List of Committees And Commissions in India Before Independence

List of Committees & Commissions During British Rule

Charles Wood Despatch

• Establishment year- 1854
• Recommendations:
• Promotion of western education in India.
• Emphasize the education of art, science, philosophy, and literature of Europe.
• English should be the medium in higher education.
• The vernacular language should not be promoted.
• Establishment of several vernacular primary schools in the villages at the lowest stage.

Hunter Commission

• Establishment year- 1882
• Recommendations:
• At the high school level, there should be two types of education arrangements- vocational and business education.
• Private stakeholders are welcomed especially in primary education.
• The medium of instruction in primary education should be the mother tongue.
• It is the sole responsibility of the government to spread primary education among the tribal and backward people.

Raleigh Commission

• Establishment year: 1902
• Recommendations:
• Improvement in the overall condition of education and upgrade the system to a better level.
• The universities will have powers to appoint their own staff including the academic staff.
• The number of fellows was limited within 50 to 100.
• However, for Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta Universities, the number of elected Fellows was fixed at 20.

Sadler Commission

• Establishment year: 1917
• Recommendations:
• Introduction of honors courses and should be different from the Pass courses.
• The Vice-Chancellor should be appointed as full time and salaried administrative head of the universities.

Hartog Commission

• Establishment year: 1929
• Recommendations: 
• The duration of the primary course was fixed to 4 years.
• The government will promote technical and commercial education by universities to control the problem of unemployment in India.

Sargent Plan

• Establishment year: 1944
• Recommendations:
• The age of children for pre-primary education should be between 3 to 6 years.
• Education should be made universal, compulsory, and free.
• The age for all children between the ages 6- 11 (junior basic) and 11- 14 (senior basic). While high school education for six years for selected children of age group from 11 to 17.
• The selected students should be promoted to degree courses for three years beginning after the higher secondary examination.
• The mother tongue should be promoted as the medium of instruction in all high schools.

Stratchy Commission

• Establishment year: 1878
• Recommendations:
• During the famine, the state should interfere in the food trade.

Lyall Commission

• Establishment year: 1897
• There should be the development of irrigation facilities.

MacDonnell Commission

• Establishment year: 1900
• Recommendations: The official machinery dealing with a famine must work around the year so that the scarcity of food grains could be controlled well in time.

Henry Fowler Committee

• Establishment year: 1898
• Objective:
• To examine the currency situation in India

Linlithgow Commission

• Establishment year: 1926
• Recommendations
• The commission said that the poor-quality Indian cattle must be improved.
• Import better-quality foreign bulls and use them to impregnate Indian cows.

Atkinson Commission

• Establishment year: 1886
• Objective:
• The aim of the commission is to suggest a scheme for fulfilling the claims of Indians to higher and more extensive employment in public service.

Fraser Commission

• Establishment year: 1902-03
• Objectives:
• To suggest police reforms in India

Sandhurst Commission

• Establishment year: 1925
• Recommendations: 
• The committee recommended that the number of vacancies at Sandhurst be increased from 10 to 20, Indians be made eligible as Kings’ Commissioned Officers in Artillery, Signals and Engineers sections and a military college should be established in India.

Butler Commission

• Establishment year: 1927
• Objective: To investigate and specify the relationship between the central power and the princely states.