Bureaucracy
Traditional Bureaucracy !!
- The government of east india company initially tried to
rule the country with the help of the traditional bureaucracy.
- Under the system
of robert clive,
the traditional bureaucracy was almost fully maintained.
Domination of European elements !!
- But the administration
of warren hastings introduced
a bureaucracy dominated by European elements.
- The top offices were held by
European civilians, and the lower bureaucracy by the natives. It was a blend of
the old and new bureaucracies.
Colonial Bureaucracy !! (Era of CORNWALLIS )
- lord cornwallis abandoned the experiment of ruling the
company kingdom with a bureaucracy in partnership with the natives, and laid
the foundation of a colonial bureaucracy consisting exclusively of the whites.
- Until the
introduction of Cornwallis’ new civil service, the company’s commercial
bureaucracy governed Bengal. It was called Covenanted Civil Service (CCS) and
its members were directly appointed by, and responsible to, the Court of
Directors.
- The officers appointed locally by the fort william authorities belonged to the
Uncovenanted Civil Service (UCS). They were engaged mostly for short term and
for specific purposes, and their salaries were nominal.
- The salaries of the
members of the CCS though not high, their right to private trade was a kind of
compensation. They were also tacitly allowed to receive commissions and
perquisites. Trade and public administration were vested in the same hands.
By separating trade
from civil service Cornwallis founded a professional civil service to
administer the colonial state. The salary structure of civilians was made
immensely attractive. Giving princely salaries to civilians was a means of
attracting competent people to the service on the one hand, and removing
rampant corruption on the other.
Recruitment, training, posting and promotions
of civilians were henceforth to be regulated by fixed and inviolable rules.
Civilians were expected to scrupulously adhere to established rules and
regulations. Under no circumstance were they to indulge in the former habit of
receiving gifts, bribes, and commissions from concerned parties. The civil
service was made exclusively an all-white affair. The natives were left with
only insignificant jobs. Cornwallis had the notion that the natives were
incorrigibly corrupt and inefficient, and that their participation in the civil
service would keep the administration weak and corrupt. The civil service
manual embodying the rules and regulations and set-up of the CCS was
incorporated into the Charter Act of 1793.
Changes
(1793-1854)
- The basic
structure of the CCS as established by the Cornwallis administration remained
mostly intact until 1833.
- But considerable changes were then made in the
structure of the UCS.
- The natives were almost entirely excluded from the state
bureaucracy under the reforms of 1793.
- But the exclusion policy was not
sustained for long. The administration of the newly conquered territories was a
strain not only on the existing manpower of the bureaucracy, but also on the
state revenue.
- The budgetary expenditure of the state increased without a
corresponding increase in revenue collection.
- The administration of lord wellesley tried
to solve the problem by relaxing the exclusion policy and by restructuring the
UCS. Wellesley resolved to fill the lower ranks of the UCS by appointing
competent natives. He introduced a new post called sadar amin in the judicial
department. All petty cases were to be disposed of by sadar amin. In the
colonial bureaucracy this sadar amin was the first native member. Under the
Cornwallis system there were positions held by natives, such as munsif, pandit,
munshi, serestadar, thanadar, sepoy, barkandaz.
Lord BENTINCK !!
- But these were little
short of ministerial under some UCS officer who was a white man. Their services
were mostly obtained in lieu of fees and commissions.
- The participation of the
natives in the UCS was further expanded under lord bentinck.
- As an economy measure,
Bentinck increased the power and responsibility of the sadar amin, and created
a new post designated as principal sadar amin who was to be above sadar amin.
- In the judicial hierarchy the principal sadar amin appeared as the native
magistrate and judge just next to the additional district judge.
Changes as power of COMPANY diminished !!!
- The structure of the
CCS was changed significantly under the Charter Act of 1833.
- The Cornwallisian
CCS was designed to administer the company’s Bengal state.
- But the colonial
state subsequently underwent dramatic changes.
- The vast territorial conquests
from the time of Wellesley (1798-1805) to lord amherst (1823-1828), the
abolition of the company’s monopoly from 1813, the withdrawal of the ban on
Europeans to control land and settle in the mufassil, the abolition of the
trading right of the Company, and the policy of liberalisation of the Bentinck
administration (1828-1835) made the Cornwallisian bureaucracy mostly
unworkable.
- Under the Charter Act of 1793, the Court of Directors enjoyed the
privilege of recruiting members of the CCS, a privilege which came under severe
public criticism after the abolition of the monopoly right of the Company in
1813.
Charter Act of 1833
- Under the changed
circumstances it became practically impossible to run the colonial state with
only the white bureaucracy.
- The Charter Act of 1833 provided that henceforth
UCS would be open to all people irrespective of race, religion and caste.
- But
civilian pressure groups prevented the Charter declaration from being fully
implemented. Bentinck could only introduce some reforms in the judicial branch
of the government. He appointed a principal sadar amin in the district court.
- He also proposed to appoint a native deputy collector in the district
administration, but in the face of civilian opposition the proposal remained
unimplemented until the 1840s.
Lack of ADMINISTRATIVE abilities due to lack of proper training and recruitment !!
Under Bentinck, major
changes took place in the recruitment and training of civilians. Under the
Charter Act, 1793, recruitment for CCS was an exclusive privilege of the
Company. The directors of the company and members of the Board of Control enjoyed the privilege of
nominating at least one writer (beginner civilian) each to the Company’s civil
service. The system was called patronage and was something which the designated
authorities of the Company enjoyed. The writers were between 14 and 16 years
old, and had insufficient education and experience. There was no system for
training the newly recruits who, in fact, got appointed through working as
writers or apprentices with the experienced staff for a couple of years. The
system of patronage and apprenticeship was designed to run the affairs of the
Company when it was only a commercial organisation. But for governing a state
such a system was certainly inadequate.
Reforms introduced by WELLESLEY !!
- Lord Wellesley felt
the immediate need to reform the system of recruitment and training of the
civil service of the empire.
- But for political and other legal complications
the system of patronage continued for some time.
- Under the circumstance,
Wellesley tried to educate and train the writers in his own way. He established
a training and educational centre for them in Calcutta in 1800. This was
called fort william
college.
- Before the writers assumed any office they were required to
take education and training for three years at the College. The writers were
required to learn at least two Indian languages, and complete specific courses
on Indian history and culture, Hindu and Muslim laws, eastern and western
civilisation, and theories and practices of government and administration.
The PATRONAGE SYSTEM in Bureaucracy !!
- The Court approved
Wellesley’s idea of training the writers but not of training them in the
college at Calcutta.
- Instead, the court founded in 1805 a similar institution
called East India College, commonly known as Haileybury College in England.
- The
candidates nominated by the directors and other holders of patronage were
required to study at this college for three years. The syllabi of their study
included political economy, classics and general literature, mathematics,
history and laws of England, history and laws of India, natural philosophy and
some oriental languages, such as Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Bangla and
Sanskrit.
- The candidates successfully completing three-year course were called
upon to proceed to India to join as writers. At Fort William College, the
writers were required to study the languages of the concerned province for
which they were selected. The writers demonstrating the highest merit were
selected for service in Bengal.
- The unsuccessful candidates at Hailebury
College were given a second chance to appear in examinations. Candidates
unsuccessful for the second time were discarded, and fresh nominations were
sought from their patrons.
- The patronage system in the recruitment of civil
service was abolished under the Charter Act of 1853, and consequently Hailebury
College was also abolished in 1858.
The Macaulay Committee !!
- Competitive
examinations for recruitment East India Company lost its monopoly in
1831 and its patronage system in 1853. These measures led Parliament to set up
a five-member committee headed by tb macaulay to make recommendations on the nature
of recruitment and training of civilians for the Covenanted Civil Service.
- According to the recommendations of the Macaulay Committee, a permanent
committee called Civil Service Commissioners was set up for recruiting
civilians on the basis of merit.
- The Civil Service Commissioners would hold
annual competitive examinations in London, and recommend to the Court a list of
candidates according to merit.
- The competition was made open to all citizens of
the British Empire with age limit between 18 and 23 years.
- Educational
qualification was graduation or any equivalent degree. The total marks of
examinations was 1250, and the subjects were English composition; English
literature and history; Greek language, literature and history; Roman language,
literature and history; French language, literature and history; German
language, literature and history; Italian language, literature and history;
mathematics, natural sciences, moral and political philosophy, Sanskrit
language and literature, and Arabic language and literature.
Until final training
and posting, the successful candidates would be called probationers.
Probationers would take training at Oxford University for two years. During
probation period, probationers would mainly study major Indian languages, and
India’s history, geography, society, economy, politics, culture and laws. Every
probationer was required to achieve proficiency in two Indian languages
including the vernacular language of the province of posting. Any probationer
could be removed from selection if he failed in any academic and physical
examinations. The successful probationers would be posted to various provinces
according to merit. The reason for such rigorous academic training for
civilians was elaborated in the Macaulay report. It was argued that the role
that was played by elected parliament and local bodies in governing the kingdom
of Britain was to be played by the civilians recruited to govern the kingdom of
British India. And hence the civilians, who were to be virtual lords of the
land and people, must be so perfect morally and intellectually and so judicious
in the exercise of power as would make them perfect representative of British
nation and benevolent guardians of the Indian people.
The probationers from
the top of the list would be posted to the Bengal presidency. After being
posted in a province, the probationers would receive practical training as
assistant collectors under the district collector and magistrate. After
successful completion of all these tests, a probationer would get regular
appointment as a member of the Covenanted Civil Service.
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Indianisation
of bureaucracy
- The
professional bureaucracy of British India was an all-white affair until the
last decade of the Company rule.
- The lowest cadres of the Uncovenanted Civil
Service, particularly in the judicial branch, were made open to local elites by
the administration of Lord Wellesley and Lord Bentinck.
- Though the Charter Act
of 1833 withdrew the Cornwallisian embargo on the recruitment of natives for
civil service, in theory, the exclusion continued in practice until 1854 when
the Company’s privilege of patronage was finally abolished and recruitment by
open competitive examinations began.
- As for the entry of Indians into CCS was
concerned, the open competition system did not actually end the ethnic exclusiveness
of the service. For instance, Indian candidates were required to go to London
to compete for CCS.
This meant that an
aspirant, no matter how meritorious, would have to fund the passage to London
and would have to be religiously uninhibited. Furthermore, the examination
syllabi focussed on European languages, literatures and histories, subjects, in
which the Indian students were not proficient. Consequently, CCS remained an
exclusive club for whites. From 1855 to 1914, Indian recruitment remained insignificant
(only 84 as against 2644 Europeans), and no Indian could rise in rank above
that of district judge or district magistrate.
These factors drew
the attention of nationalists and the vernacular press. Their persistent demand
was that in the governance of India, Indian participation would have to be made
significant. Attempts were made to enhance native participation in the
bureaucracy by restructuring UCS.
Under the Civil Service Act 1861, the former
UCS was abolished and a new service called Subordinate Executive Service for
the Indian and Anglo-Indian communities was introduced. Under this service,
deputy and sub-deputy collectors were appointed from amongst the departmental
candidates. From a departmentally prepared panel of three persons one was
appointed on the basis of merit ascertained by a departmental competitive
examination. Under the pressure of the nationalists the civil service was
further Indianised in 1879 by creating a new service called Statutory Civil
Service, under which provisions were made to appoint a certain number of
Indians in the higher executive service by nomination. Recruitment of
aristocratic but loyal people from Hindu and Muslim communities was essentially
the object of this service.
But such divisive
measures evoked severe criticism from the Bengal press and the elites. Their
demand was to hold Indian Civil Service (ICS) examinations in India and recruit
increasing number of Indians in the ICS and other services. In 1886 was thus
set up Public Service Commission commonly called Aitchison Commission. The
commission was asked to make recommendations on ways and means of further
Indianising the civil service.
The Aitchison Commission
- The Aitchison
Commission recommended the abolition of the Subordinate Civil Service and
Statutory Civil Service, and instead creation of provincial civil services
named after the provinces, for example, Bengal Provincial Civil Service, Punjab
Provincial Civil Service.
- The Aitchison Commission further recommended that
some services reserved for the CCS ought to be transferred to the provincial
civil service and that every provincial civil service should have a junior
cadre called subordinate civil service.
- Furthermore, it recommended that
recruitment in these services should be made through competition among
departmentally nominated candidates.
- In short, making a strong and prestigious
provincial civil service was the essence of the Aitchison Commission.
- All the
recommendations of the Aitchison Commission were implemented, including the
name of the service.
- Instead of Covenanted Civil Service, it was now named
Indian Civil Service thus making the title consistent with that of the
provincial civil service which was now introduced for the provinces.
Bengal Provincial
Civil Service, like all other provincial civil services created under the
Aitchison Commission Report, did not in fact create any new access to the
superior services reserved for the ICS which was still almost an exclusive club
for whites. Consequently the reforms in the structure of the civil services did
not at all abate the agitation for meaningful Indianisation of civil services.
Arguments of Central Government against the ideas of Aitchison Committee's recommendations !!
- Against unreserved
and unrestricted Indianisation of civil services, the central government argued
that all provinces of British India were not equally equipped for open
competition.
- Even within the province itself, in its view, all communities were
not equally prepared for free competition.
- In addition, there were ethnic and
low caste problems. It was argued that completely open competition would lead
to the absolute predominance of the Bengal Hindu Bhadralok class in civil
services, a development which would create undoubtedly new political problems.
- For example, though Muslims were majority community in Bengal, in 1915 only
five percent of them were represented in the service.
- Free competition was thus
sure to make the situation further worse.
The Islington Commission !!
- The problem was
intensely studied by the islington commission (1912-1915).
- Guided by
political considerations, the Commission recommended for recruitment to the
civil services both at Indian and provincial levels on the basis of
proportionate representations of leading communities and ethnic peoples.
- The
report was strongly opposed by the indian national congress and the nationalist press.
The Montagu - Chelmsford Report !!
The montagu-chelmsford report (1918)
suggested that one-third of the positions in the superior civil services should
be recruited in India, and that this percentage should progressively increase
in the interest of the development of self-governing institutions.
The LEE Commission !!
- The lee commission of 1924 further studied the
recommendations of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report and recommended for the
planned Indianisation of the civil services.
- According to the recommendations
of the Lee Commission, 20% of the ICS vacancies should be filled by promotion
from the provincial civil service, and 80% should be equally divided between
Indians and Europeans.
- Recruitment should be on the basis of competitive
examinations held in England and India.
- In the recruitment and promotions the
government was advised to keep communal and ethnic interests in view.
- For the
first time ICS examinations were held in India in 1922.
- As per recommendations
of the Lee Commission, the Indian Public Service Commission was established in
1926.
- In 1935 it was renamed as the Federal Public Service Commission.
- The
functions of the Commission were to frame rules and regulations of civil
services, hold competitive examinations, and oversee the over-all Indianisation
processes at both provincial and central levels.
- The Public Service Commission
consisted of five members including the chairman, and was directly appointed
by, and responsible to, the Secretary of State-in-Council.
- Under the Government
of India Act of 1935, many superior services were transferred to the provincial
civil service. But the district administration was retained in the hands of the
ICS until the end of British rule in 1947.
The
days of the ICS of the British colonial brand closed with the partition of
India in 1947. However, the dominions continued mostly to maintain the British
structures of administration along with the elite cadre of top civil service on
the model of the erstwhile ICS. India since 1947 has been maintaining the elite
Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Pakistan also had its own cadre of elite
civil servants in the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) which existed in the
original form until the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971 when its Eastern wing
(East Pakistan) emerged to have been an independent state of Bangladesh. Under
the new circumstances the elite civil services were recast to meet the demands
of the new state.
