Circular N. 4291 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [‎30r] (5/24)

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2. •\ ou are aware that now there is no system of promotion : on a vacancy occurring
the situation is filled up by the Collector, and, as it is quite impossible that he can
know the qualifications of all the lower grades of servants, from amongst whom the
selection must be made, it is usual to consult the Dufturdar, who is supposed to know
the merits of all, and his advice is generally taken as to the choice of the man to be
promoted. That this is the case is well known throughout the service, and however
conscientious the Dufturdar may be in giving his opinion, those men who are passed over
will never give him credit for honesty of purpose, but will attribute some unworthy
motive to him ; and hence arises the impression, which is general, that a man's advance
ment in the service depends, not so much upon his own good conduct and ability, as
upon the favour of the Dufturdar, or other Native official, who may be supposed to
influence the Collector in his distribution of patronage.
3. In cases where the Collector calls for the opinion of his Assistant within whose
charge the vacancy may occur, the same custom obtains in a smaller scale: it is very
seldom that the Assistant comes in contact, or has any opportunity for forming an
opinion of the qualifications of Karkoons below the rank of Second or Third Karkoon
in a Mamlutdar's Cutcherry ; and hence, if he is called upon to name a man below that
rank for promotion, he must inquire of the Mamlutdar of the Talooka who is the most
fit, or, if lie does not choose to follow that course, as in most cases he will not think it
prudent, he will pitch upon some one who has been accidentally brought to his notice,
though for all he knows many more deserving men may be passed over.
4. It is no uncommon sight to see an old gray-headed man, who has been from his
youth in the service, holding a 10 or 12 rupee place in a Mamlutdar's Cutcherry. An
inquiry as to the reason of his never having risen higher will elicit the reply that he has
no friends ; there has been no one to speak for him ; he never had an opportunity of
attracting the notice of the Saheb, and therefore he has gone on from youth to manhood,
and from manhood to old age, unnoticed and unknown, with no hope of rising, and,
indeed, after a time, unfit to rise—an inefficient, unwilling, and most probably a dishonest
servant. Such a man attributes his failure in life to want of luck in not having secured
the favour of some one, and under the present system, or rather no system, no man,
however deserving he may be, can be sure that his fate will not be that of the old man
above described ; and to avoid it he will, as the only means he knows, strive all he can
to obtain the personal favour, no matter how, of the individual whom he is taught to
look upon as the dispenser of good things. From this arises that waiting upon persons,
and cogging anxiety to attract notice, which you cannot fail to have remarked,
and which is a very different demeanour from what might be expected from a member
of a public service, who is conscious that he has rights as a public servant, and
knows that his success or failure does not depend upon the favour or humour of any
one individual.
5. The theory of the present system is that the head of the office, being quite un
trammelled, has the opportunity of advancing men for merit ; but in practice it must be
what I have described. The Collector, constantly changed, cannot know anything of
the merits of the lower ranks of the service, whom he never sees or hears of, and he must
ask the opinion of some one, and whoever that some one may be, all promotion in the
Native estimation depends upon that individual's favour—he becomes the centre of the
hopes and fears of the whole establishment, and the public service becomes a kind of
preserve for the exercise of individual patronage.
6. I have long been of opinion that this uncertainty of promotion in the service is