SIR A. R. BANERJI - A FORGOTTEN CIVIL SERVANT - PART TWO

In AD 1911, during the Delhi Durbar of the King Emperor George V and Queen Mary, Sir Albion Raj Kumar Banerji was honoured by  the title, the Companion of the Indian Empire, CIE.

The Cochin State Manual written by Sri.C.Achyutha Menon I Edition 1911 is an authoritative work on the erstwhile Princely State of Cochin. In the preface to the book, Mr.Menon writes as follows:

‘The Manual owes its being to the present Diwan of Cochin, Mr.A.R.Banerji, I.C.S. Not only did the idea originate with him, but the work itself was started under his orders and carried out under his supervision. Although the book is thus an official publication, I am solely responsible for the correctness of the facts and comments contained in it.’

In the book, Southern India by Playne Wright Somerset, originally published in London by Foreign and Colonial Compiling and Pub. Co, 1914-1915, the following could be found:

‘A.R. Banerji CIE, of the ICS was appointed Diwan in May 1907 and no previous holder of the office has succeeded to the same extent in gaining the confidence of a Rajah, in promoting the welfare of the State and in securing the affection of the people. There is universal feeling of the deepest regret throughout the State that this very able official is now retiring, and he will be remembered in Cochin for many years to come as one who has laboured for the moral intellectual and temporal good of the whole community.

The country was hampered by heavy debts and by many difficult problems when Mr.Banerji took up reins of office, but he has the satisfaction of knowing that the revenue of the State has greatly increased during the tenure of his Diwanship; that the various departments are in smooth working order; and that those frowning rocks of complex problems and the crippling effects of a depleted treasury have been safely passed. His successor is J.W.Bhore of the ICS who has been Under Secretary in the revenue department of the Madras Government.”

After a great stint in Cochin, Sir Banerji served as Diwan of Mysore from AD 1922 to 1927. Owing to historical reasons, the Diwans of Mysore were an integral part of the administration of Mysore from 1881 to 1946. Sir Banerji was responsible for the constitutional reforms inaugurated in Mysore in 1922 under the great maharajah Sri Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV who was one of the most celebrated rulers among the Indian States. Paul Brunton, the philosopher and mystic traveler , who has many wonderful books to his credit,  had stayed with the Maharajah and has paid eloquent tributes to the philosopher-king as a role model for rulers over the world.’”

It is also reported that Ernakulam enjoys piped water supply today thanks to the efforts of A.R. Banerji. Yes, the scheme under which water is brought to Ernakulam from the Periyar River was his brainchild.

Albion Rajkumar Banerji was awarded the Star of India for his services to the Empire in June, 1921, while he was serving as the Diwan of Mysore. The Royal proclamation to this effect is reproduced below:

CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS

OF KNIGHTHOOD.

St. James's Palace, S.W. 1,

3rd June, 1921.

The KING has been graciously pleased, on

the occasion of His Majesty's Birthday, to

give orders for the following promotions in and

appointments to the Most Exalted Order of the

Star of India:

To be Companions of the said Most Exalted

Order:

Albion Rajkumar Banerji, Esq., C.I.E.,

Indian Civil Service, First Member of the

Executive Council of His Highness the

Maharaja of Mysore.

Albion Rajkumar Banerji  was further honoured with a knighthood (Knight Bachelor) in the Birthday Honours List gazetted  on 03 June, 1925.

After his assignment in Mysore, the British Government sent Sir A.R. Banerji to the troubled State of Kashmir as the Prime Minister in 1927. He resigned from his post in 1929 (being the first and only person  holding that post to do so on moral grounds) following differences with the Dogra monarch on the latter's lavish lifestyle that was sustained by a poor population. He wrote:

“Jammu and Kashmir state is labouring under many disadvantages, with a large Mohammedan population absolutely illiterate, labouring under poverty and very low economic conditions of living in the villages, and practically governed like dumb driven cattle. There is no touch between the government and the people, no suitable opportunity for representing grievances... The administration has at present no or little sympathy with people's wants and grievances...”