The Lieutenant Governor of the N.TfcP. observed that,Statutory Civilians
«
had been treated in a manner as if they had all been appointed to the
2
regular Covenanated Service. According to Aitchison, the rules of 1379 practically admitted them to the Civil Service itself with all the
3
ordinary claims to advancement in ordinary routine. From these observations it is quite clear that the Government of India1 s inter pretation, intended to give effect to the Secretary of State's ruling of 1883,did not accord M t h the actual state of things.
Taking hbtice of the Government of India1 s remark that the existing system called for a radical change, the Secretary of State authorised it to appoint a commission to inquire into the whole subject of Indian employment. Remarking on the question of Indian employment, the Secretary of State said that nmany perplexing questions would become more easy of solution . . . If a conclusion could be arrived at as to the approximate number of European public servants who must necessarily, for the efficiency of the administration and the political security of
■ ‘ " 4
the empire, be maintained in each branch of the public service in India. But the question of the minimum strength was most difficult of solution
1 Letter to Govt, of India, No.1166 A-D, 12 June 1884. 2 Letter to Govt, of India, No.15, 10 July 1885, para.7. 3 Minute, 7 July 1884, para.
8
.37
because the views of the Government and Indian politicians were sharply divided on it.
The Commission, with Sir Charles Aitchison as President, also
1
included six Indian members. Broadly speaking, it was required to !,devise a scheme which may reasonably be hoped to possess the necessary elements of finality, and to do full justice to the claims of Natives of India to higher and more extensive employment in the public service.M Its inquiry included all branches of the public service except the
questions connected with the conditions on which English candidates
2
were admitted to the Civil Service examination. In the first instance it inquired into the question of Indian employment in the posts,
ordinarily reserved for the Covenanted Service, and in the executive and judicial branches of the Uncovenanted Service. At a later £ age it
held inquiry into questions relating to the special departments, such as, Accounts, Archaeological Survey, Jail, Meteorological Survey, Mint, Opium, Pilot Service, Post Office and Telegraph, Police, Public Works, Registra tion, Salt and Survey. The second division of its inquiry, held under a resolution of 8 March 1887, also embraced the question of the admission
3 of Indians and Europeans to these services*
1 It consisted of a trained English lawyer, six members (including the President) of the Covenanted Service, a representative of the non- official European and of the Eurasian community respectively, a member of the Uncovenanted Civil Service, and six Indians selected from various Provinces as wsufficiently representative of the different classes and modes of t h o u g h t . Report. para. 2.
2 Resolution No. 2 k _____ (H.D.), U Oct. 1886.
1573 - 98
3 The inquiry was conducted by a Sub-Committee of members of the Commission, aided by professional colleagues. Report. para. 12.
38
The Aitchison Commission was of opinion that any rule or practice based on race disqualification would not only mean departure from the policy laid down in 1833 1858, but would also be invidious
and inexpedient, and that the only Bjust criterion is that of fitness ascertained, where it is possible, by adequate tests, and where this is
1
impossible, by impartial s e l e c t i o n . T o meet the claims of Indians to higher and more extensive employment, it recommended the reduction of the strength of the Covenanted Civil Service and the transfer of a corresponding number of appointments to the proposed Provincial Civil Service. Accordingly, the Covenanted Service was to be reduced to a corns d Telite. and the English competitive system was to continue as the method of selection. The Provincial Service, recruited under different methods adapted to local circumstances, was intended to secure a fair
2
representation of the various ^aces* of India in the administration. Appointments to the Provincial and subordinate Services were to be made by the Local Governments from men who must have recently resided in the Province for at least three years. The Commission was not in favour of making provincial recruitment wholly exclusive, though no doubt it was alive to a danger likely to result from the indiscriminate employment
3
of men from other Provinces. The grades of pay in the Provincial Service and the pay of higher appointments to be held by its members
... 4-
were tdi be fixed independently of the conditions of the Imperial Service.
1 Report, para. 58. 2 Ibid., para. 73. 3 Ibid., para. 84-.
■H
39
The Commission recommended the abolition of the Statutory Service
1
and the absorption of its members into the Provincial Service* The main objections to the former, as pointed out by the witnesses, werei the appointment of men to specific posts in the Covenanted Service and not to the Service itself; the introduction of patronage; a lower salary; the emphasis on birth and status in selection; the recruitment of less qualified men in disregard of the claims of more competent men, and the
2
lower status of the Statutory Civil!an*. The Commission expressed the view that the experiment had proved a failure but added that the Kuslim witnesses, for the most part, favoured, for reasons of the educational
3
backwardness of their community, a system of nomination,. The Report pointed out that whereas out of 1 $ Statutory appointments the ifotslimg
had secured as many as 15, they had failed to secure a single appointment
A
through the door of competition. The Commission1s proposals for the transfer of a number of Covenanted posts to the Provincial Service
retained the existing arrangement of provincial representation with the difference that the principle of tried merit and ability was substituted for simple nomination.
The Commission strongly supported the continuance of the London competition for appointment to the Covenanted Service, remarking that it "may be said to represent the only permanent English official element
1 Ibid,, paras, 72, 87. 2 Ibid., para, 67, 3 Ibid,, para. 71
U Ibid., paras. 61, 45. In 1885 K,B« Ty&bji, eon of Badruddin Tyabji ,
third President of the Congress, became successful at the London competition and Joined the service in Jan. 1883,
in India, the importance of recruiting that service with reference to the maintenance of English principles and method of government cannot, in the opinion of the Commission, be overrated. Any uncertain note
1
of policy in this respect might produce undesirable results.” Its stand against the proposal for simultaneous examinations was unequivocal. The main arguments were* The question was simply one as to the qualifica tions required and the arrangements under which officers possessing the necessary qualifications could best be secured; the education and
training supplied by Indian schools and colleges could not be relied upon for this purpose; a competition in India would result in great inequality of provincial representation; and the viva voce test, a very important
2
part of the system, could not be properly arranged in India. Most of these objections had been emphasised before. In 1868 Northcote had said that the merits of any particular system should be judged with
reference to its nproviding or failing to provide suitable public servants. Both he and Argyll had pointed out that competition would result in the disproportionate distribution of appointments. As regards the viv& voce test, it may be observed that in view of the presence of a large number of European professors and experienced civilians in India, it would not have been difficult to arrange it on a satisfactory basis. So far as the deficiencies of the Indian educational system were concerned,
compulsory foreign training of candidates selected in India - a proposal
1 Report. para. 59* 2 Report, para. 60.
41
which hah a very large number of supporters among the advocates of
simultaneous examinations - would have, to a very great extent, redressed
1
the balance. The fact is that the Commissions approach to the question of Indianisation was conditioned by the paramount consideration of main taining a strong **permanent English official element1* in India, for which the competition in London provided the surest guarantee.
However, the Commission recommended that the age-limit should be fixed at 19-23. It was also inclined to raise the marks assigned to Sanskrit and Arabic provided that the standard of examination was materially enhanced. But it was against the inclusion of vernacular languages among the subjects for the competitive examination, being of opinion that their introduction would affect the distinctive English character of the examination. The Commission expressed its opinion against the proposal that it was necessary to fix a limit on Indian
recruitment. In its opinion the disadvantage of competing in a foreign country, in a foreign language, in subjects of study peculiarly English and against the flower of English schools and colleges, left no room for
2
fear that the Indians would flood the Services. It^A^not accept the Bengal Government*s suggestion that a fixed proportion of Indian
candidates should be selected in London by an examination separate frok 3
that for European candidates. The grounds for rejection were: first,
1 A resolution of the Congress in 1885 provided that selected candidates in India should receive training in England, but in 1886, on account of the opposition of some members, especially of Rajendralal MLtra, the point was not pressed, though many members were in favour of dompulsory foreign training.
2 Pephr,t j'-p as^
62
—6
/uz
a differential mode of appointment would be distasteful to the Indian community, secondly, persons appointed on the results of separate
standards of examination would be liable to be regarded as not
possessing the same qualifications; thirdly, the allotment of appoint ments would involve Man artificial exclusion of candidates on grounds of race from appointments for which they may be in other respects the
1
best qualified persons,tt and thus mean a departure from the principles laid down in 1883 and 1858.
As a substitute for the Statutory Service, the Commission
2
recommended the transfer to the Provincial Service of 108 posts, which were to be excluded from the Schedule to the Act of 1861. This number was
arrived at on the basis of the one-sixth of the appointments made under the Statutory rules. The Commission expressed the view that the scheme would meet the Indian demand on areasonable basis. With a view to meeting the requirements of the changing condition, it recommended the
amendment of the Statute of 186l in such a way as to give power to the Secretary of State, subject to the control of Parliament, to make from time to time such alterations in the Schedule as might be necessary.
1 Report. para. 64-.
2 The more important of these were* Under-Secretaries to the several Govts, one-third of District and Civil and Sessions Judges; one- tenth of Magistrates or Chief Magisterial Officers of Districts; one-sixth of Joint Magistrates in all Provinces; one Member of the Board of Revenue in Madras, Bengal and N.W.P., and one of the ' Financial Commissioners in the Punjab; one of the Chief Revenue Officers of Divisions in all Provinces except Bombay and Assam; one-tenth of Collectors of Revenue or Chief Revenue Officers of Districts; one-sixth of Assistant Collectors or Assistant
Commissioners. Rebbtt.. para. 77.
Six members of the Commission, including two Indians, were not in favour of removing any appointments to the Board of Revenue from the schedule.
43
The Commission, in the course of its inquiry, was faced with conflicting opinions regarding the proportion in which Indians were to be appointed to judicial and executive posts. The Provincial Govern ments had been in favour of their extensive employment in the judicial service but not of their exclusive employment in the higher grades of the Judiciary. Many witnesses suggested their complete exclusion from district charges. The Commission was of opinion that Indians should be given opportunity to prove their fitness for holding the executive charges of districts, and accordingly, it recommended the exclusion of a small proportion of district charges from the Schedule. As regards Indian employment in the High Courts, the Commission, impressed by the success of the experiment, recommended that the number of Judges selected from the judicial branch of the Provincial Service or from advocates or
1
pleaders of the High Courts should be increased.
Though no attempt was made by the Commission to fix the
representation of various communities in the public services, its proposal to have no uniform system of recruitment for all Provinces and the
provision of filling the listed posts by members of the Provincial Service gave the Local Governments sufficient discretionary power to distribute appointments among the important communities. At the time of the
Commission* s inquiry the proportion of appointments held by Hindus and Muslims, though not uniform in all the Provinces, corresponded more or
44
1