In 1880, the Liberal Party came to power in England under the leadership of Gladston. He described his policy towards India in these words, "Our right to reside in India is based on the logic that our stay is beneficial to the Indians and secondly that Indians should feel that it is beneficial to them". To achieve this goal, the government selected Ripon for the post of Viceroy. Ripon who was a democrat, in his book "The Duty of the Age" mentions two qualities of democracy. First participation and second self-government. Further his policies were inspired by these goals.
1.
Repeal
of the vernacular press Act 1882
This abominable act passed by Lytton was repealed in 1882
AD. Newspapers in Indian languages were given the same
freedom as English language newspapers. This helped enough to please the public
opinion again. Although by other means the articles of rebellion still had the
right to be confiscated.
2.
First factory act 1881
Less than 7 years old workers could not work in factories where more than 100
workers worked. Working hours were prescribed for
children under the age of 12. It was made mandatory to build a fence around dangerous
machines. An inspector was appointed to ensure compliance of these rules.
3.
Financial Decentralization 1882
Three items have been fixed for the decentralization policy initiated by
Mayo. All the amount of the first item went to the centre. This included
customs, postal, telegraph, railway, opium, salt, mint, military income and land tax etc. The income of the second item went to the
provincial government. This included items of a local nature such as jails, medicals service, printing, highways and general administration. The third item was
excise tax, stamp, forest, registration fee, etc., which were divided equally between the
provinces and the central governments.
4.
Local self-government 1882
Ripon says that the political education of the country begins with local
self-government. During his period, local boards were established in rural
areas. Permission was given to form district sub-division taluka or tehsil
board in each district, municipalities
were established in the cities. Local institutions were
given definite work and means of income. For this, the Local Self-Government
Acts were passed between 1883-85 . According to the
Madras Local Board Act of 1884, the work of
lighting, sanitation,
education, water supply and medical aid was entrusted to the local
institutions. Such acts were made in Punjab and Bengal.
5.
Land revenue policy
Ripon's plan was to make some changes in the permanent tax system as well.
So that the farmers should be assured that they too will get permanent rights.
On the other hand the government will give an assurance that the land tax will be
increased only in the event of increase in their prince’s.
The landlords of Bengal opposed this proposal and also the peasants of Bengal.
Because they were afraid of the British bureaucracy. The Secretary of India
also did not agree with this.
6.
Education reform
1882 a commission headed by Sir William Hunter in India appointed to
review the progress of education after wood dispatch 1854.
This commission emphasized the responsibility of the government for the spread
and advancement of elementary and secondary education and suggested that this
task be entrusted to the newly established local municipalities to be closely
monitored by the government. Literary education for universities entrance exam and vocational education for self-employment was talked about.
7.
Ilbert
Bill controversy ( 1883–84)
Shri Bihari Lal Gupta who was working as Presidency Magistrate in
Kolkata. He was promoted in 1882. After this he did not have the right to hear the trial of
European accused. In protest, He Wrote a letter to Deputy Governor Eden . The
matter went ahead and Sir PC Ilbert, who was a law member of the Viceroy 's
Council, passed a bill in the spirit of removing this injustice, which is known
as the Ilbert Bill. It was presented in the Legislative Council on 2
February 1883 . The objective of the bill was to do away with all
judicial disqualifications based on race discrimination. This triggered a whirlwind, and the
European Community created an defence
association to protect these
special rights. An amount of one and a half lakh rupees was collected for the
protest . It was said that will black send us to jail? The famous London newspaper The Times
commented and criticized the policies. Queen Victoria also doubted the wisdom
of the Viceroy's proposal.
8.
Ripon
's resignation
1882, Gladston ordered to take over Egypt. Army troops were
sent from India and some part of that expenditure had to be borne by the Indian
government. Ripon opposed this. He was already unhappy with the controversy
over the Ilbert Bill. He felt him that he had not succeeded in his objective.
So he resigned before his term ended.
Ripon used to say that judge me by my actions and not by words. Florence
Nightingale called Ripon the savior of India. And called his reign the
beginning of the Golden Age in India. Arnold on the other hand said that he
opened the doors for India to be lost. He was very popular among Indians and
was called gentle Ripon. Surendranath Banerjee wrote that he is remembered not
because he achieved success, but because his aims were pure and that he hated racial
discrimination. Ripon's work was unsuccessful but he raised hopes and
aspirations. This marked the beginning of political life in India.
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