A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

http://www.dli.ernet.in To view the entire document (now being transcribed in full and will be available shortly.)

The Public Works Department of Burma 1910 - 1947

Purpose
The purpose is to briefly document the history of the Public Works Department (P.W.D.) from about 1910 to 1947 and to give some insight in respect to:
· The Engineers
· The infrastructure projects of the time

The basis is historic reports available from resources published on the internet and the author’s observations of the period.
The author’s father was a Sub Divisional Officer of the P.W.D. from 1922 to 1955.

Dedication
My father attended St Joseph’s Christian Brothers High School, Calcutta, India to about 1918 and graduated with a Cambridge Senior Certificate. His gained his engineering qualifications (Diploma in Civil Engineering) by attending the Government Technical Institute at Insein from 1919 to 1921.

He joined the P.W.D. in 1922 as a Senior Sub-Ordinate and was a Sub-Divisional Officer at Pegu 1930, Toungoo 1940, Rangoon Estate Office 1950-52, Katha 1952-55 and Monywa as a Temporary Executive Engineer 1956.

His World War 2 service record shows:
Captain; (ABRO 837) - Army in Burma Reserve of Officers - Garrison Engineer, 939 IWS, at Cooch Behar, India and Pegu, Burma 1943–46 and Honorary Major (ABRO) in 1947.

Historical Context
The P.W.D. in India was the creation of Lord Dalhousie, Viceroy of India, 1854. The P.W.D. was established in each of the presidencies, Bengal, Bombay and Madras with the Central Public Works Secretariat located in Calcutta.
Each presidency consisted of:-

· CIVIL BRANCH responsible for civil works (canals, roads, railways), officered by the Indian Service of Engineers(I.S.E.)

·MILITARY BRANCH responsible for military facilities (military cantonments, military hospitals), and officered byCorps of Royal Engineers of the British Army.

The executive ranks of the P. W. D. consisted of:
·Chief Engineer;
·Superintending Engineer(s);
·Executive Engineer(s);
·Assistant Executive Engineer(s).

These appointments were made by the Secretary of State for India (and after 1937 – the Secretary of State for India and Burma) to the India Service of Engineers, ISE.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.

A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

At the same time, it was also recognized that there was a need for the Presidencies (Bengal, Bombay, & Madras) to engage local staff to enhance project management and administration.

This local service was called the PROVINCIAL SERVICE and designations included:-
·Executive Engineer (on a temporary basis, but could have lasted many years) – the service conditions and remunerations were similar to an  Executive Engineer of the India Service of Engineers;
·Sub-Divisional Officers (SDO) Service conditions and remuneration similar to an Asst, Executive Engr. of the India Service of Engineers;
·Sub-Assistant Engineer;
·Overseer

However, the engineers of the Provincial Service were generally:
· A graduate of a local technical training college;
· Not paid the foreign service allowance of the India Service of Engineers;
· Not eligible for furlough leave in the U.K;
· Not eligible for appointment above Executive Engineer.

Special provisions were also made for Royal Engineers of the Army and specialist lower ranks in the Army (Conductors and Sub-Conductors of the British and Indian Army Service Corps., as an example) to transfer their services to the Provincial Engineering Services.

Later in 1824 and 1856 when parts of lower Burma were incorporated into the Indian Empire, the same structure was established in the province of British Burma, and the P.W.D. personnel in British Burma were recruited mainly by transfer from the Madras Presidency and the Corps. of Royal Engineers. In 1896 the whole of Burma was incorporated into the Indian Empire, but the administration in Burma was treated in most respects as separate from the Bengal and Madras Presidency.

In 1896 the whole of Burma was incorporated into the Indian Empire, but the administration in Burma was treated in most respects as separate from the Bengal and Madras Presidency.

In 1937 Burma was administratively separated from India.

Purpose and Organization
The P.W.D. in Burma (from 1861 and up to the transfer of power to independent Burma in 1948) was the exclusive organization for the provision of works infrastructure for economic development of the country and had responsibility for the construction and maintenance of:
· Roads and Bridges;
· Canals, irrigation, river training;
· Harbours and marine-time facilities, e.g. lighthouses;
· Hospital & School buildings;
· Building of offices and official residences.

Following the earlier experience of railway construction in India, the government decided that the P.W.D. in Burma would not be involved in the construction of railway infrastructure.

A Royal Commission in 1910, instituted by Lord Elgin, Viceroy of India, 1905 - 1910, set the administrative arrangements and condition of employment in the P.W.D. that were to last until 1948 and indeed up to about 1952, in post independent Burma. The appointment of engineers to the executive ranks of the P.W.D. was made to the India Service of Engineers, but after 1937 to the Burma Service of Engineers.

Following the separation of Burma from India (1937) there appears to have been administrative arrangement that included:
· Class 1 Officers (Imperial Service), Burma Service of Engineers (appointments made by the Secy. of State for India and Burma);
· Class 2 Officers (Provincial Service) – Appointments made by the Governor of Burma;
· Federated Shan States Service - Appointments made by the Governor of Burma.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.

A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

Minor Works (Buildings)
DAK BUNGALOW
The “dak bungalow”, is an item of description in the memoires of Civil Service and Forestry Service officers, when describing their experience in Burma. Refer to books by Maurice Collis, Eric Blair (George Orwell), Maurice Maybury and others.

In the absence of inns, hotels and such like temporary accommodation in the districts outside Rangoon the P.W.D. was responsible for building and maintaining “dak bungalows” in most towns of significance as an abode for government officers.

A “dak bungalow” consisted of several bedrooms (3 or more), a sitting and dining room all surrounded by a veranda and with attendant servant’s quarters.

CIVIL CANTONMENT
This was a grouping of houses and offices etc., for civil servants in out of the way district towns, these sites were distinctly separated from the local populist.

Sometimes these sites came complete with an Anglican Church, Club, Hospital and offices for the Deputy Commissioner and District Superintendent of Police.

It would also contain the “Civil Lines” - group housing for lower grade government employees engaged in the Police, the Provincial Civil Service and similar.

Major Works (Building, Roads, Bridges)
Between 1824 and 1896, the major works undertaken by the P.W.D. were generally confined to the towns of Rangoon, Akyab, Bassein and Moulmein and usually these were office buildings, residences for government officers, military facilities and improvements to harbours.

Prior to about 1886, all weather roads were of low importance, unless there was a military need.

Later, all weather roads were constructed between Rangoon and the towns of Prome (the near-by town of Allanmyo had a military garrison) and Toungoo, another garrison town. These were then (1897) frontier towns between British Burma and the Kingdom of Burma.

From about 1900 to 1912 there was substantial investment in public infrastructure at Rangoon and Mandalay and the larger towns like Akyab, Moulmein, Yamethin, and Meiktila.

This period coincided with the administration of Lord Minto, Viceroy of India, Sir Herbert Thirkell White, Lt. Governor of Burma and Sir Harvey Adamson, Lt. Governor of Burma.

Examples of buildings in Rangoon:-
· The Government Secretariat;
· General Hospital;
· Jails, Rangoon and Insein;
· Jubilee Hall;
· Central Law Courts;
· Port area;
· University College.

In the 1920’s/30’s, the Ava Bridge across the Irrawaddy River, the Sittang Bridge and all weather roads in the in the Shan States Federation were constructed for both commercial and military reasons.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.

A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

Major Works (Irrigation)
Irrigation works to enhance productive agriculture, improvements to wharfs at Rangoon and Moulmein, for the export of rice and timber, were the focus of investment from about 1900 to 1930.

Lord Minto’s administration was all about civil infrastructure that gave a return of investment of 7.5% and above, by the construction of canals for irrigating paddy land in Burma.
The infrastructure included:-
· Construction of irrigation canals in the Mandalay, Shewbo, Meiktala, Yemathin, Pokukko and Ye-U districts; the Pegu and Twante Canals for transportation.
· River training in the delta of the Irrawaddy to prevent inundation of paddy lands.

Lord Minto also had a Royal Commission in 1910 to advise on the administration of public works and introduced regulations for the operation and administration of public works that included:

· Engagement of professional engineers from British Universities;
· Reducing the transfer of army engineers (who were not professionally qualified);
· Changes to remuneration and pension entitlements;
· Formal mechanisms for assessing the economics of public sector investment.

U Ba Gyaw was the first Burmese Engineer engaged by the P.W.D. for agriculture development, he was appointed on 3rd Jan. 1919. He later went on to be a Superintending Engineer in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

U Aye Maung (1) B.I.A (Cantab), U Ba Maung Chain, B.Sc. (London) and U Tha Dok, B.Sc. (London) went on to become Chief Engineers after 1947.

Ethnic Composition & Education of Class 1 Officers, 1910 - 1931

University Qualifications % with Other % with
Ethnic Group Number (B.A., B.S.A., B.E.) University Qualifications Qualifications Other Qualifications
Burmese 40 18 45 22 55
Indian 55 17 31 38 69
British/Other 131 86 65 45 35
Totals 226 121 54 105 46

The statics are notable, in that a high proportion of the P.W.D. Engineers (54%) had obtained their professional qualifications at British Universities, during a time when a university degree in Engineering and Science was relatively rare.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.

A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

WW2, 1941 - 1945
Like all other public service institutions in Burma, the P.W.D. officers were required to provide war service under the Emergency provisions during WW2.

My records of Army in Burma Reserve of Officers (ABRO) show:
Burma Public Service, Class 1 Officers – Sept. 1939

P.W.D. Civil Service Police Forest Post/Tel. Total
No. in Service 61 141 93 79 51 425
Enrolled in ABRO 28 29 27 27 19 130
45.9% 20.60% 29% 34.20% 37.30% 30.60%

The above tables do not include the P.W.D. Senior Subordinate Service officers (Sub Divisional Officers).
My father and Henry Lockyer Seppings are examples.

I have identified the following P.W.D. Engineers who were recognized for their war service:-

Geraghty

Connell
 Michael Joseph

Walter Langholm
Lt. Colonel (temp), ABRO. 112 Executive Engr.

Lt. Colonel (temp), ABRO. 837 Executive Engr.
 Mentioned in dispatches

Mentioned in dispatches

Norman Trevor Carlton Hay, Executive Engr. wrote of his WW2 experience; `Out the Back Door':
account by Norman Trevor Carlton Hay, Indian Service of Engineers, 1931-47, of his journey out of Burma, 30th April -15th May 1942, in face of the Japanese invasion.
(India Office Private Papers. MSS EUR A215)

Obscure records of WW2, suggest that there was a war service organization called IWS (possibly India Works Service), located in Bengal,(at Cooch Behar) and designated IWS938 /939, during 1943 - 1945 and this unit later transferred to Pegu in August 1945.

The IWS ceased to exist about early 1946, as its Burma P.W.D. staff resumed their civil occupations.

Family records suggest that the following were Engineer Officers of IWS 938 / 939:-

Hector John Alexander Ernes Lt. Colonel (temp), ABRO. Executive Engineer.
Francies Joseph Standish Noel Major (temp), ABRO. Garrison Engineer. Executive Engineer.
Rodrigues Vivian Aloysius Captain (temp), ABRO, Garrison Engr. Sub Divisional Officer

1945 - 1947
After Rangoon was liberated, May/June 1945, the military established an organization called CAS/B (Civil Administration Service, Burma). P.W.D. officers then engaged by the Army (Army in Burma Reserve of Officers), those that were in India and those that remained in Burma during the Japanese Occupation, were re-called to service.

The principal activities of the P.W.D. were the reconstruction of roads, bridges, airports, repairs to buildings and the restoration of the civil administration that had existed before the war. Initially, Japanese prisoners of war were engaged in clean up operations. Never the less, by using army surplus stores and equipment the roads, bridges and public buildings were brought back into service by about 1948. However there were both social and political conditions that predominated this period in Burma and many P.W.D. Officers risked their lives in the service:
· An insurgency by armed malcontents, terrorized the country, P.W.D. personnel were robbed of the pay role, threatened with their lives, attacked in their offices and homes.
· The political changes meant social unrest, demonstrations, riots and strikes.

The Burma Service of Engineers ceased to exist after independence in January 1948.
The P.W.D. is now known as the Myanmar Ministry of Construction and the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.

A Project by Vivian Rodrigues
Extracts from

P.W.D. History of Services

Officers of the Engineer Establishment, Public Works Department
Compiled in the Office of the Accountant-General, Burma
Corrected up to 1st July 1931, Vol. 1 Part 11, with a few additions up to 1947

References:
History of Services of Gazetted and other Officers serving under the Govt. of Burma, Vol. 1 - Pt. 2 (July 1931) Compiled in the Office of the Accountant General, Burma.

P.W.D. records: “Digital Library of India, Indian Institute of Science” http://www.dli.ernet.in
Note: The names and particulars of officers in this resume were taken, in most cases, from the above document.

Combined Civil List for India and Burma. 1935 to 1947.

Summary of the Principal Measures of the Viceroyalty of the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava in the P.W.D.,
Dec. 1884 - Dec. 1888. Vol. VI. Published 1888, by the Govt. of India.

Summary of the Principal Measures of the Viceroyalty of the Earl Of Elgin in the P.W.D., Jan. 1894 - Jan. 1899.
Published 1899, by the Govt. of India.

Summary of the Administration of the Earl of Minto – P.W.D., 1905-1910. Published 1910, by the Govt. of India.

P.W.D. Code Vol. I., Govt. of India 1890. Govt. of India P.W.D. Published by the Govt. of India.

Research Report 15 - Economic Development of Burma in Colonial Times – Nobuyoshi Nishizawa
Institute of Peace Science, Hiroshima University (1991).

Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation - Myanmar Government
Subsequent to the entry of the British into Myanmar and attendant colonial period, a P.W.D. was established in the year 1861, for maintenance of buildings and new constructions. And during those activities relating to irrigation were solely handled by the Public Works Department. In the process, roads and buildings together with undertakings pertaining to irrigation gradually expanded. During 1881 and 1917, major works such as the Shwebo canal, Mandaly canal, the Mon, Mann, Salin canals, together with the Kyangin, Myanaung and Ngawun embankments came into operation. In addition, the construction of the Bago-Sittang and Twante Canals, as conduits for speedy transportation of food supplies, timber and bamboo at lower haulage costs, were accomplished.

In about 1917, the functions under the Public Works Department were reorganized into two sectors, as the Buildings Branch and the Irrigation Branch. It could be assumed that the said juncture gave mergence to the Irrigation Department as separate.
Prior to independence and during 1902 to 1906, the earthen diversion weirs established by the Myanmar kings, were replaced with more stable and permanent concrete diversion weirs, by the British Colonial Govt. The principal undertakings were, the Kabo diversion weir on Mu River, Sagaing Division; the Sedaw diversion weir on Chaungmagyi rivulet, Mandalay Division; diversion weirs of Panlaung and Zawgyi River, Kyaukse District; Aingma diversion weir on Man River; Mezali diversion weir on Mon River and Linzin diversion weir on Salin River. However, the diversion weirs were functional only when the feeder rivers, rivulets were in full flow and thereby warranting irrigation for only one crop.

© Vivian Rodrigues. Published 2013. All rights reserved.