Bulletin officiel des Établissements français de l'Inde. Vol. 56, issues 1 to 12 (1882)

Vol and Issue: Vol. 56, issues 1 to 12

Scope and content: This volume contains notification nos. 1 to 524. It contains the important decree of 21st September 1881 which offered naturalization to all Indians in French India above the age of 21. Those who wanted to opt for this law had to renounce their personal status, irrespective of caste and religion, and be governed solely by civil and political laws applicable to the French in the colony. They came to be known as “renonçants”. Some of the other topics in the volume include: creation of a ranger corps (garde champêtre) for the policing of the countryside and forests in Pondichéry; promulgation of the law on the nomination of mayors and their deputies (mayors to be henceforth elected by the municipal councils); authorization granted to Mr. Deloncle to survey the commune of Bahour in order to try and find a lignite deposit; various decisions of the Council of Administrative Litigation; instructions on the mayoral elections; internal rules of the free schools of Mahé; regulations on stamp duties; duties to be levied on loaded carts entering some areas of Chandenagor, Pondichéry and Mahé; authorisation granted to create a Philharmonic Society in Pondichéry; ministerial circular regarding the development of primary education in the colonies; detailed study programme to be followed in lycées and colleges and circular from the ministry of public education to all school principals; convening of elected councils; scholarships for students; tariffs of local taxes for 1883 approved by the General Council; decisions relating to new electoral rolls etc.