Question

Which of the following is/are feature(s) of the Government of India Act 1919 are correct?

1. It divided the central and provincial subjects into two parts: transferred and reserved.

2. It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians, SC and ST.

3. It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London.

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 2 only
4. All of the above

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : 3 only

The correct answer is 3 only.

• The British Government declared for the first time on August 20, 1917, that its objective was the gradual introduction of responsible Government in India.
• The Government of India Act of 1919 was enacted, which came into force in 1921.
• This Act is also known as Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India).

The features of this Act were as follows:

• It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects.
• The central and provincial legislatures were authorized to make laws on their respective list of subjects.
• The structure of the government continued to be centralized and unitary.
• It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts– transferred and reserved. Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect.
• The transferred subjects were to be administered by the Governor with the aid of Ministers responsible to the legislative council.
• The reserved subjects were to be administered by the Governor and his executive council without being responsible to the legislative council.
• This dual scheme of governance was known as ‘dyarchy’–a term derived from the Greek word diarchy which means the double rule.
• It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct elections in the country. The Indian legislative council was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly).
• The majority of members of both the Houses were chosen by direct election. It granted franchises to a limited number of people based on property, tax, or education.
• It required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council (other than the Commander-in-Chief) were to be Indian.
• It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans. Hence, Statement 2 is incorrect.
• It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London and transferred to him some of the functions hitherto performed by the Secretary of State for India. Hence, Statement 3 is correct.
• It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.
• It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget and authorized the provincial legislatures to enact their budgets.
• It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its working after ten years of its coming into force.