Mains Marathon

• Briefly talk about the personality of Ripon as a unique policy implementer in India.
• Enumerate the few policies of Ripon that were watershed policies at that time and made an everlasting impact on lives of Indians.
• Conclude suitably.

Answer

Ripon was governor general between 1880 to 1884. He had initiated a number of policies ranging from the freedom of press, regulation in factories, local self-government and educational sphere. He was a major pre-INC governor general, who had implemented various policies which later proved largely in the interest of the Indians.

The watershed policies initiated and implemented by the Ripon were:

• Promulgation of First Indian Factory Act 1881 to improve the labour condition- It was primarily deals with the problem of child labour between the age of 7 to 12 year.
  • The significant provisions of the act were:
  • The employment of children under the age 7 years of age prohibited,
  • Working hours were restricted to 9 hours per day for children
  • Children to get four holidays in a month
  • Hazardous machinery to be properly fenced off.
    • It was the first factory act which paved the ways for the successive factory Regulation.
    • It also fulfilled the demand of Indian intellectuals like Sasipada Banerjea (1870) and Narain Meghajee Lokhanday (1880) who had demanded and taken various steps for the labour welfare.
    • Second Indian Factory Act 1891 to regulate women and children was the effect of the first act.
• Repeal of Vernacular Press Act 1882 by Ripon marked as great development of press in India until 1908 when the Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act was promulgated to curtail the freedom of speech of people under which the Tilak sued.
• Government Resolution on the local self-government 1882 by Ripon gave him the status of Father of Local Govt. in India. It was a watershed policy due to its provisions like:
  • Local bodies as an instrument of political and popular education,
  • Both Rural and urban local bodies with defined dutie and sources of revenue,
  • Non-officials in majority with reservation on chairperson’s seat with minimum official interference.
  • Ripon had Introduced this novel policy for local self-government which in post-independent India evolved as Panchayati Raj System and urban local bodies and prevails grassroot democracy.
• Appointment of the Education Commission under the chairman of Sir William Hunter 1882 also known as Hunter Commission:
  • It was the first Commission to review the progress of education in the country since the Dispatch of 1854.
  • The Hunter Commission mostly confined its recommendation to primary and secondary education because earlier schemes had neglected the same.
  • It recommended that the state’s special care is required for the extension of primary education through Vernacular, with transfer of control of primary Education to district and municipality boards.
  • Secondary Education must have to division for the literary and vocational, it also drew attention to inadequate facilities for female education
    • Due to the effect of this Commission various teaching-cum-examining universities were set up like the Punjab University in 1882 and Allahabad University in 1887.
• Ilbert bill controversy (1883-84): The Bill was a major reform in the judicial system of India which aimed to implement the rule of law in the British colonial government of India.
  • Bill had facilitated trial of white European by the Indian judges but due to the racial discrimination of the whites and blacks bill could not passed.
  • This was a great effort of Ripon to bring ideal values to the judiciary.

Ripon had brought various policies with novel and progressive ideas but due to the lack of cooperation by his fellow colleagues and lack of effective implementation prevented the aim realisation of the policies at that time. But later on, these policies were the foundation stone for the formulation and implementation of various welfare, idealistic and democratic policies in modern India.