Reforms in British Administration

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AND AFTER

The  outbreak of 1857, called by Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya as the First War of Independence, was a shock to  the  British  government and  its  bureaucracy. - Economic exploitation, social  deprivation, and political unrest made 1857 outburst inevitable. The British rulers had to revise their policy of conquest and annexations and to adopt  a cautious and calculated view of association and cooperation. The Act of 1858 ended the Company rule and the system of Double Government  by Board of Control in  England  and the Court of Directors of  the company  introduced by the Pitt's India Act, 1784. Indian Administration  came  directly under the-Crown. The Act created the office of the Secretary of State who was a cabinet minister in the British cabinet. His salary and establishment was  paid from the Indian revenue. He was assisted by a council of fifteen members to make him familiar with Indian affairs. With the end of the East India Company, British Parliament lost much interest in Indian affairs and the Secretary of State for India became the defacto  government of  India. He  had overriding powers over. the  Council in  deliberations, appointments and the supremacy  of Home government over the Government of India as firmly established. The enlightened Indian opinion always criticised the constitutien and functioning of this council. The various changes introduced by the Act of 1858 were formally announced by a proclamation of Queen Victoria. The Queen felt that such a document should, lead to feeling of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration. It assured the, native  princes  their  rights,  dignity and  honour. This would specify them  and would make them act as a reactionary block against any progressive force raising its head against the British rule.

THE INDIAN COUNCILS ACTS

The Indian Councils Act 1861

The advance made by'the Indian Councils Act 1861 over the 1858 Act was mainly in the inclusion of a number of non-official members in the Executive Council of the Governor-General. The Governor General's executive council consisted of five members. And for the purpose of legislation, the council was reinforced by six to twelve nominated members for a two-year  term. Half of these were to be non- officials, both  European  and Indian not in the service of the Crown. There were similar councils at the provinces.
The powers of the Governor-General increased more in the field of legislation. The Council was presided over by the Governor-General. His prior approval was necessary to introduce measures affecting public finance, religion, discipline and maintenance of military and  naval forces and relations of the Government with foreign princes and States. His consent was nec9sary for any Act passed by the legislature and his Ordirances had the validity of an Act. The idea was that the legislature  should  conduct  its  business like a 'Committee'  or  a 'Commission', their  publicity  being limited  to  official  reports on  . The aim of  the Act, according to Sir Charles Wood, Secretary of State for  f ndia, was to prevent the legislature from interfering with the functions of the executive government. In the official despatch he avoided the word 'legislative council' and there was no mention of session in the  rules of business. The Executive government became too  strong  as  legislature  had  power without  control,  association  without representation. The belief of the British  rulers was that the most members of a dominant class. The earlier non-official members were mostly ruling princes, or their diwans or big landlords. Thuy had little interest or initiative in  its  working. And their representation was hardly 'public'.  European  interests settled in India differed from the  purely  imperial interests rooted in  Britain. The  practice  of private correspondence between  the Secretary of State and the Viceroy bypassed the majority of the  council. Also as the  functions of the council were merely legislative, it was a step backward with the provisions of the 1853 Act. It looks as if that the British Statesmen and thinkers, both conservative and liberals, felt sincerely  (though  wrongly)  that  Parliamentary form  of government  was unsuitable for India. Even John Stuart Mill, the  liberal, believed that India was not in a sufficiently advanced state to aspire for a representative government.

The Indian Councils Act 1892
The Indian Councils Act 1861 naturally could not satisfy the progressive public opinion in  India. in its very first  session  the  Indian National  Congress passed resolution  to make these councils broad based,  elective and with powers, over budget and powers to interpellate the Executive. To move too fast is dangerous, but to lag behind is more dangerous still (Lord Ripon). The liberal Governor-Generals and Viceroys advocated the need for making  councils more  popular. Also the Government of India felt that it would strengthen its position vis-a-vis the British government with the help of elected Indian members. European business interests in India also favoured larger elective element and broader functions expected to the councils. Lord Dalhousie's policy of providing for legislation on the basis of petitions from individuals and their associations contributed to the organisation of opinion for reforms. Constitutionalism and consultative  machinery thus moved towards a government based on popular representation.
Lord Dufferin's  Egyptian  experience in the  establishment of elected  provincial  councils was encouraging. He wanted to experiment the same in India. The main recommendations of the Dufferin Committee (1888) were: (i) the  expansion of Presidency councib and enlarging their  functions; (ii) providing representation to important interest; (iii) representation to Muslims in proportion to their population; (iv) reservation of a few seats to be filled by nomination as a safeguard against any inequality in the results of elections. The provincial iouncils would be of two tiers. The first representing hereditary trade, professions, commercial interest. The first directly elected and the second indirectly. The provincial administration would also be divided in two parts - general and  local  and the councils would have larger powers in local matters. As the  British  Statesmen were still influenced by the feeling that 'constitutional  ' principles could not be applied to a conquered country' and that there would be no relaxation of 'bureaucratic despotism', The Indian Councils Act 1892 did not much satisfy local  aspirations. It expanded  the  Executive  Council of the  Governor- General.  Nominations  were to be made by provincial  councils, local  bodies, professional bodies, etc. The members had  now a right to put questions and discuss on  matters of budget.  Though a previous notice was necessary and the question could be disallowed without assigning any reason, this right was more than symbolic. Obviously, official majority was mainstreamed in both the Supreme as well as provincial councils.
The Act  really  was an advance over the  1861 legislation as it gave  rights to the council which way Parliamentary in nature. It was an attempt at a  compromise between the official views of the council as 'pocket  legislature' and the educated Indian view as embryo Parliaments. The right of interpellation without the right to veto carries little meaning and less weight. The extremist element in the National Congress was dominating and the practice of the Act also defeated its purpose of 'giving further opportunities to the non-officials and the  native element in Indian society to tab part in the workof the government'.

The National Movement and Constitutional Reforms

While the British established a regular system of government in India from 1857 to  1947, the slow pace of constitutional experiments  showed uneasy compromises, the British Statesmen were making with the exigencies in the Indian situation. The policy of apparent association, therefore, went had in  hand with the policy of oppression, and constitutional  advances were always barbed  with restrictive conditions so that the core of executive bureaucratic responsibility would  remain untouched.  Such contradictions seem to be inevitable with imperialism  because imperialism itself is incompatible with democratic theory and practices. The contradictions were clearly  exposed in Lord Lytton's repressive  policy,  the Arms  Act, the Vernacular  Press  Act,  holding of Imperial  Darbar during severe famine, abolition of cotton import duty to serve British textile interest. (This was the  first time when the  veto power  was exercised by the Governor-General in
India). The Ilbert Bill controversy (1 883) also was an eye opener to Indians. The Bill was to empower Indian magistrates to try criminal cases of white people which were objected by the whites.  Equally  eye  opening  were the  attempts to keep Indiafis out of higher jobs, especially the Indian Civil  Service. All  these clearly indicated the imperialist belief in white man's  supremacy.
The Indian National  movement organised itself in the Indian National Congress (1 885). Initially influenced by the Western educated upper middle class, it aimed at securing reforms through peaceful and constitutional means. The British rulers also felt  that  this wound remove  misunderstanding  about  the interactions  of the government and wouM save thc empire.  The moderats had faith in the British sense ofjustice and fair play.
Their aim  was gradual  reforms with constitutional means. The  Congress progromrne tossed Mlwecn extremists and liberals till it became a mass movement, in the real sense and &manded nothing short of 'Purna Swaraj'.
 
THE MORLEY MINTO REFORMS 1909

The Main Provisions

The Indian Councils Act (1909) substantially increased the strength of legislative councils - the Imperial and provincial. For the Imperial, the Supreme Council, the number of  additional members was  raised fiom 16 to 60.  For  major provincial councils, the number was raised to 50 and for minor provinces it was fleed to 30. The  additional members were both nominated and elected. The principle of election was council representation. In the  Supreme Legislative  Council, the official majority  was  maintained by in he provincial  councils, the non-officials
formed the majority. The A& definitely expanded the  functions of the legislative councils. These canaerned discussions on' the  budget (The Annual Financial statement), discussion on any matter of general public  interest  and  thirdly the power of asking questions. Tb Act also increased the number of Executive conncillors  in the three major Presidencies - Bombay, Madras and Bengal, Indians were now appointed as members of the Secretary of States' Council (1907) and members of the  Governor-Generals'  Council  (1909).  Some  other  important feature of the Act of 1909 included: right of separate electorate to the Muslims; the Secretary of the state for India was empowered to increase the number of the Executive 43ouncils of Madras and Bombay fiom two to four; two Indians were nominated to  the  Cquncil of the  Secretary  of state for  Indian  affairs;  and empowering Governor-General to nominate one Indian Member to his Executive Council. etc.
Both Lord Morley, the then Secretary of Statc, and Lord Minto, the then Governor General of India,  felt that  it  wes not  desirable to  introduce  a responsible government in India and it would never suit the Indian conditions. 'The safety and welfare of this  country must depend upon the  supremacy  of  the British administration and that Bupremacy can in  no circutllstances be delegated to' any kind of representative assembly' (Lord Minto). .
The reforms introduced Indians to the legislative culture - developing opinions out of the  interaction  of different interests.  This is  the essence of Parliamentary institutions. The transfer of Parliamentary responsibility now became the logical next. Introduction of elections.(though indirect-elections),  the  power of  asking supplementary questions (though restricted), the right of voting on some part of the budget (the votable part), the right of moving resolution on the matters of public interest strengthehed legislative practices. The non-offtcial and elective base also was  sufficient1 hvanced as compared  to the earlier Acts. The Indian Netional Congress, handled by the Moderates,  said  that  the  scheme was a 'large  and liberal installment o reforms'.  Morley had discussed these reform proposals with Gokhale, the liberal leader.
But the rules and regulations made under the Act and the  implications of certain provisions defeated the liberal spirit. The indirect system of.elections inspired little interest  and offered less  political  education. The representation of different functional interests affected the team spirit of the non-officials. The most harmful was the provision for separate representation for Muslims. This was the beginning of the  communal representation, the  communal electorate which  logically led to the partition of the country on communal basis. The Muslims objected to the joint electoral colleges but the role of the Government has also been  very evident and positive  in  introducing  communal  electorates.  The  Muslims  had  got proportionately more representation than  their population on  the  assumption of their political importance. Similar protection was not extended to Hindus minority in Muslim majority provinces. Also the Governor General had powers to reject the appointment of any elected member to the council. And this provision  restricted the freedom of the electorate.
The non-official majority in provincial councils yas n.ot elective. The Europeans in the Indian eyes were as good as officials. The fantilords and nominated members habitually voted  with the  government. The representation  gave  Indians  only personal influence but  not power in  legislative councils. The constituencies were small (the largest which returned a Member directly had 650 voters). Even with enlarged functions, the powers and position of legislative councils were secondary. The resolutions of the council were not binding on the Gbvemment. Its deliberations were of advisory nature. The official members were fully controlled by the official mandate and had tittle freedom in legislative participation. Reorganigation of Departments Constitutional refms were reflected  in  the  changing  structure  of  the governmntal machihery as the government moved towards the federal  form. Creation  of new departments,  their  reorganisation and setting procedures for smooth conduct of department business naturally became inevitable. Departmental orNsation not  only  makes administration smooth  but  also streamlines its processes and secures economy in its operation. In the beginning, administration was grouped  under two broad segments one covering  General, Foreign and Finance and the second covering  Secret, Revenue and Judicial departments. In  1843, administration was divided into four departments, Military, Foreign, Home and Finance. The Home department dealt with legislation also. In 1855, a  separate department of Public Works was established  with the development  of  irrigation and  railways.  In  the  cause of time  three  main departments were established.  The Legislative Department (1869) took over the legislative work of the Home Depment. Obviously, it did not initiate or originate legislation.  The second department was Agriculture, Revenue and Commerce created in  1871  mainly to work as a guiding agency in  the context of  recurring famines. The third dbpartment was Industries and Commerce established in  1905. The Railway Board also yas constituted in the same year. It was to look after the Industrial and commercial development of the  country. Due to the controversy between Cumn atrd Kitchner  over  the  military  administration in  India, the Military  department was divided into  two  separate departments,  the Army Department and theiMilitiuy Supply Department. In  191 1, Education department was created. The ctljation of departments reflects the growinguolume of work attended by them. It is during this peribd that the concept of departmental responsibility grew: Lord Dalhousie assigned each member of the Council some specific departments and introduced  the  classification  of  papers as urgent,  routine,  unimportant and important. Only urgent papers would go directly to the Governor-General. Finally, in  1862 the portfolio system came  into operation. The  distribution of work was made specific and the  system of noting was introduced. In 1882 the flat file system was adopted. Lord Cunon improved upon this system to reduce delay to minimise official pedantry. The  emphasis was  on discouraging  excessive  noting and encouraging personal communication The Civil Service Before the Charter Act of 1833, the kourt of Directors of the East India Company controlled the selection and appointment of Civil Servants. The nominations were made individually by the Directors. Young Englishmen took writership as a career and they entered into a covenant to serve the company faithfully and honestly. They  were, therefgre,  called as  'Covenanted  Servants'.  The uncovenanted personnel were nqt a part of regular graded service. Abo the  security of service was limited. The distinction between the two was, however, getting blurred over a period. With the Act of  1833, the disciplinary control 6f the Government of India was established over civil servants. The important  issues in the development of civil service were thb age of reMtment, division of service between executive and judicial  branches dd the need and en*  of  Indians  into these services. Lord Salisbury in  1874 keduced the upper age limit  to nineteen and the  lower  to seventeen. This affkted Indian candidates. Though the  division  of  service  into administrative and judicial branches was  not favoured, Sir Campbell  &vised the system of Parallel lines of Promotion and a covenanted servant would choose after some years of service one or the other line. As the number of covenanted servants was restricted, the need for expanding uncovenanted services to fill in subordinate services was felt. ?this became obvious with provincial services and  growth in governmental work. This subsequently led to the demand of Indianisation of these services as later reflected in the Lee Commission Report(1924).

Financial Administration

A centralised financial system was introduced in  1833 as the earlier structure was  too diffused for effective control and economy. Lord Ellenborough created the post of a Finance  Secretary at  the Central  level and brought  all  financial operations under the review of the  Government of India. It realised effective control and economy but ended in delay in final approval. Ellenborough really wanted to have a Finance Member on his council. For Central control the ofice of the Comptroller General of Accounts was created and he remained in charge of appropriation audit.
In  1860, the  system  of budget  was  introduced.  Financial  relations  were decentralised for  the  first  time  in  1870 when Lord Mayo made provincial government responsible for the management of local finance in some areas which were primarily of provincial  interest. This relieved  the  Imperial  Finance  too because  provincial  governments  were  expected to raise  additional  revenue by raising local taxes. Obviously provincial budgets were required to be submitted to the Government of India for approval.

Police Administration

The law and order was earlier a community function and  was administered by a  non-official force controlled by individual zamindars. Lord Cornwallis introduced bthe daroga system in  1792, replacing zamindari thanedars under the direct control of the district head  and on its payroll. At the village level, village patels performed the  functions, both revenue  and  police. With the experiment in  Sindh by Sir Charles Napier, a separate self-contained expert police force came into existence.
At every district there was a Superintendent who was subordinate to the District Magistrate but departmentally under the control of the Commissioner of Police. In 1860, the Government of India appointed a Police Commission. It recommended the  establishment of a single homogenous force  of civil constabulary. It  was controlled by the Inspector General of Police. He was assisted in his work at the district level by a District Superintendent. The District Magistrate  retained  his judicial  authority  in  the administration of criminal justice.  The codification of  penal and procedural law also was undertaken.

Local Administration

Local government institutions are both n itural and useful.  Village  community government  existed in  India with a vil1ak.e headman  performing both civil and judicial functions. But the present system of local government is entirely a British creation.  The principle of election  and Lie concept of representativeness  were foreign to the old local government systeni. The Mayo resolution of 1870 stressed the need for introducing self government in local areas to raise local resources to administer locally important services and also to provide local interest and care in the management of their funds. Municipal Acts were accordingly passed in many provinces with elective local  bodies  coming  into  existence.  The first  local government, the Madras Corporation was established in 1687. In a course of time, other Presidency towns also formed local governments. Lord Ripon's resolution in 1882 has. been regarded as the landmark in  the history of local government in India.  The resolution  declared  that  'it  was not  primarily with a view of improvement that  this measure is  put forward - It  is chiefly  desirable as an instrument of political and popular education'. The resolution  extended election principle with an elected non-official Chairman. Ripon wanted to provide for the new educated middle class an opportunity for association and thereby check rigid bureaucracy.

THE MONTAGUE-CHELMSFORD REFORMS 1919

The Preamble of the Government of India Act 1919

'It is the declared policy of the Parliament to provide for the increasing association  of Indians  in  every  branch of lndian  administration  and  for  the  gradual development of the empire,governing institutions with a view  to the  progressive realisation of responsible government in  British  India as an integral part of the Empire. In response: to the spirit'of the preamble, the Act provided complete popular control as far as possible in  local  government  areas.  There was also maximum popular repesentathn ed freedom to provincial  government. This is reflected in  the system of diarchy. The Government of  India was still  to be responsible to the British Parliament. But Indian  legislative council was enlarged and made more propularly representative. In tune with the spirit of the declaration, the control of British parliament over the Indian Government was relaxed and that of Central Governmedt over the provincial .government was  reduced. The basic contention was that where  the Government of India  and the Central  legislature were in agreement, the Home Government would not  interfere. Main features of the 1919 Act include& (a) the Council of the Secretaq of state to have eight to twelve members with thee Indian Members and at least one-half of them  to have spent a minimum of ten years in India; (b) the Secretary of the state to follow the advice  rendered by the Council; (c) the Secretary of  state was not allowed to interfere in the  administrative matters of the provinces concerning 'Transferred subjects'; (d) to carryout their administrative affairs, the  Governors were  given power  of instructions &  a guide; (e) other than  Muslims, the minorities including Sikhs,  Anglo-Indians, Christians and Europeans were  given right of  separate electorate; etc.

The Central Government

The  Central Government was more representative and  responsive but  not responsible. The Govetnor General at the  apex of  administration was still an autocrat. He had the powers of superintendence, direction and  control  over the entire administration  and these  were  very effective powers. Ih theory,  the Government of India was ruled by the Government of England and the Governor General who differed fiom the policy of the Secretary of State had  no alternative but to resign. But in actual practice, the Governor General as the man on the spot carried a great deal of power and influence. He could werrule the decisions of his Executive  Council. He was 'the  executive'.  The  executive  councillors  were virtually his nominees. He had full control over foreign and political department (department dealing with princely States in India). Every bill passed by the Central or  Provincial  Legislature needed  his assent, in certain cases his  prior ascent. He could put any bill  on the statute,  also restore cuts. He has used his powers to overtide the legislature (for example,  Princes'  Protection Act  1923, the Finance Bill 1925 raising salt duty).
The Legislature was broad based (the strength of the Council of States 60, and the Central Legislative  Assetnbly  140). But its composition was faulty  and powers very much restricted. The Communal representation introduced in the 1909 Act for Muslims was now extended to other communities like the Sikhs, the European thus encouraging separatist teqdencies in tbe Indian people. The Governor General thus had too many powers and was not responsible to the Legislature.

Mochinev of'Dyarchy at the Provinces

The division of subjects into Central and Provincial '(Federalism) and the further division at the provincial level between Reserved and Transferred subjects was a novel feature of the Mont-Ford Reforms. Dyarchy means double government at the provinces. The  'Reserved'  subjects in charge of councillors, 'nominated' by the Governor and transferred subjects in charge of councillors - Ministers 'appointed' by him. The  reserved subjects were  really  'key' departments while  transferred subjects were felt 'safe'  even  if  placed in the Indian  hands. The councillor in charge of reseved subject was not responsible to the Secretary of State and  the British parliament. The ministers in charge of transferred subjects were responsible to the  provincial legislature. -The Governor exercised effective powers over the whole administration through the Instrument of Instruction and Executive Business  Rules.

The Balance Sheet of Reforms 

The experiment of diarchy failed. The Indian National Congress boycotted the first elections (1920). Though it participated in the second election (1924), its expressed objective was to wreck the reforms. Dyarchy was bound to fail. It was structurally weak and insincere in spirit. It could not, therefore, evolve those conventions and practice which are very necessity for  administration of any constitutional experiment of such as  magnitude. Thd division of subject also was  wrong as a subject would be partly divided as reserved and partly transferred, e.g., irrigation  was reserved but agriculture which very much depended on alsb the concept ofjoint responsibility of the council. The division of Council between councillors and Ministers and the excessive control of Finance reforms  (reserved subject) over the  administration of transferred  subject affected their smooth functioning. Transferred subjects starved financially as they needed more  money for development. And to their  disadvantage the sources of revenue were 'jointly' kept. The Secretaries of the Departments, belongng to the ruling class also did not cooperate with ministers in charge of transferred subjects. ' But it  created parliamentary atmosphere in the  legislature and gave  people an opportunity to have a look in  administration. Some  major reforms pertaining to local government (Bombay, Bengal) and Education Social Welfare (Madras) were carried out during this period. Almost in every province, right to vote was extended to women.
Dyarchy  failed but it showed the way to further reform - a  federal government which should be more representative and more responsive.