Administration Under British Rule

CIVIL SERVICE

As the British Parliament was in a position to exercise only occasional or limited control over Indian administration, the Government of India was a bureaucracy or government by officials in the strict sense of the term. Hence the character of the higher civil services under British rule assumed more than usual significance.
The credit for providing India with a civil service in the modem sense of the word goes to Lord Cornwallis. Efforts were made to make the service as attractive as possible. But it was only Lord Wellesley who realized that the Company's growing empire could not be.-administered satisfactorily by those who were recruited and trained as the agents of a commercial concern.

Desiring that they be given proper training before being assigned any job, he established the Fort William College in Calcutta in 1801 to train the Company's civil servants in literature and lan­guages of India. However, the directors of the company disapproved of his action. In 1805, the Company established the East India College at Haileybury (England) for two years' training of young persons nominated for service in India. Wellesley's policy of imperial expansion opened to the Company's servants new avenues of lucrative employ­ment and distinction. Closer relations with the country's powers called into existence a new class of diplomats, known as Residents, who formed the link between the Governor-General and the subordinate allies of the Com­pany. But this system was not a proper method of attracting young men to assume heavy responsibilities. The system of recruitment through competitive examinations held in England was introduced after passing of the Charter Act of 1853. The first examination was held in London in 1855. But Indians had to face a lot of hurdles in appearing for these competitive examinations.

Despite the removal of the colour bar in the matter of appointment by the Charter Acts of 1833 and 1853, the highest posts which were actually thrown open to Indians were those of Deputy Collector and Deputy Magistrate.