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RECORD OFFICE
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Reference
C.O.882/12
ALLY.WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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which is now the usual door of entry, these grades represent no more than arbitrary stages in the upward progress of the officers' emoluments. There is no corresponding grading of the work on which they are employed. Each department is rationed as to its number of clerks of each grade, but its ration is not determined by an assessment of the quality of the work for which the particular posts are required. The clerks are attached to the department rather than to the post, and it is largely a matter of accident whether a post is filled by a clerk in Class III or Class V. In the case of the Class I and Class II Clerks there is a closer correspondence between work and pay, but as promotions with few exceptions are made in strict order of seniority the absence of any proper adjustment of work to grade in the earlier years of a clerk's service not infrequently results in his reaching the higher posts without having had any training in responsibility, or any experience of other than purely routine duties How little rela- tion there is between work and pay may be further illustrated from the practice of giving actual allowances not to the clerk who performs the absent officer's duties, but to the one next in order of seniority for promotion, whose work or responsibilities may remain entirely unaffected. Promotions or appointments outside the clerical grade are usually made on the recommendation of the Head of the Department in which the vacancy exists. There is no regular machinery for selection from within the whole Civil Service, and an appointment may be made from outside although it could have been filled quite adequately by the transfer or pro- motion of an officer already serving in another department.
Another important matter which would fall to be dealt with in the Establishments Branch is the control of expenditure on new Government buildings or on repairs or extensions to existing premises. No expenditure of this kind should be incurred by the Public Works Department until the proposal has been considered by the Establishments Branch of the Secretariat, and the necessary authority obtained. Other matters to be dealt with by the Branch would be the preparation and issue of Civil Service Regulations, disciplinary cases, special leave of absence, tenders for the supply of Government stores and equipment, and generally all matters relating to the organization and internal expenditure of every Government department.
9. For an effective control to be maintained over this kind of expenditure, it would be necessary that the Assistant Colonial Secretary in charge of the Establishments Branch should have wide powers of decision and should not be required to submit every case to a higher authority. Matters of first-rate importance would naturally be referred by him to the Colonial Secretary who would either settle it in consultation with the Head of the other Depart- ment or, if this proved impossible, submit it for the Governor's decision.
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It would not be necessary for the other Assistant Colonial Secre- iary to have the same powers of decision, but he should if possible carry all discussions to an agreed conclusion with the other depart- inent concerned before submitting his recommendations to the Colonial Secretary. Except in purely formal matters to be pre- scribed by the Colonial Secretary, neither of the Assistant Colonial Secretaries should prefer their recommendations direct to the Governor. With all important papers passing through his hands the Colonial Secretary, although relieved of the drudgery to which he is at present subjected of reading unprépared and undigested files, would be in a position to exercise an effective direction over his department, so as to be fully and personally responsible for all action taken by his subordinates.
A scheme of reorganization such as has been outlined would not affect in any way the constitutional position of the Secretariat relatively to the Governor. It is true that many questions of an Establishments nature which are at present required to be sub- mitted to His Excellency for personal decision would be decided on his behalf by an Assistant Colonial Secretary, but the delega- tion proposed would be no wider than that which is usually accorded to Establishments Officers of comparable rank in English depart- ments, and it would in every case be open to the other department concerned to appeal against his decision and so bring the matter through the Colonial Secretary to the Governor. It is unlikely that the right of appeal would be frequently exercised. On the other hand the scheme would provide that all matters requiring his personal consideration would reach the Governor after fuller preparatory attention had been given to them than is possible under the existing system, and that his financial control over the admini- stration of the Colony would be both simplified and strengthened.
Treasury.
The
10. The Treasury is divided administratively into a number of separate units of varying size. The Inland Revenue Branch and the House Tax Branch are controlled by a Superintendent of Inland Revenue, who reports direct to the Receiver-General, as also does the Inspector in charge of the Fishery Branch. remaining branches are under the general control of the Deputy Receiver-General and consist of the following sections, viz., 'the Accounts Branch, in charge of the Head Accountant; the two outposts of the Treasury stationed in the Public Works Department and the Health Department respectively, each in charge of an officer known as the Financial Assistant; the Chief Examiner's Branch; the Savings Bank Branch; the Cashiers' Branch; the offices of the District Cashiers; the Correspondence Section; and the office of the Currency Commissioners. The officer in charge of cach of these units, some of which are numerically very small, reports direct to the Deputy Receiver-General. We would here
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PECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/12
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-"
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
| COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO|
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remark that the printed estimates of the department are somewhat misleading, owing to the fact that all members of the staff belonging to the general clerical establishment are included in the estimates of the Colonial Secretariat. This staff in the case of the Treasury numbers no less than fifty-two officers, including the District Cashiers, the two Financial Assistants, the Savings Bank, Head- quarter Cashiers' Section, and Chief Examiners' Sections. In the result the estimates entirely fail to indicate either the real cost of the department or half the services for which it is being maintained.
11. It will be convenient to deal first with the sections falling under the administration of the Superintendent of Inland Revenue, viz., the Revenue and House Tax Branches.
Revenue Branch.
This branch is composed of two entirely separate sections known as the Revenue Section and the Distillery Section, respectively. The term Revenue Section is, of course, something of a misnomer inasmuch as both Sections are equally concerned with revenue. The revenues to which it refers are licence duties of various kinds and the direct taxes on vehicles and animals, the former being estimated to yield Rs.1,250,000 and the latter Rs.410,000 for the current financial year. Subsidiary functions of the branch are the verification of the weights and measures used by retail shopkeepers, the detection of illicit cultivation of gandia, and the control of the sale of retail liquor.
The staff of the branch, under the Superintendent, consists of six Inspectors on the scale of Rs.1,800-240-3,600 and twenty Revenue Guards, ten at Rs.975 and ten at Rs.1,365 per annum. One of the Inspectors, known as the Clerical Inspector, is stationed at headquarters, and with a guard, known as the Clerical Guard. forms the office staff of the Superintendent. Each of the other Inspectors has charge of a separate district with a staff of guards stationed at different localities within his district. It is the Inspector's responsibility to see that every person carrying on a licensed trade or occupation has taken out a licence and paid the appropriate duty. He is required to keep a register of licensees in his district and to ascertain from the District Cashier what licences have been paid within the prescribed period. In a case of failure to produce a licence he obtains an explanation of the default and reports the inatter to the Superintending Inspector with a view to a prosecution. The procedure with regard to the direct taxes levied upon vehicles is similar, and may be further illustrated by the par- ticular case of motor vehicles. Every purchaser of a motor vehicle is required to register it at the office of the Receiver-General and to pay a registration fee, which for a new car is Rs.10 and for a second-hand car Rs.3. A tax is the payable calculated according to the horse-power of the vehicle and this payment is made at the
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office of the District Cashier for the place in which the owner of the car resides. In addition there is the payment to the Police for a driver's licence. On the registration of the car, the following pro- cedure for ensuring payment of the direct tax is set in motion. The Receiver-General's office notifies the Inspector that the car has been registered and quotes the registration number. The Inspector pro- ceeds to the oflice of the District Cashier to see if payment of the tax has been made, and if payment has failed to be made within fourteen days, calls upon the purchaser and demands the receipt. On non-production of the receipt he takes the purchaser's explana- tion and reports the case to the Superintendent of Inland Revenue. The latter examines the explanation of the non-payment and if he regards it as unsatisfactory sends an instruction to the Inspector to forward a prescribed form for the Receiver-General's signature. (Why this form should not be sent in when the case is first reported is not clear.) On the return of the form the Receiver-General sends it to the magistrate with a view to proceedings being taken for the recovery of the amount due, the District Cashier being informed of this action so that if the defaulter pays voluntarily before the case comes into Court the appropriate surcharge may be imposed. If the case goes into Court, the Inspector attends as prosecutor for the Revenue.
The duties of the Revenue Guards are identical with those of the Inspector, except that the Guards do not deal with licences costing more than Rs.25, and that the Inspector has a general responsibility for their work.
The Superintendent's duties are to examine the returns which are rendered to him weekly by his inspecting officers, to check them against returns furnished by the District Cashiers, and to see that all papers are in due order before they are referred to the magistrate for legal proceedings to be taken. He is assisted in these duties by his personal staff consisting of the Clerical Inspector and the Clerical Guard.
12. It will be seen that the whole of these inspectorial duties amount to no more than demanding to see the taxpayer's receipt and in default of its production reporting the case to the magistrate for prosecution. From the beginning to the end of the whole dilatory procedure no technical knowledge or specialized experience is required, and neither in difficulty nor in quantity is the work such as to justify the setting up of a special department to deal with it. We recommend that the whole of it both as regards the licence duties and the registration of animals and vehicles should be handed over to the Police. The Inspector-General of Police to whom we sub- mitted this proposal saw no difficulty in its adoption and did not consider that it would involve any addition to the Police strength, So far as the personal inspection of licences is concerned, this can be undertaken by the ordinary outdoor Police staff when on patrol,