THE PUBLIC SERVICES IN INDIA.—A WARNING.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sis,—The views of the Government of India on the Montagu- Chelmsford Reform Scheme are given in extenso in its letter No. 1 of Mardi 5th, 1919. Paragraphs 43 to 55 of that letter deal with the position and future of the Public Services in India. It will be well for any young Englishman who may contemplate the choice of an official career in India to read these paragraphs most carefully. The following extracts will serve to elucidate the matter :— Para. 47.—" We [i.e., the Government of India] recognize that it is possible that, in the exercise of their.responsibility and from the best a motives, ministers [i.e., native ministers] may adopt a policy which the Service feels that it cannot con- sistently with its conscience and self-respect carry out. This is perhaps more likely to occur in the technical services where professional feelings may be aroused by methods which pro- fessional knowledge condemns."
Para. 48.—"An officer finding his position unendurable should he entitled to apply to the Government of India for a propor- tionate pension. He would not prefer an appeal against the Minister's orders on any matter of administration or any question of posting, promotion, or the like; but be would address the Government of India through the Governor in Council, and would state his case and would ask to be relieved from further service, and if the Government of India thought he had substantial grounds for complaint they would grant his request." "In the event of the Minister's orders [on a dis- ciplinary matter] being reversed a difficult position would no doubt ensue, and in this case also the only ultimate solution might be to grant retirement on proportionate pension."
In plain English, under the Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme, where a British official finds that, in order to comply with the wishes of an Indian official superior, he must violate his eon- science or forfeit his self-respect, he is to give way. If he finds his position unendurable, the only remedy offered to him is resignation from the Service, even though the Government of India, in matters of administration, and the Secretary of State, in the case of disciplinary orders, consider that he is in the right.
What future does India offer in these circumstances to the best type of Englishman ? None whatever. If, in order to save his self-respect, the British officer resigns, he obtains a proportionate pension, which is insufficient to support him properly in England, at an age when he will have little or no chance of obtaining permanent employment of a suitable character in his own country. Any English youth will be well advised to think long and earnestly before he chooses a career which may sonic day result in his being placed in the situation contemplated in the letter of the Governor of India.—I am, Sir,
FAUJDAR.
Previous page
