Dr. J. C. Bose was invited to give his evidence before the Royal
Commission on the Public Services in India. With reference to the Method
of Recruitment, he observed, in his written statement, as follows:--
"... I think that a high standard of scholarship should be the only
qualification insisted on. Graduates of well-known Universities,
distinguished for a particular line of study, should be given the
preference. I think the prospects of the Indian Educational Service are
sufficiently high to attract the very best material. In Colonial
Universities they manage to get very distinguished men without any
extravagantly high pay.... At present the recruitment in the Indian
Educational Service is made in England and is practically confined to
Englishmen. Such racial preference is, in my opinion, prejudicial to the
interest of education. The best men available, English or Indian, should
be selected impartially, and high scholarship should be the only
test.... It is unfortunate that Indian graduates of European
Universities who had distinguished themselves in a remarkable manner do
not for one reason or other find facilities for entering the higher
Educational Service.... I should like to add that these highly qualified
Indians need only opportunities to render service which would greatly
advance the cause of higher education.... If promising Indian graduates
are given the opportunity of visiting foreign Universities, I have no
doubt that they would stand comparison with the best recruits that can
be obtained from the West.... As teachers and workers it is an
incontestable fact that Indian Officers have distinguished themselves
very highly, and anything which discriminates between Europeans and
Indians in the way of pay and prospects is most undesirable. A sense of
injustice is ill-calculated to bring about that harmony which is so
necessary among all the members of an educational institution,
professors and students alike."[27] Pressing next for a high level of
scholarship, in the Indian Educational Service, he wrote:--
"It has been said that the present standard of Indian Universities
is not as high as that of British Universities, and that the work
done by the former is more like that of the 6th form of the public
schools in England. It is therefore urged that what is required for
an Educational officer in the capacity to manage classes rather than
high scholarship. I do not agree with these views. (1) There are
Universities in Great Britain whose standards are not higher than
ours; I do not think that the Pass Degree even of Oxford or
Cambridge is higher than the corresponding degree here (2) the
standard of the Indian University is being steadily raised; (3) the
standard will depend upon what the men entrusted with Educational
work will make it. For these reasons it is necessary that the level
of scholarship represented by the Indian Educational Service should
be maintained very high."[28]
He then dwelt on what should be the aim of Higher Education in India and
observed as follows:--
"... I think that all the machinery to improve the higher
education in India would be altogether ineffectual unless India
enters the world movement for the advancement of knowledge. And for
this it is absolutely necessary to touch the imagination of the
people so as to rouse them to give their best energies to the work
of research and discovery, in which all the nations of the world are
now engaged. To aim anything less will only end in lifeless and
mechanical system from which the soul of reality has passed
away."[28]
He was called, on the 18th December 1913, and was put to a searching
examination by the Members of the Royal Commission. The evidence that he
gave is instinct with patriotism and is highly remarkable for its
simplicity and directness about the things he said. To the Chairman
(Lord Islington) he stated that he "favoured an arrangement by which
Indians would enter the higher ranks of the service, either through the
Provincial Service or by direct recruitment in India. The latter class
of officers, after completing their education in India, should
ordinarily go to Europe with a view to widening their experience. By
this he did not wish to decry the training given in the Indian
Universities, which produce some of the very best men, and he would not
make the rule absolute. It was not necessary for men of exceptional
ability to go to England in order to occupy a high chair. Unfortunately,
on account of there being no openings for men of genius in the
Educational Service, distinguished men were driven to the profession of
Law. In the present condition of India a larger number of distinguished
men were needed to give their lives to the education of the people.
"... The educational service ought to be regarded not as a profession,
but as a calling. Some men were born to be teachers. It was not a
question of race, of course; in order to have an efficient educational
system, there must be an efficient organisation, but this should not be
allowed to become fossilised, and thus stand in the way of healthy
growth.... A proportion of Europeans in the service, was needed, but
only as experts and not as ordinary teachers. Only the very best men
should be obtained from Europe and for exceptional cases. The general
educational work should be done entirely by Indians, who understood the
difficulties of the country much better than any outsider. He advocated
the direct recruitment of Indians in India by the local Government in
consultation with the Secretary of State, rather than by the Secretary
of State alone. Indians were under a great difficulty, in that they
could not remain indefinitely in England after taking their degrees and
being away from the place of recruitment their claims were overlooked.
There was no reason why a European should be paid a higher rate of
salary than an Indian on account of the distance he came. An Indian felt
a sense of inferiority if a difference was made as regards pay. The very
slight saving which Government made by differentiating between the two
did not compensate for the feeling of wrong done. This feeling would
remain even if the pay was the same, but an additional grant in the
shape of a foreign service allowance was made to Europeans. All workers
in the field of education should feel a sense of solidarity, because
they were all serving one greet cause, namely, education."[29]
Being asked by Sir Valentine Chirol, he said "If a foreign professor
would not come and serve in India for the same remuneration as he
obtained in his own country, he would certainly not force him to
come."[29]
To Mr. Abdur Rahim he said: "Recruitment for the Educational Service
should be made in the first place in India, if suitable men were
available; but if not then he would allow the best outsiders to be
brought in. In the present state of the country it would be very easy to
fill up many of the chairs by selecting the best men in India. The aim
of the universities should be to promote two classes of work--first,
research; and, secondly, an all-round sound education...."[29]
In answer to questions of Mr. Madge, he said: "Any idea that the
educational system of India was so far inferior to that of England, that
Indians, who had made their mark, had done so, not because of the
educational system of the country, but in spite of it, was quite
unfounded. The standard of education prevailing in India was quite up
to the mark of several British Universities. It was as true of any other
country in the world as of India that education was valued as a means
for passing examination, and not only for itself, and there was no more
cramming in India than elsewhere. The West certainly brought to the East
a modern spirit, which was very valuable, but it would be dearly
purchased by the loss of an honourable career for competent Indians in
their own country. The educational system in India had in the past been
too mechanical, but a turn for the better was now taking place and the
Universities were recognising the importance of research work, and were
willing to give their highest degrees to encourage it."[30]
To Mr. Fisher, he said that he "desired to secure for India Europeans
who had European reputations in their different branches of study. If it
was necessary to go outside India or England, to procure good men, he
would prefer to go to Germany. This was the practice in America where
they were annexing all the great intellects of Europe. He would like to
see India entering the world movement in the advance and march of
knowledge. It was of the highest importance that there should be an
intellectual atmosphere in India. It would be of advantage if there were
many Indians in the Educational Service. For they came more in contact
with the people, and influenced their intellectual activity. Besides, on
retirement they would live in India, and their ripe experience would be
at their countrymen's service."[31]
To Mr. Gokhale, he said that he "knew of three instances in which the
Colonies had secured distinguished men on salaries which were lower than
those given to officers of the Indian Educational Service. One was at
Toronto, another was in New Zealand and the third at Yale University.
The salaries on the two latter cases were £600 and £500 a year. The same
held good as regards Japan. The facts there had been stated in a
Government of India publication as follows: 'Subsequent to 1895 there
were 67 professors recruited in Europe and America. Of these 20 came
from Germany, 16 from England and 12 from the United States. The average
pay was £384. In the highest Imperial University the average pay is
£684. As soon as Japanese could be found to do the work, even tolerably
well, the foreigner was dropped.' When he first started work in India,
he found that there was no physical laboratory, or any grant made for a
practical experimental course. He had to construct instruments with the
help of local mechanics, whom he had to train. All this took him ten
years. He then undertook original investigation at his own expense. The
Royal Society became specially interested in his work and desired to
give him parliamentary grant for its continuation. It was after this
that the Government of Bengal came forward and offered him facilities
for research. In the Educational Service he would take men of
achievement from any where; but men of promise he would take from his
own country."[32]
To Sir Theodore Morison, he said: "There should be one scale of pay for
all persons in the higher Educational Department. The rate of salary,
Rs. 200 rising to Rs. 1,500 per month, was suitable subject to the
proviso that a man of great distinction, instead of beginning at the
lowest rate of pay, should start some where in the middle of the list,
say, at Rs. 400 or Rs. 500. He would make no difference in regard to
Europeans or Indians in that respect.... It would not be right for a
great Government to grant a minimum of pay to Indian Professors and an
extravagantly high pay to their European Colleagues, for doing the same
kind of work."[33]
To Mr. Gupta, he said that "He desired one Service, because he thought
it was most degrading that certain man, although they were doing the
same work should be classed in a Provincial Service, while others should
be classed in an Imperial Service. The prospects of the members of the
Provincial Service were not at all what they ought to be, and that was
the reason why the best men were not attracted to it."[33]