Studying in England, Curzon wrote about the allurement and
responsibility of the post of Viceroy. The Indian Viceroy's
salary was twice that of the Prime Minister of England and 700
employees were appointed for his service. Curzon believed
that he was born for this position. He knew more about India than any other
Viceroy. For this he had traveled to the Indian subcontinent several times. He
wrote three books on the problems of Asia. Yet he believed that the East was a university
where a student never got a certificate.
Challenges in india
The challenges he had to deal with in India were as follows-
1.
Effects
of Famine and Plague : Revenue Deficit
2.
Administrative
laxity: Files moved like the daily cycle of the earth,
gracefully, seriously, and slowly
3.
Awakened
India: The Moderate Age of Congress and the Colonial epistemology of economy
4.
The
Question of Defense of the Empire: The Background of the First World War and
the Fear of Russia
Vision
for improvement
He believed that administration is another name for the satisfaction of the
ruled. But as Bipin Chandra Pal says his goal was to achieve autonomy but for
the Indian government and not for the Indian people just like Ripon
wanted.
1. Police Reforms
In 1902, The Police Commission was constituted under the
chairmanship of Sir Andrew Frazer, which submitted its report in 1903.
Which said that the police force is totally incompetent,
faulty in training, corrupt and oppressive organization.
Curzon himself believed that there had never been a more clear and profitable
report than this. Among the suggestions of the report were salary increase, increase in manpower, establishment of police school and intelligence
department. Obviously this led to an increase in government expenditure which
in 1898 was 21,17,000
Pound, this increased 32,12,189 Pound
in 1908.
2. Educational Reforms
Curzon believed that educational institutions had become factories of
political rebels. So he formed the University Commission in 1902.
In 1904 a Universities Act
was passed. By which government control was increased and the number of members
nominated by the government in the Senate was increased. Emphasis was placed on
research and study.
3. Economic Reforms
The salt tax was reduced and the income tax limit was increased to ₹
1000 per annum. A famine commission
was set up under the chairmanship of Sir Anthony Mcdonnell. In 1901, Irrigation Commission was formed under the chairmanship
of Colin Scott Moncrieff.
The Imperial Agriculture Department was created under an Inspector General. A
new department named Commerce and Industry was created. The indian coinage and
paper
Currency Act was introduced in 1899. The English pound was made an ligal
tender in India. a pound was equal to ₹15. Which was placed on the gold standard of India. Most of
the railway lines in India were laid during Curzon's time. Mr. Tomas Robertson
who was a railway specialist was invited from England to India. He suggested
the establishment of Railway Board.
4. Judicial Reforms
Calcutta High Court has been increased during Curzon's time. Along with
this, the salary and pension of the judges of the subordinate courts were also
increased. The Indian Civil Procedure Code was also amended during its period.
5. Military Reforms
For Reorganization of Army Lord Kitchener
was responsible. He was the chief general from 1902–1908.
The Indian army was divided into two commands, the
northern command was at Mari, whose strike center was Peshawar and the southern
command was Poona, whose strike center was Quetta. There were three brigades in
both the divisions in which two were local and one British brigade. For Army Training
College was opened in Quetta on the lines of England's Camberley college. Each battalion had to go through a rigorous test
called Kitchener Test.
6. Calcutta Corporation Act 1899
Whatever good work Ripon had done in the field of local self-government,
Curzon ended it under the guise of efficiency. According to the Calcutta Corporation
Act, the number of elected members was reduced. The number of British in other
committees was increased. The corporation remained only as an Anglo-Indian
assembly. 28 elected Indian members resigned in protest against this reform. He viewed
local self-government with suspicion and said that he would like to be the
mayor of Calcutta after retiring as Viceroy .
7. Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904
Curzon was a scholar of history and archaeology, he passed an act for the
repair, replacement and protection of ancient monuments. For this The
budget of the 50,000 pound was fixed. And efforts were made to build a
museum.
8. Partition of Bengal 1905
Curzon did the most reprehensible act in India by partitioning Bengal in 1905.
It was to be said that the growing up
of Bengal causes administrative inconvenience. But it was associated with
political and communal purpose. Lieutenant governor of
Bengal Province Andrew Frazer said on communal lines that I have two wives, of which
I like the Muslim wife more. Although this partition was rejected in 1911,
Curzon was successful in his communal objective.
9. Curzon Kitchener controversy and Curzon 's resignation
Two military officers were in the Governor General's
Council. In 1902, Kitchener came to India as the Chief General. Curzon
disagreed on the question of the rights of the military officer of the Council.
The Secretary of India had taken the side of Kitchener in this dispute, so
Curzon resigned in August 1905 .
Evaluation
Curzon gained popularity among Indians in his early days due to certain works.
These actions were to punish white soldiers for the gang rape of a woman in
Rangoon. For lynching an Indian in Sialkot to take
disciplinary action against the Ninth Lancers. And to punish the manager of a tea garden in
Assam for the murder of a kuli. But Curzon was as racist on his basic questions as
anyone else, and is said to have spoken very softly to Indians, in a tone best
used for domesticated animals. According to Rabindranath Tagore, there was no
human element in him. Montague said he kept cleaning the motor because he didn't know
where to go. Gokhale compared him with Aurangzeb.
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