of water, and at two of its corners has pretty stone kiosques, the gift of the resident Honorary Magistrate, Kunvar Azam Ali Khán. The two at the opposite angle are now being added at a further cost of Rs. 1,200 by the Municipality, which has also defrayed the total expenditure on the tank itself and the aqueduct which, together, amounted to Rs. 18,000.
Of all public improvements a tank is perhaps the one which the people of India most highly appreciate, and they are always ready to contribute to its construction to the full extent of their means. Besides the two at Khurja and Bulandshahr, eight[1] others have been made in smaller towns in the district, at an aggregate cost of Rs. 20,000; a nucleus in each case, large or small, being first collected by the people on the spot, and then supplemented by grants from local funds. The same system has been adopted with regard to new schools. If the people of any locality take sufficient interest in the matter to contribute half the cost, the District Board provides the other moiety, the school is built, and the villagers, having invested some of their own money in it, generally evince a more lasting zeal for its success than if it had been an entirely free gift. If a similar method were more widely practised throughout the country, local improvements and local public spirit would be developed on a far more solid basis, than by the institution of any number of elective committees.
The above long record of local improvements can scarcely be regarded as otherwise than a remarkable one for a single district to exhibit during the brief space of six years. Probably not one tithe of similar work has been executed in the same time in any corresponding part of the Province, where action has been strictly regulated by departmental routine. If so, the point for which I contend is practically established. The tyranny of departmentalism, and the servitude of the individual as now practised, are not only unnecessary in the interests either of the Government or the people, but are positively injurious to both. The remedy for present evils lies in local self-Government, which—rightly understood—is the greatest blessing that could be conferred on the country. Its requirements, however, are not satisfied by the mere introduction of an ingenious scheme for the election of representative members to form such a Board as that hitherto
- ↑ These eight towns are Aurangabad, Jewar, Dibhái, Járcha, Jhájhar, Kakor, Dankor, and Rabupura. At the last-named the work was a restoration of an old tank, which had fallen into ruin. The others were all entirely new.
