Evolution Of Indian Administration

Answer : The necessity of judicial control over administration is no less important than legislative control over administration. The legislatures control over the policy and expenditure of the executive. The purpose of judicial control is to ensure the legality of administrative acts and thus protect the rights of citizens against any unlawful use of authority.

Today judiciary has assumed the role of a guardian of citizen’s private rights. The increase in powers and discretion of public officials, the role of judiciary is also becoming more important every day. To quote Ernest Freud, “ Increased Administrative powers call for increased safeguards against their abuse and as long as there is the possibility of official error, partiality or excess of zeal, the protection of private right is as important an object as the effectuation of some fundamental policies”.

The problem is how to project a common citizen against the abuse of administrative authority. Courts provide remedies when the normal process of administration do not evenly distribute means of production and economic power among the vast masses in society. Under the conditions of handicrafts production such a distribution existed and most of the individuals if they would only exert themselves, could take care of and provide for themselves.

Under these conditions common weal could be secured by the unregulated and free efforts of the individuals for there were no large-scale forces working to the contrary. Free individual initiative was, therefore, the chief desideratum in those days. As personal freedom and protection of private property were essential to the individuals initiative, the maintenance of these was the main object of law and the courts. Freedom of person, property, and contract were the three pillars of the common law.

Thus, the first and foremost characteristics of administrative law is that it subordinates the common law rights of personal freedom and private property to the conception of social or common good. To secure the latter, it does not hesitate to place necessary restrictions on the former. It emphasizes the social interest as against the individuals freedom. It places more stress on the individuals duties to the legal doctrine, and establishes a new one of its own based on the social needs of the modern industrial society.

Secondly, since the object of administrative law is not the enforcement of individual rights but of furthering policies of social improvement, e.g. better promotion of public health, housing, education, etc, it lays down certain flexible standards to be applied to cases instead fails. The rights of citizens in a modern democratic state are to be protected against the abuse of authorities partiality, and official favouritism.

The doctrine of rule of law, one of the cornerstones of democracy, lays down the basis of judicial control over administrative acts. Prof. Dicey stated the doctrine “ No man is punishable or can be lawfully made to suffer in body or goods except for a direct breach of law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary causes of law….. no man is above the law but everyman whatever be his rank or condition is subject to the ordinary law of the realm and amenable to the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals”. Thus if a citizen feels that his rights have been usurped by misuse or wrong use of administrative authority, he can approach the courts of law for the redress of his grievance and protection of his rights.

Broadly speaking, there are two alternative systems of legal remedial against encroachment of civil liberty by government servants: (1) Rule of law system (2) Administrative law

The rule of law system prevails in England and the dominions of other commonwealth countries in USA and Belgium. The administrative law prevails chiefly in France.

Rule of law system: Since judiciary derives authority to control the administration from many sources, the judicial control is also exercised in many forms.

Besides the common laws, the constitution well as statutes also empowers judiciary to exercise control over the administration. The following method are used:

1. Suit against the government: Article 300 of the Indian constitution clearly lays down that suits against the government of India can be brought in a court of law. In the same way the state government can also be used. It means, that not only the state has authority to sue the private person, but the latter has also the right to sue the government.
2. Suit against public officials: The acts of officers which lead to liability are non feasance, consisting of failure, to act when there is a clear duty to act misfeasance embodying a careless and negligent action, but without malicious or evil intent, malfeasance, consisting of an unlawful action with willful intent to cause injury.
3. Judicial Review of Administrative Action and Decision: Both in India and U.S.A, courts are empowered to make scrutiny of administrative activities, and if some administrative decisions are unconstitutional, by judicial review they can be declared ultra vire. But courts can take this action only when aggrieved persons approach the court.

Answer : India remained under British domination and control for a very long time. Several administration changes have been introduced to suit new needs and requirements, yet on the whole the influence of British administrative system, altogether has not been wiped out. There are many areas in which influence of British administrative system on Indian administrative system has been felt. These are:

1. Federal system: The Britishers were of view that for running our administration in India should be a federation. The idea of running administration on federal pattern is the legacy of British rule. Constitional makers accepted this basic feature.
2. Parliamentary system: Whether India will be better administered in a parliamentary or presidential system of govt. Again this is the legacy of British system to India.
3. Neutrality of civil service: Britishers during their stay in India decided that civil servants in India should be politically neutral. This idea was preserved by India as well.
4. District as unit of Administration: District was considered as unit of administration by Britishers. Today also district is the unit of our administration and collector is the pivot round which whole administration in the district moves.

Other features are Hierarchy, Local-self Government institutions, Red tapism etc. which is still continued in free India.

Answer : The first organized state administration in Indian history can be seen from the pre-Mauryan period as reported in Kautilya’s Arthashastra. His great work, the Arthashastra is the oldest text on public administration anywhere in the world and was written sometime between 521and 300 BC.

The Arthashastra is a classic on public administration dealing with the hierarchy of officials, the merits and failing of bureaucracy including corruption, geographical divisions of the empire, field administration through an all-purpose coordinating district overlord, land revenue and taxation.

The Kautilya’s Arthashastra is the most important work on public administration in ancient India. Kautlya does not give a definition of the science of Public Administration as such. The science of polity, which according to Kautilya is Arthashastra, mainly treats Administration and government machinery.

According to Arthashastra science of polity is the combination of the science of wealth and the science of government. The finance department and the other departments dealing with business and various economic activities form a vital part of the machinery of government.

Kautilya’s Arthashastra is unashamedly practical; the work is the loudest proof of the practical turn of the Indian mind. The work emphasizes every now and they the close connection between the art of administration and the science of public administration.

Answer : Modern government is a democratic government, responsible, responsive, accountable, efficient and effective serving and looking after the welfare of the people. The machinery of government designed by Kautilya is centred on monarchy and legitimized astrictive inequality. Kautilya outlines ten principles of governance which resembles modern day polity:

1. The king or the ruler should surrender his individuality in the interest of his duties. This resembles Weber’s depersonalized bureaucracy.
2. To ensure people’s welfare, there must be a property guided administration, civil servants need to be watched and guided.
3. The government must avoid the extremes but not miss the goal.
4. A ruler is to be subjected to a vigorously disciplined like and an elaborate codes of conduct.
5. Salaries and allowances of all public servants should be fixed and reasonable. Even the king’s salary was fixed and he was not entitled to draw a rupee more.
6. The king gets salary for rendering services to the people and his chief duty was to maintain law and order that is to protect life and liberty.
7. Great stress is laid on lekhaks or writers who enjoyed the status of amatyas.
8. Kautilya advocated prevention and positive measures to punish corrupt government servants, judges or jailors.
9. The king must replace bad ministers by good ones. The concept of accountability is enforced.
10. In an age of democracy, in theory, if rulers are accountable, there will be stability. It is essential to pursue good governance of even amidst instability.

Thus Kautilya stipulates that the end of good governance is happiness and welfare of people.

Answer : British rule in India have experienced great experimentation in the field of administration. Britishers introduced many new administrative like, most important is Indian Civil Service, similarly they have introduced parliamentary form of government, dyarchy, judiciary and cameralism and bicameralism in the parliamentary form of government. They have experimented with local self-government and municipalities.

Above all they have introduced cabinet secretariat for Governor-Generals office and there is office of Comptroller & Auditor General of India. District administration of British era can one of greatest innovation of British rule.

Now, all the above structural changes and introduction of machinery was not a kind intentionally introduced by the Britishers on their own initiation but it was result of their interaction and experience in the field of administration of vast empire like India. They have introduced all these machinery and structure to have convenient in administration of India from sitting in one control position.

Answer : India launched a government sponsored, 5-year plans in 1951. The objective of the Planning Commission was to make India self-reliant and free from the grip of un-employment and poverty within a period of 20 years. Now after about 50 years of planning the objective remains unfulfilled.

The planning process assumed an important role in view of changes in economic policies, reforms and structural adjustments. The 8th plan detailed at great length the role of planning in the reformist regime. The conclusion is that in our country, because of the existence of large sectors of poor people and less developed regime, an agency which can plan and coordinate all the economic activities of the states and the centre is necessary in order to protect the poor, the environment and ecology, to have a policy on population growth and to take care of the future in general.

Markets have to be fully developed. Infrastructure needs have to be met. Social sectors like primary education, health and minimum needs, etc., are the primary responsibility of the government. In such a situation, planning becomes more indicative. Since the Planning Commission has developed the requires expertise in formulating the welfare schemes such as ‘minimum needs programme’, it will be most appropriate to utilize it for formulating schemes for fulfilling the basic needs of the people and guide the nation to grow rapidly economically and socially.

Answer : The Mauryan era of ancient Indian history gave the world a significant treatise, the Arthashastra of Kautilya.

The first organized state administration in Indian history can be seen from the pre-Mauryan period as reported in Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Arthashastra is a science of government. It contains Kautilya’s philosophy of state administration. Promotion of public security and welfare was considered as important aspects of the state policy and the king was responsible for the ‘security’ and ‘welfare’ of the subjects. This has the great relevance to the contemporary Indian administration. Not only the law confers on the king the responsibility of protecting the citizens, but also made the king personally responsible for the restoration of the stolen property or its value to the owner.

Another point of relevance was the existence of a comprehensive programme of state relief against providential calamities. Another striking feature of the state administration was its policy of promotion of public health. This being looked after by Public Health Schemes in the contemporary administration. Another traits of administration was illustrated by the measures for protecting the public against the dishonest dealings of artisans and traders – crime prevention.

Answer : The British administration in India started with the establishment of East India Company in 1959. The company’s rule continued upto 1857 and the Government of India’s Act, 1858, the control was transferred to crown.

The administrative policy of East India Company had three objectives to increase the company’s profit from trade, to strengthen the British hold over India and to make these possessions profitable to the British at every step. After 1858, the administration of India passed to the British crown, exercised under British parliament. A bare framework of federal system with strong unitary bias, parliamentary system of government, judicial set-up, District Collector for revenue and upholder of law and order was all a creation of British, for which we have not found an alternative yet. Through they gave India, a greater degree of national unity and solitary and a better form of government than it had ever enjoyed. But all this was done by them just to streamline their self-centred interest, which they wanted to draw from colonial India.

The British did political unity in India and as a consequence there was also administrative unity but no serious seem to have been solely to bring about unity in the administration.

Answer : The famous “double government” meant that while the East India company took over directly the responsibility of defending the territories of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa the collection of revenue was the responsibility of the rulers of these 3 states. This was suggested by Robert Clive the then Governor General of East India Company.

There were many reasons behind this notion of ‘dual government’. The East India Company was just setting its roots deep in India after the Plassy and Buxar’s battles. The most of the officials of East India Company were not familiar with customs and traditions of the Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which they won after these battles. Neither they knew the revenue system of these parts. As it was essential to collect the revenue together with ruling and getting firm grip over these areas it became unavoidable to take the help of these rulers.

Clive started ‘double government’ so that the East India Company was comfortable with i.e. defending these territories while giving the responsibility of collecting revenue to the local rulers. By this way Clive was able to mask company’s sovereignty and also taking control over financial resources. The revenue collection was a relatively easy task for these rulers through their existing channels. But all this resulted in exploitation of the worst kind as maximum revenue was extracted from the people. Although it was done by the local rulers but company got the bad name.

This ‘double government’ move was to save East India Company from the heavy work of collecting revenue from area which was completely alien to them.

Answer : Surprisingly though it may sound, it was the provinces, the earlier nomenclature of the states, which first came into existence in British India, not the Central Government. Indeed a kind of Central Government could make its appearance, only in Charter Act in 1773, long after the 3 presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, the presidency of St. George, Madras, the presidency of Bombay had come into existence. The first named presidency was the largest of the three, covering as it did nearly the whole northern India and therefore, was the first to be subjected to political reorganization. The Charter Act of 1883 provided for its division into two- (1) The presidency of Fort William in the power lower provinces in Bengal and (2) The presidency of Agra. The proposed bifurcation, however, was postponed and in its place the North-West provinces under a Lt. Governor was set up in 1836.

Thus, Regulation provinces was under British control directly while the non regulation provinces was under princess but indirectly they were also subjugated under British control.