Centralized Administration
The first signs of centralization of administration were witnessed in the Regulation Act of 1773, which restricted the powers of Presidencies. Presidencies were brought under the administrative control of the Governor General-in-Council. The Pitt’s India Act of 1784 paved the way for further centralization under, which matters relating to India were placed under the direct control of a Board of Control under the British Government.
We have a central administration with the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers forming the government at the Union level. Commissions and institutions like the National Institute for Transforming India, Union Public Service Commission, Election Commission, Finance Commission, C e n t r a l Vigilance Commission, and Administrative Reforms Commission are Union bodies that work.
Besides, regulatory bodies like Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Aviation Authority and such others are operating at the Central level.
Provincial Government
The Act of 1919 had divided the subjects between central and provincial governments. Some autonomy was given to the provinces to manage their own affairs. The Act of 1935 brought in more decentralization and gave the provinces more autonomy, as compared to 1919 Act. The Act of 1935 had two important aspects. Firstly, it gave the provinces an exclusive authority in specific areas and they were relatively free from the Central control. Secondly, there was evidence of keenness on the part of the colonial government to introduce responsible government at the level of provinces. Despite these efforts, the British were a highly centralized goverment and developed an administrative structure primarily intended to support the goal of centralization.
We do have a federal structure in our country. Centre, state, and local level governments have been entitled to make laws pertaining to the subjects that are earmarked for each of them. However, here too, the central goverment is considered to be more powerful.
Local Government Structure
The colonial government ruled the country with an elaborate administrative structure supported by vast bureaucratic machinery. The country was divided into provinces, districts, and taluks (revenue sub-district). The institution of District Collector was created in 1772. He headed the district administration and was the most powerful official under whom all the departments at the district level were placed.
The main functions of the District Collector were the maintenance of law and order and collection of revenue. The Collector was regarded, as the principal agent of the government, chief of police, and head of magistracy at the district level. The office of the Collector is still continuing and plays a pivotal role in district administration. Local administration operates at the district and below levels in both the urban and rural areas. District is made, as an important unit in administration so as to bring government closer to the people. District Collector heads the district administration. He/She is responsible to maintain law and order, administer justice, collect revenue, and carry out developmental works in his/ her respective district. Separate function aries functions and funds have been provided to the local bodies to ensure autonomy and self-governance.
There is a planning machinery existing and also a finance commission for earmarking grants. The establishment of local self-government institutions is providing an opportunity to local people to participate in the local administration and resolve their local problems. These bodies were visualized, as training ground for direct democracy, being retained by the implementation of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts 1992 in local self-governance.
ARMY
Military under British Administration
The army served as the second most significant pillar of British Administration in India, after the civil services. The army fulfilled four important functions:
- It served as a tool used to subdue the Indian powers.
- It defended the British Empire in India against outside enemies.
- It protected British supremacy from the constant risk of internal uprising.
- It served as the main tool for defending and expanding the boundaries of the British Empire in Asia and Africa.
Structure of Army before 1857 under British Administration
- The origin of the British Indian Army and, subsequently, the army of independent India lies in the origins of the Presidency Armies, which preceded them.
- The Bengal army and the armies of the Bombay and Madras Presidency made up the army of the East India Company; each had a distinctive internal structure and level of professionalism.
- The sepoys of the Bengal army generally hailed from the high-caste (Brahmin and Kshatriya) Hindu families of Oudh and Bihar. Even in their so-called “military villages,” they upheld the bonds between caste and community.
- The ties with their original villages were, however, slackened but not snapped.
- The Bombay and the Madras army recruits belonged to the Punjab, Oudh, and Rajputana and hailed from different castes.
- Following the Anglo-Maratha war, there was a surge of Maratha soldiers.
- The armies under British Administration were organised on a professional basis and ecomprised individuals from various castes and ethnic groups, such as the Mer Corps.
- They generally helped the British during the 1857 revolt as loyal professional soldiers.
- In order to achieve mobility without facing resource constraints or resorting to looting, the British armies also professionalised logistics through routine purchases and stockpiling of non-perishable goods.
- The colonial state also took special care to deny the Indian rulers access to resources to prevent them from organising similar professional armies.
- In Princely State territories where succession had lapsed, the annexation principle was used.
- The system of subsidiary alliances with the Indian rulers was initiated with the aim of liquidating the local military and even the quasi-military forces so as to achieve almost complete “de-militarization” of the Indian kingdoms.
Changes in the Military after 1857 under British Administration
- The revolt of 1857necessitated certain amendments in the organisation of colonial armed forces.
- The ratio between the number of British and Indian soldiers in India was specified by the Royal Peel Commission (1859).
- In the Bengali army, it was set at one to two, and
- in the Madras and Bombay armies, it was set at two to five.
- The European troops were kept in strategic military and geographic locations.
- The mobile artillery was completely controlled by the British, and the Arms Acts were passed to deny the possession of weapons in the hands of ‘unlawful’ elements.
- Indians were strictly prohibited from joining the officer corps, as was the previous policy.
- No Indian could advance past the subedar rank prior to 1914.
- In order to reduce the likelihood that the Indian army’s section would once again band together in an anti-British uprising, it was organised according to the “divide and rule” policy.
- A fiction was created that Indians consisted of martial and non-martial classes.
- Soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, Central India, and South India, who helped the British Administration to conquer India but later took part in the Revolt of 1857, were declared to be non-martial. They were not taken into the army on a large scale.
- On the other hand, those Punjabis, Gurkhas, and Pathans who had helped put down the uprising were declared to be martial and heavily recruited.
- To prevent the emergence of nationalism among the soldiers, communal, caste, tribal, and regional loyalties were encouraged.
- For instance, communal and caste companies were implemented in the majority of regiments.
- It was kept as far away from nationalist ideas as possible. The soldiers couldn’t access journals, newspapers, or nationalist publications.
- The Indian army became, in time, a very costly military machine.
- For instance, it absorbed nearly 52% of Indian revenues in 1904.
