Government of India Act 1919

Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms): Devolution, Diarchy, and Electoral Reforms

• Devolution of Legislative Power: The Government of India Act 1919 provided the devolution of legislative authority by the centre to the provinces.
• Diarchy: According to this provision, all the subjects of administration were divided into 2 lists ie. Transfer subject Category and Reserve Subject Category.
• Reserved Subjects: The matters, which were of National importance or related to more than one province were governed at the central level, such as Foreign Affairs, Defence, Political Relations, Communication, Public Debt, Civil and Criminal Laws, Wire services etc.
• Reserved Category: The Subjects under the Reserved Category were comparatively of greater significance and administered by the Governor with the help of his Governor-General Executive Council without any responsibility to the legislature.
• Transfer Subjects: These included the matters which were related to a specific Province such as Public Health, Local Self-government, Education, General administration, Medical facilities, Land-revenue, Water supply, Famine relief, Law and Order, Agriculture etc.
• Transfer Category: The subjects under the Transfer Category were comparatively of lesser significance and administered by the Governor with the help of his Council of Ministers which were appointed by the Governor from elected members of the Provincial Legislative Council with being responsible to the legislature.
• The Central Legislative Council: It was bifurcated into 2 houses –
  • Legislative Assembly (Lower House)
  • Council of State (Upper House)
• Franchise: For the first time direct elections were introduced and granted the franchise to a limited number of people on the basis of property, tax and education.
• Separate Electorate: It further extended the separate electorate for Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians and Europeans.
• Public Service Commission: The Act provided for the establishment of the Public Service Commission i.e. The Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil services.
• Budget: It separated the Provincial Budget from the central budget and authorised the Provincial Legislative to enact its Budget.
• Viceroy Executive Council: The act also required that 3 out of the 6 members of the Viceroy Executive Council were to be Indians.
• The Secretary of State for India: He was to be paid out of the British exchequer hereafter.
• India Council: The membership of India Council was reduced from 15 to 8-12 members
• Indian High Commissioner: It provided for the appointment of an Indian High Commissioner as a representative of India and Britain and transferred him to some of the functions performed by the Secretary of State and was paid out of Indian revenues.
• Statutory Commission: The act also provided for the appointment of a Statutory Commission to inquire into a report on a work after 10 years of its coming into force.

Government of India Act 1919 and Rowlatt Act: Carrots, Realization, and Objections

• Carrots for the Indians: In the package of the GoI Act 1919, the British dangled a majority of changes at the national and provincial levels like a carrot for the Indians.
• Gradual realisation: The secretary of state for India, Edwin Montagu, declared the gradual realisation of responsible administration in India as an essential element of the British Empire.
• Dangling and Rowlatt Act: However, as the carrot of reform was being dangled after WWI, the government armed itself with the draconian Rowlatt Act, which gave the viceroy extraordinary powers to quell sedition by silencing the press.
• Importance of Statement: According to this statement, the nationalist demand for self-government or Home Rule could not be considered seditious because achieving self-governance for Indians had now become a government obligation.
• Objection of Indians:  The Objections of Indian leaders were twofold first no specific time frame was given. Second The Government alone was to decide the nature and timing of providing self-government to the Indians.

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