Social media has been rife with an image, showing a letter from the national archives, written by the Government of Bombay to the Government of India on June 15, 1930 sanctioning an allowance of Rs. 100 per month for the maintenance of Mahatma Gandhi, while he was a prisoner at Yeravada Central Prison.
This letter has been viral since last year, with many social media users claiming that this allowance is a 'pension' given to Gandhi, and that it highlights potential collusion between Gandhi and the British Raj.
After analysing the viral letter, consulting with historian Ramachandra Guha, and revisiting other such archival documents, BOOM ascertained that the sanction of the allowance was specifically related to maintenance of Gandhi as a major political prisoner, and was consistent with how other political prisoners were treated during that time.
The following image contains a scanned copy of the later (left), along with a transcribed copy (right).
In the letter, G.F.S. Collins, Secretary to the Government of Bombay's Home Department writes to the Secretary to the Government of India's Home Department, proposing to debit the charges related to the sanctioned allowance of Rs. 100 for the maintenance of Gandhi as a political prisoner in Yeravada Central Prison to the latter.
The scanned copy of the letter has been circulating on WhatsApp with the following caption:
Finally the letter was found in the #nationalarchives... #Gandhi used to get Rs 100 per month from the British to cover personal expenses in 1930. At that time, the market price of 10 grams of gold was Tk 18. That is, the market value of 100 rupees at that time is currently close to 2.88 lakh rupees. Not bad, right?
But why did he get the money? About the payment to help the British in any work?
It must be remembered that at that time the non-cooperation movement was reaching extreme levels.
Yeh, I mean this country did not become independent by spinning wheels. What do you say!!??....
Yet another user on Facebook shared the scanned letter with the exact same caption, while adding, "This was paid to Gandhi for his service rendered under the label nathal ambulance service corp. And awarded kaisar Hind medal...still we were taught Gandhi and Nehru the two British paid agents brought freedom by dumping the efforts of nethaji and savarkar...now all understood..why congress stalwarts demean nethaji and savarkar..."
The letter has been circulating online since October 2022, with certain users calling this allowance a 'pension' to Gandhi from the British.
Fact Check
BOOM did some searches with relevant keywords, and found the scanned letter in the national archives portal (page 51).
After reading the viral letter closely, BOOM found no indication that the allowance of Rs. 100 per month was being given to Gandhi directly.
Furthermore, looking through the archives on the website Indian Culture, we found the document being referred to in the viral letter (Resolution No. S.D 1361) which provided further context on the allowance.
The document, dated May 5, 1930, stated, "An allowance of one hundred rupees per mensem is sanctioned for the maintenance of Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This allowance should be remitted to the Superintendent of the Yeravada Central Prison."
This further confirms that the sanctioned allowances of Rs. 100 was not given to Gandhi directly, but was given to the prison's superintendent to spend on Gandhi's maintenance.
BOOM reached out to historian Ramachandra Guha, who rubbished the viral claims being shared with the letter, and stated that it is being taken out of context.
Highlighting the context behind the letter, Guha told BOOM, "It (the letter) is merely the Bombay Government requesting the Government of India to bear the additional expenses they are incurring on account of keeping a major political figure like Gandhi in prison after the Salt March. Just like a State Government asking the Central Government today to defray costs of an expense involving a national rather than provincial matter."
"When Gandhi was not in jail his very modest personal expenses would be met by Indian friends and supporters of the freedom struggle, who of course could not do this once the Raj had locked him up," he added.
Furthermore, he also mentioned a letter written by Gandhi, discussing the allowance. "There's a relevant letter in the Collected Works, volume 43, pp 400-1. It appears the allowance was in part for provision of newspapers and Gandhi's special dietary requirements."
We referred to Gandhi's archived letters on Gandhi Heritage Portal, and found the letter being referenced by Guha.
The letter, dated May 10, 1930, was addressed to E.E. Doyle, Inspector-General of Prisons of Bombay Presidency, where Gandhi states that he "must avoid, as much as possible, the special privileges offered" to him by the government.
Gandhi also mentions his requirements - provision of six newspapers: The Bombay Chronicle, The Times of India, Indian Social Reformer, Modern Review, Young India and Navajivan, and special dietary requirements.
Furthermore, the viral letter also highlighted similarity with Gandhi's case to that of Bengali prisoner Satish Chandra Pakrashi, who's allowance for prisoner maintenance was debited to the Government of India.
A 1996 study by a researcher at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, reviewing historical records on the prison system in India under the British rule, highlighted the system of allowance for prisoners with the following:
"Thus, at a time of heightened revolutionary terrorist activity in the early 1930s, a section of opinion in the colonial government viewed the existing system of detention as ‘nourishing’ instead of restraining terrorism. The provision of allowances ‘greater than they could possibly earn in the open market’ was regarded as the reason why the movement was able to get new recruits easily."
The paper also mentions, "It was generally agreed among the officials that the system of allowance was ‘too liberal’ and a reduced scale was introduced from 1 December 1931. In a space of six months (December 1931 - May 1932) the monthly allowance was reduced by 50% and the daily dietary allowance by nearly 40%."