Which Charter Act ended the patronage of the Company and introduced open competition for recruitment to the civil service?
- A.Charter Act of 1793
- B.Charter Act of 1813
- C.Charter Act of 1853
- D.Charter Act of 1833
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, the Charter Act of 1853. This Act took away the Company's right to nominate its civil servants and threw recruitment open to competition, after which the committee headed by Lord Macaulay in 1854 settled the syllabus and the first competitive examination was held in London in 1855. Option A, the Charter Act of 1793, did the opposite: it reserved all posts worth five hundred pounds a year and more for covenanted servants and so kept Indians out. Option B, the Charter Act of 1813, is remembered for the grant of one lakh rupees a year for education and for allowing missionaries into India. Option D, the Charter Act of 1833, centralised legislative power, created the Governor General of India and provided for a Law Commission, and it declared that no Indian should be barred from office by reason of religion, birth or colour, but it left recruitment with the Company.
Read the full article: British Administration in India: Services, Police and Courts
Practice Questions
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- B.Satyendranath Tagore
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- A.The Government of India Act, 1858
- B.The Indian Police Act, 1861
- C.The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
- D.The Indian Councils Act, 1892
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- C.A Federal Court of India
- D.A Public Service Commission
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- C.The Lee Commission, 1924
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