Bengal pilot qualifications and the fight to admit Indian officers

The Bengal pilot service answered directly to the central government and was separate from the port commissioners' marine services. Candidates needed a second mate's certificate and five years of apprenticeship as a leadsman before qualifying as junior pilots. Senior branch pilots could earn 4,000 rupees or more a month, making access to the service economically important. Indian legislators and shipping interests pressed the government to admit Indians to a service that had remained British until the early 1930s. The British Chamber of Commerce warned that Indian appointments would bring Hugli shipping to a standstill. Katari recalls the official response that the objection would receive consideration when shipping actually stopped, exposing the unsupported assumption behind the commercial opposition.