Pitt's India Act 1784 - General Knowledge of Modern India
In order to remove the shortcomings of the Regulating Act of 1773 AD and to make the administration of the Indian territories of the Company more efficient and accountable, several rounds of investigation were conducted during the next decade and many steps were taken by the British Parliament.
The most important step among these was the passage of the Pitts India Act in 1784 AD, which was named after the then young Prime Minister of Britain, William Pitt. By this act the Board of Control was established in Britain, through which the British Government exercised complete control over the civil, military and revenue related functions of the Company in India.
The Company's monopoly on trade with India still remained and it had the right to appoint or remove the Company's officers. Therefore, both the British Government and the Company's rule over British India, i.e., diarchy was established.
The Governor General was given the power to disobey the decision of the Council on important issues. The Madras and Bombay Presidencies were subordinated to him and he was made the commander of the British Army in India, the army of both the Company and the British Government.
The principles established by the Act of 1784 AD formed the basis of British administration in India. The army, police, civil service and court were the major agencies/bodies through which the Governor General exercised his powers and discharged his responsibilities. A large part of the Company's army also consisted of Indian soldiers, whose size increased with the expansion of British territory and at one time the number of these soldiers was about 200,000. They were regularly paid salaries and were also provided training in the use of state-of-the-art weapons. Soldiers working under Indian rulers often did not get these facilities. Later on, due to success after success, the prestige of the Company's army increased, which attracted new recruits towards it. But all the officers of the army were European. Apart from the Company's army, there was also a presence of British soldiers in India.
Although the Indian soldiers employed in the Company's army had earned a reputation for being highly capable, they were mere mercenaries of the colonial power as neither did they possess the sense of pride that would excite a soldier of any national army nor Nor did they get many opportunities for promotion. These factors provoked him to revolt many times, the greatest of which was the revolt of 1857.
A provision in the Pitt's India Act was also related to a ban on the policy of conquests, but that provision was ignored because of the economic interests of Britain, such as creating a market for the finished goods from Britain's factories and new sources of raw materials. In order to discover, it was necessary to conquer new territories. Along with this, it was also necessary to establish law and order on the newly conquered areas at the earliest to achieve these objectives. Therefore, a regular police force was arranged so that law and order could be maintained.
This force was given a regular form during the time of Cornwallis. In 1791 AD, the Superintendent of Police was appointed for Calcutta and soon Kotwals were appointed in other cities as well. The districts were divided into thanas and each police station was in charge of a daroga. The hereditary police personnel of the villages were made chowkidars. Later the post of District Superintendent of Police was created.
Although the police played an important role in the establishment of law and order, it never became popular, rather it earned notoriety due to corruption and tendency to harass the general public. Hence it became a symbol of government authority throughout the country. Its lower rank soldiers were given very less salary, like the army, only European people were appointed to high posts here.
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Modern India