum, and I do not consider it necessarily a
maximum. This by no means completes the supply
of secondary schools which are required, and there
is plenty of room for municipal secondary schools
in addition to the Government .schools. These are
managed by the municipalities and inspected by
the Education Department, and I see no reason to
suggest any change in this allocation of control.
I include middle English schools in the category
of secondary schools.
In primary, that is to say vernacular education,,
the only boys’ schools which are, or need be,
managed by provincial Governments are those-
existing in places where local self-government has
not been established. The control over the re-
mainder is vested in municipalities and Local
Boards. Different degrees of control are exercised
in different provinces by the Education Department
over the local bodies entrusted with the manage-
ment of primary schools. In my opinion, the
general principle to be followed is that the manage-
ment should rest with the local body and the
inspection with the Education Department. The
local bodies should not control the inspecting staff.
But no Government can limit itself merely to
inspection of schools ; there must be some power
to call upon the local bodies to put right the
deficiencies which inspection reveals. That is to
say, while the immediate responsibility for
management rests with local bodies, there must be
some controlling and supervising power, in addi-
tion to the inspecting power, residing in the
Education Department. It is in the measures
taken for securing this supervising power that
the provinces differ. I do not consider uniformity
necessary, and therefore do not advocate any one
way of defining the manner in which this super-
vising control shall be exercised, to the exclusion
of others. Middle vernacular schools I include
with primary schools.
With respect to female education, the Education
Commission recommended that “ female schools
be not placed under the management of Local
Boards or of municipalities unless they express a
wish to take charge of them.” This recommenda-
tion has hardly been applied until recent years.
There is now a tendency to transfer girls’ schools
to the management of Government from that of
Local Boards and municipalities, especially where
these are apathetic or have shown by experience
that they cannot manage the schools properly. I
see no reason for objecting to the substitution of
direct Government control for local control in such
cases.
45870-1**. Complaint is made that the Mili-
tary Department has hedged the process of re-
verting Medical Officers to Military Service with
considerable difficulties. What are the facts?—
The rules now in force were framed by the Home
and Military Departments in consultation and
received the approval of the Secretary of State. I
believe them to represent a fair compromise be-
tween the conflicting interests involved. The
summary of the Madras confidential reports for
1906 shows that, except in the cases of a few
senior men, Surgeon-General Browne’s opinion of
his Indian Medical Service officers was generally
favourable. Where it was unfavourable the
Government of India either reverted the officer
concerned or declined to promote him to adminis-
trative rank. I should further explain that it
is not open to a Local Government to revert an
Indian Medical Service officer to military duty
before he is confirmed in civil employment. But
if a Local Government refused on sufficiently good
grounds to recommend an officer’s confirmation, the
Government of India would be prepared to con-
sider the question of ordering his reversion or his
transfer to another province. It is necessary to
insist upon cause being shown, in order to guard
against a Local Government refusing to recom-
mend the confirmation of a particular officer on
racial, personal, or altogether trivial grounds. It may
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE :
SMHerVert
Riiley.
1 Apr., 1908.
45862**. Could not power to sanction appoint-
ment of Europeans not statutory natives of India
to appointments carrying salary of Rs. 200 and
upwards be left to Local Governments?—I would
propose that power to sanction appointments of
Europeans in all cases may be delegated to Local
Governments, but that it should be subject to the
control of the Government of India; that each
appointment should be reported to them, and that
they should be at liberty to intervene if they con-
sidered that the power had been abused in any
instance.
45863-4**. When the pay of an appointment does
not exceed Rs. 50 per mensem, should not the Local
Governments be empowered to sanction full pay
being given to a temporary substitute when a
competent man cannot be obtained for less?—The
Secretary of State is about to be asked to authorise
the delegation of this power to Local Governments.
45865**. Is there any objection to officers who
are appointed to special posts, such as the Commis-
sioner of Excise or Inspector-General of Police,
being required, as a condition of appointment, to
.retain the post for a period of at least 5 to
10 years ; and does not the constant vacation under
the present system cause loss of efficiency?—The
suggestion is generally sound, and the pay of the
Inspector-General of Police in the larger provinces
was recently fixed so as to secure permanence of
tenure within reasonable limits. In the nature of
the case no hard-and-fast rule is possible.
45866**. Does the exercise of patronage inter-
fere with the utility of Government of India Heads
of Departments by making the personal element
too prominent? Does the absence of any power
of appointment increase the usefulness of Inspec-
tors-General, e.g., of Forests ; and could the same
principle be applied to other Departments, e.g.,
the Public Works Department, by placing the execu-
tive and administrative grades under provincial
control ?—The Heads of Departments under the
Home Department have no patronage in the ordi-
nary sense of the word.
45867**. Is there any objection to .Local Govern-
ment sanctioning the acceptance by their officers
of a fee for outside work of over Rs. 500 ; Heads
of Departments sanctioning where the fee is under
Rs. 500, and District Officers when it is under
Rs. 100 ?—In cases where the acceptance of a fee
is admissible, I see no objection to the power of
sanction being exercised in the manner suggested.
45868**. Should not the Local Government be
empowered to make temporary appointments of
outsiders to the Indian Educational Service pro-
vided that the pay does not exceed Rs. 250 a
month ?—I would suggest that the power to fill
temporary vacancies in the Indian Educational
Service by gentlemen other than members of the
Provincial or Subordinate Educational Services
should be delegated to Local Governments.
45869**. What are your views as to the allocation
of control over education to municipalities and
District Boards as regards primary, middle and
secondary schools ? — The Education Commission
did not recommend the devolution of control over
secondary education from provincial Governments
to municipalities or Local Boards, and expressly
abstained from making any such recommendation.
Since then there have been some experiments in
devolution of that kind. The experience gained
has been decisive against such a measure, and
the Governments which have abandoned control,
or have failed to establish it, have now resumed,
or are about to resume, the direct management of
a sufficient number of secondary schools. The
standard at present adopted is that Government
should manage one secondary school in every
district. I am in favour of this. I believe that
the educational authorities and the Local Govern-
ments generally are agreed in it, and I believe
that in the province where the acceptance of this
principle involves the largest departure from pre-
sent conditions, the Lieutenant-Governor has stated
that the announcement of the intended change
has been received with general approval. It is a
mistake to suppose public feeling to be on the
side of municipal or District Board control over
secondary education, as compared with control by
the provincial Governments. The standard of one
Government secondary .school to a district is a
minimum, and I do not consider it necessarily a
maximum. This by no means completes the supply
of secondary schools which are required, and there
is plenty of room for municipal secondary schools
in addition to the Government .schools. These are
managed by the municipalities and inspected by
the Education Department, and I see no reason to
suggest any change in this allocation of control.
I include middle English schools in the category
of secondary schools.
In primary, that is to say vernacular education,,
the only boys’ schools which are, or need be,
managed by provincial Governments are those-
existing in places where local self-government has
not been established. The control over the re-
mainder is vested in municipalities and Local
Boards. Different degrees of control are exercised
in different provinces by the Education Department
over the local bodies entrusted with the manage-
ment of primary schools. In my opinion, the
general principle to be followed is that the manage-
ment should rest with the local body and the
inspection with the Education Department. The
local bodies should not control the inspecting staff.
But no Government can limit itself merely to
inspection of schools ; there must be some power
to call upon the local bodies to put right the
deficiencies which inspection reveals. That is to
say, while the immediate responsibility for
management rests with local bodies, there must be
some controlling and supervising power, in addi-
tion to the inspecting power, residing in the
Education Department. It is in the measures
taken for securing this supervising power that
the provinces differ. I do not consider uniformity
necessary, and therefore do not advocate any one
way of defining the manner in which this super-
vising control shall be exercised, to the exclusion
of others. Middle vernacular schools I include
with primary schools.
With respect to female education, the Education
Commission recommended that “ female schools
be not placed under the management of Local
Boards or of municipalities unless they express a
wish to take charge of them.” This recommenda-
tion has hardly been applied until recent years.
There is now a tendency to transfer girls’ schools
to the management of Government from that of
Local Boards and municipalities, especially where
these are apathetic or have shown by experience
that they cannot manage the schools properly. I
see no reason for objecting to the substitution of
direct Government control for local control in such
cases.
45870-1**. Complaint is made that the Mili-
tary Department has hedged the process of re-
verting Medical Officers to Military Service with
considerable difficulties. What are the facts?—
The rules now in force were framed by the Home
and Military Departments in consultation and
received the approval of the Secretary of State. I
believe them to represent a fair compromise be-
tween the conflicting interests involved. The
summary of the Madras confidential reports for
1906 shows that, except in the cases of a few
senior men, Surgeon-General Browne’s opinion of
his Indian Medical Service officers was generally
favourable. Where it was unfavourable the
Government of India either reverted the officer
concerned or declined to promote him to adminis-
trative rank. I should further explain that it
is not open to a Local Government to revert an
Indian Medical Service officer to military duty
before he is confirmed in civil employment. But
if a Local Government refused on sufficiently good
grounds to recommend an officer’s confirmation, the
Government of India would be prepared to con-
sider the question of ordering his reversion or his
transfer to another province. It is necessary to
insist upon cause being shown, in order to guard
against a Local Government refusing to recom-
mend the confirmation of a particular officer on
racial, personal, or altogether trivial grounds. It may