Administrative Organization And Policies
In the beginning the Company left the administration of its possessions in India in Indian hands, confining its activities to supervision. But it soon found that British aims were not adequately served by following old methods of administration. Consequently, the Company took over all aspects of administration Warren Hastings and Cornwallis overhauled the administration of Bengal and laid the foundations of a new system.
The British administration in India was based on three pillars: The Civil Service, the Army, and the Police. This was so for two reasons. For one, the chief aim of British administration was the maintenance of law and order and the perpetuation of British rule. The British, being foreigners, could not hope to win the affections of the Indian people; and so, relied on superior force rather than on public support for the maintenance of their control over India.
Civil Service
The Civil Service was brought into existence by Lord Cornwallis. The East India Company had from the beginning carried on its trade in the East through servants who were paid low wages. Later, when the Company became a territorial power, the same servants assumed administrative functions. They now became extremely corrupt. By extorting bribes from the nawabs and through illegal private trade , they amassed untold wealth before they retired to England. Clive and Warren Hastings made attempts to put an end to their corruption, but were not very successful.
Cornwallis, who came to India as Governor-General in 1786, was determined to purify the administration. He realised that the Company’s servants would not be honest and efficient so long as they were not paid well. He therefore banned private trade and acceptance of presents and bribes by officials. At the same time he increased their salaries tremendously and the Company’s Civil Service became the highest paid service in the world. Cornwallis also laid down that promotion would be by seniority so that its members would remain independent of outside influence.
In 1800, Lord Wellesley was of the opinion that proper training of civil servants is necessary for effective administration. He therefore established a College at Fort William at Calcutta for the training of young recruits to the Civil Service. The Directors of the Company disapproved of his action and in 1806 replaced it with the East Indian College at Haileybury in England.
Till 1853 all appointments to the Civil Service were made by the Directors of the East India Company. They lost the powers in 1853 when the Charter Act decreed that all recruits to the Civil Service were to be selected through a competitive examination.
A special feature of the Indian Civil Service since the days of Cornwallis was the complete exclusion of Indians from it. It was laid down in 1793 that all higher posts in administration were to be held by Englishmen. This policy was also applied to other branches of Government, such as the army, police and judiciary.
The exclusion of Indians from higher grades of services was a deliberate policy as these services were required at the time to establish and consolidate British rule in India. Obviously the task could not be left to Indians who did not possess sympathy for, and understanding of British interests. Indians were, however, recruited in large numbers to fill subordinate posts.
The Indian Civil Service gradually developed into one of the most efficient and powerful civil services in the world. It members exercised vast power and often participated in the making of policy. They developed certain traditions of independence, integrity and hard work, though these qualities obviously served British interests. At the same time they gradually came to form a rigid and exclusive and proud caste with an extremely conservative and narrow outlook. The Indian Civil Service has often been called the ‘steel frame’ which reared and sustained British rule in India. In course of time it became the chief opponent of the nationalists and was one of the main targets of attack by the rising Indian national movement.