East Indian Railway: 1906 History of the EIR - Chapter V
Note: This is a sub-section of the East Indian Railway
The History of the East Indian Railway by George Huddleston. Published 1906 by Tracker, Spins and Co
CHAPTER V. TRADE DEPRESSION - MR. A. M. RENDEL VISITS INDIA AGAIN AND CRITICISES THE WORKING OF THE EAST INDIAN RAILWAY - ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROVIDENT FUND.
FOLLOWING several years of progress and successive seasons of increase, a temporary check set in in 1867. The period was marked by extreme depression in trade, and added to this the country was visited by abnormal floods, rendering the roads to the stations impassable for heavy traffic. The cotton boom of 1866, which had done so much to increase the receipts that year, was at an end, and under all heads of merchandise there was a falling off, though fortunately the passenger traffic continued to grow.
This change in the march of progress at once drew attention to the question of expenditure, and the point was raised whether it was really necessary or desirable to proceed with all the different works that had been sanctioned. Mr. A. M. Rendel, the Company's Consulting Engineer, was accordingly deputed to visit India again, to investigate the question on the spot, in communication with the officers of the Company and of the Government, and to consider in regard to works in contemplation or in course of execution, whether they should be proceeded with or deferred.
Mr. Rendel proceeded to India in November 1867, and returning in March 1868, submitted a very full report on the various matters relating to his mission. He found that the great growth in expenditure during the preceding two years had been in advance of the natural development of the traffic, and as a consequence, many works which were projected, when it seemed that the power of the Railway to carry traffic was the sole limit to its use, were indefinitely postponed. Among others the doubling of the line between Gahmar station and Allahabad was deferred resulting in a saving of about £527,000. He reviewed the question relating to the construction of a bridge across the Hooghly river at Calcutta; dealt with the detail of duty performed by rolling-stock, stated his view that the mileage run was out of proportion to the work done and criticised the working generally. He advocated mixed trains and a reduction in the third class fare from 3 to 2.5 pie per mile, and investigated fuel consumption and numerous other matters. He also advocated that the whole line should be placed under one, instead of three chief Engineers, examined generally the establishment employed and proposed certain rules relating to the salaries of the staff and so forth. He altered the form of statistics she wing cost of working the line and made many suggestions which could not fail to be beneficial, and were for the most part adopted.
At this time one of the most difficult questions which had presented itself to the Board, in the organisation and management of the staff in India, had been how to meet the claims constantly urged for the payment of pensions, after a given period of service, founded upon the analogy of the Government services. The Company's European staff consisted of gentlemen, drawn chiefly from the best managed English lines, and it was felt that, without some retiring provision being made for them, the railway service in India did not form sufficient attraction.. Various schemes, with a view to make the service more popular, were suggested, both at home and in India, but until 1867 every such proposition was found, from one cause or another, to be impracticable. In that year the conclusion was come to, after much anxious consideration, that the best mode of meeting the difficulty was to establish a Provident Fund, in the advantages of which all the servants of the Company, European and native, receiving a monthly pay of Rs.30 and upwards should participate, the Fund being supported by contributions from the staff, assisted by the Company.
It was proposed:
1st. That the present staff shall contribute to the Fund only if they think fit; but that all persons joining the service on and from a given date, with a monthly pay of Rs.30 or over, and those who may be promoted to this pay, shall be required to do so.
2nd. That the staff shall be divided into two Classes - Class A consisting of all European servants of the Company and Class B comprising all servants of the Company not Europeans.
3rd. That those in Class A shall contribute 5 per cent. and those in Class B 2.5 per cent. on their respective monthly salaries.
4th. That the Company shall contribute annually 1 per cent. on the surplus net earnings, after 6 per cent. per annum has been appropriated to the Company and the Government, in the terms of their contract, together with 1 per cent. on the 6 per cent. so appropriated so far as the surplus will admit of the said contributions.
5th. That the monies of the Fund shall be invested, from time to time, either in Indian Government securities or in railway stock, and that subject to rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Board, the Fund and all accruing interest shall be the property of the respective members of the staff in the ratio of their subscriptions.
Such were the rules of the original Provident Fund. Its creation was beneficial to the staff in numerous ways and it had the effect of giving every servant a direct personal interest in the economical working of the line, but it has never to this day given any employee a sufficient retiring allowance, and although various changes have been made in the original scheme, all of which have been introduced with the object of assisting the subscribers, a strong feeling exists that something more is needed.
In 1867 overtures were made to the Board to take over the Nalhati Branch Railway, constructed by a company known as the Indian Branch Railway Company, but the Board then declined to entertain them, as they were not prepared at the time "to construct or work any more branch lines." It was not until about 30 years afterwards that this railway, which in the meantime had been transferred to the State and was known as the Nalhati State Railway, was taken over by the East Indian and converted into a broad gauge line. It is known now as the Azimgunge branch line, and is part and parcel of the undertaking.
The Jubbulpore line was opened on the 1st August, 1867, before the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was ready to connect, and in the same year it was decided to construct a road bridge between Howrah and Calcutta, though whether this work should be undertaken by direct Government agency, or committed to the Municipality with Government assistance, was not then settled.
During the second half year of 1868 the traffic sheaved signs of reviving and the net receipts of the year exceeded those of 1866, but the depression was not yet over and the development of traffic for some time was very gradual.
The following statement shews the net earnings of the Company from 1866 to 1869 inclusive:—
- 1866 - £1,119,315 6s 2d
- 1867 - £1,076,741 12s 8d
- 1868 - £1,217,620 16s 2d
- 1869 - £1,446,322 6s 10d
The increases shewn in the net earnings would not have been so great but for the fact that working expenses were considerably reduced. By 1869 they had been brought down to 41.57 per cent. of the gross earnings. In this year the number of passengers carried was 4,911,018 and the weight of goods and minerals 1,261,113 tons.
In 1869 the East Indian Railway Volunteer Rifle Corps was formed, Mr. Edward Palmer, the Agent, was the first Honorary Colonel and about 416 servants of the Company at once enrolled themselves. The number of members has since increased very, greatly and the corps is now over 2,300 strong with very few inefficients.
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