KATHIAWAR STATES

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09415777229, 094055338

E-mail- [e-mail];[e-mail]

 

 

KATHIAWAR STATES

 

 

 The Western India States Agency, comprising all the 284 States in Kathiawar, is, numerically, by far the biggest Agency under the administrative control of the Political Department. The Kathiawar States, between themselves account for just half the number of States in India, the total being computed at 562. These States present the greatest possible variety in size and government. At one end of the scale are Cutch with an area of 8,250 square miles and Bhavnagar with an annual income of about Rs. 15 million; at the other end of the scale. Vejanoness which has an area of 0.29 square mile, a population of 206 souls and an income of Rs. 500 a year. . . . Sir George Macmunn must have had these stateless in mind while writing his famous book The Indian States and Princes. In the very first chapter he says: The Ruling Princes of India number between five and six hundred and their principalities vary from that of the Nizam, as large as a third of France, to others no larger than Battersea Park. The real demand of the States subjects, it must be presumed, is self-government or responsible government and not merely good government. Nothing short of extensive democratization of the administrative machinery is likely to satisfy them. As democratization must of necessity involve certain financial commitments, it is neither helpful nor politic to demand it from Rulers of States whose annual income is less than, say, Rs. 50 lakhs. Joint administration is, therefore, the only alternative to the existing arrangement for such States. Joint administration for small States is no novel or visionary suggestion. His Excellency the Viceroy himself, than whom none can claim to be more solicitous for the welfare of the Princes, is responsible for propagating this view. The germs of this theory, however, are traceable in the Butler Committee Report, 1928-29. Dealing with the classification of States, the Report says: The petty States of Kathiawar and Gujarat, numbering 286 of the total of 327 in the third class, are organized in groups called thanas under officers appointed by local representatives of the Paramount Power, who exercise various kinds and degrees of criminal, revenue and civil jurisdiction. As the cost of administration rises, the States find it necessary to distribute it over larger areas by appointing officials to work for several States. Already there is talk in some of the larger States in Kathiawar of appointing a High Court with powers over a group of such States. He Excellency’s views on this question may be gathered from the following extract from his address delivered on the occasion of inaugurating the session of the Chamber of Princes in March last: In no case is the need for co-operation and combination more patent, more pronounced and more immediate than in the case of the smaller States. Those States whose resources are so limited as virtually to preclude them individually from providing for the requirements of their people in accordance with modern standard, have indeed no other practical alternative before them. I would take this opportunity to impress upon the Rulers of such States, with all the emphasis at my command, the wisdom of taking the earliest possible steps to combine with their neighbours in the matter of administrative services so far as this is practicable. Though the principle of combination enunciated by the Viceroy can apply to smaller States all over India, it is particularly suitable in the case of Kathiawar States. One peculiar feature of these States is that, unlike their neighbours, the Gujarat States or the Central India States, they are geographically one compact province. . . . The process of combination or grouping or to be a little bolder, of confederation, is immensely facilitated by this continuity. The total area of all these States is just over 40,000 square miles and the total population is 42, 29,494. The total annual income is estimated at about Rs. six crores. During the last three months the Kathiawar Princes have met a number of times and . . . they were reported to have discussed the feasibility of having a combined police force, common Excise, Medical, Public Health, Public Works and Forest Departments and a common High Court. . . . It is so easy to see the futility of combined administration in these important spheres without providing for a combined legislature. For, the question arises, to whom will these common administrations be responsible? Certainly not to all one score Princes and their Governments. You cannot earnestly be responsible to twenty authorities unless confusion is their aim and to bungle your wish.