British Legacy in India as Constructive and Co-operative in the Mission of Nation Building

It was found that the Indian nation emerged within the struggle for independence against colonial rule. In this process:

i. A unification of India took place by communication technology, rail network and centralised administrative machinery (contribution of the British) and secondly a unity was forged in the course of the struggle for independence which brought together Indians irrespective of class, caste, ethnic and religious divides.

ii. Challenges of social and economic development were identified: regionalism, poverty, lack of democratic institutions, lack of progress in edu­cation and backwardness.

Image Source : d2t7kii5suglkl.cloudfront.net

The British legacy in terms of the unification of India by a communication and transport infrastructure and rule of law was beset by a basic problem. The British had developed these to further the goals and ambitions of colonialism.

The communication and transport infrastructure had been built to tap raw materials for the industries in England and to create a market for British manufactured goods in India. Further the network was developed to facilitate movement of British troops to quell popular movements and uprisings against the British.

The Indians in the post- independence period clearly had different priorities. They needed a transport and communication network that would build the base for a strong self-reliant economic foundation for India.

Secondly, the network was needed to promote movements of Indians from one part of the country to another for seeking employment, promoting trade and market for indigenously manufactured goods and cultural exchange that would strengthen democracy. This needed to be strengthened.

In the same way, the administrative structure built by the British had been to maintain law and order to facilitate British rule. Indians needed the administrative structure to be responsive to the needs of develop­ment and progress of Indian democracy. The debate in the Indian political establishment was centred around this challenge. It was suggested by Nehru amongst others that the older institution of the ICS needed to be dismantled and replaced.

As early as 1951 he complained: “we rely more and more on official agencies which are generally fairly good, but which are completely different in outlook and execution from anything that draws popular enthusiasm to it.” He suggested two ways to tackle this challenge: “one by educating the whole administrative machine and secondly by putting a new type of person where it is needed. But this did not happen.

The Indian Administrative scenario which was formed was very much in the ICS mould. Nor was the lower bureaucracy renovated. People who joined Community Develop­ment Programmes out of idealism and social commit­ment were frustrated by attempts of bureaucracy to render them as low paid underlings. Moreover, the administrative machinery did not improve over the years.

It deteriorated further becoming more inefficient and inaccessible. Further evidences of corruption began to manifest. In 1963 Nehru wrote to his chief ministers to point out “the need to strengthen our government apparatus and to fight a ceaseless war against corruption and inefficiency”.