Indian Administration is facing a crisis with a very deep concern for how the country can march forward and live up to the ideals and expectations of the makers of our Constitution. B.R. Ambedkar summed up the debates in the Constituent Assembly when he said that all of us were interested in seeing that the administration was maintained at a high level not only in efficiency but also in purity.
Almost exactly a hundred year ago, Lord Curzon was faced with a similar problem. His concern was maintenance of the British Government in India and prevention of its impending collapse if the administration did not perform well and efficiently.
Curzon’s main effort in the direction of providing a credible structure of government which would survive for many years after his Viceroyalty and would form the foundation of modern Government in India he was also consumed by his over-powering zeal and passion for ‘efficiency’ which was the watchword dictating all his actions as an administrator. He accomplished the task by firstly cutting down the red-tapism which included discouraging long nothings on files and inter-departmental rivalries.
Curzon’s Contributions
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To evolve the system, Curzon took following steps:
1. He set about reforming the Civil Services and bureaucracy.
2. He removed all old established procedures of correspondence and substituted these with more effective methods of functioning in terms of simplification of office procedure. He brought about uniformity of approach and encouraged individual initiative for those who were dedicated and devoted to duty. This particularly applied in the case of civilians serving in the country.
3. He established new norms of administration and set up a large number of Commissions and implemented their recommendations.
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4. He also systematised administration and set up new departments where activities were dormant. He introduced scientific principles in the management of Government.
Post-Curzon Developments
After Curzon’s departure, the British Government in India got involved with checking the rise of the National Movement. In tackling the rising demands of nationalism, several constitutional experiments were made by the British Government. Initially there were the Morely-Minto Reforms of 1909, which proved to be a non-starter then came the disastrous Montague-Chelmsford Reforms and establishment of diarchy.
In all these endeavours, an attempt was made to involve Indians in the decision making process and governing the country.
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Moreover, because of World War I and II, and the inter-War years, conditions were, by and large, unsettled. This paved way for independence and enactment of the Indian Constitution.