The Government of India Act, 1909 was unable to fulfill the demand for self-government of Indians. After 1905, the government resorted to repression-policy to prevent the rise of its power in the form of hot nationalism which had arisen in the political field of India, due to which there was a lot of anger among the Indians. On the other hand, the abolition of Bengal-Partition in 1911 also angered the Muslims with the government. In 1914, Britain also declared war against Turkey, which was the center of Muslim faith. In 1916, 'Lucknow Pact' between the Congress and the League due to the arrival of some nationalist Muslims in the Muslim League. And he put a plan of reforms in front of the British government by removing mutual differences, which was called 'Congress-League Plan ' is called. Due to the rising wave of nationalist and anti-government sentiments, the British government once again 'feeding jaggery with sticks ' policy followed.
The Minister of India (Secretary of State for India) in the British Government, Lord Edwin Montagu, made a historic statement in the House of Commons on August 20, 1917, that Indians in all branches of governance should be It is the government's goal to incorporate and progressively develop autonomous institutions, so as to progressively achieve responsible government as an integral part of British India. In November 1917, India Minister Montagu came to India and discussed the proposal with the then Viceroy Chelmsford and other civilian officials and Indian leaders. A committee Sir William Duke, Bhupendranath Basu, Charles Robert was formed in the membership of the U.S., which assisted in the finalization of the proposals of the Minister of India and the Viceroy, resulting in 'Mont-Ford Report-1918' was published, which became the basis for the Act of 1919.
Indian Council Act of 1909 :Marley-Minto Reform (Indian Council Act of 1909 :Marley-Minto Reform)
Key Features of ACT (Salient features of the Act)
The commissions of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report have been called the most important declaration in the colorful history of India and have been described as the end of an era and the beginning of a new era. This act was finally implemented in 1921. For the first time in this announcement 'responsible governance ' words were used. Some subjects of administration and revenue were removed from the control of the central government and given to the provincial government. right to the provinces to take loans and levy taxes for the first time Also given.
Central and Provincial Power-Divisions: Power was divided between the central and provincial governments. The subjects were divided into central and provincial parts for the first time. Subjects of national importance relating to the whole of India or of inter-provincial interests were included in the Central List on which the Governor-General's Council could make laws. Subjects related to provincial interests were placed under the provinces. Foreign affairs, defence, political relations, railways, post and telegraph, income tax, trade, shipping, public debt, communication system, civil and criminal law and procedure, etc. were all in the central list.
Local self-government, education, health, irrigation, revenue tax, famine aid, peace-keeping, agriculture, forests were the subjects of provincial importance. On subjects of provincial importance, the governor made laws with the consent of the executive and the legislature.
Provision was made to appoint at least eight and not more than twelve members in the Council of India. At least half of these members were required to be such members who had left India not less than ten years before the time of appointment. The term of the members was reduced from seven years to five years. The income of each member was increased from £1,000 to £1,200 and an additional allowance of £6,00 was provided for the Indian member. Some changes were also made in the rules of conduct of business of the Council of India.
bicameral center: Two houses were arranged in the centre. Place of Central Legislative Council bicameral legislature with state council (upper house) and legislative assembly (lower house) took it. The upper house (Council of State) i.e. the Council of State consisted of 60 members, of whom 33 were to be elected by election and 27 were to be nominated by the Governor General. In the lower house i.e. the Legislative Assembly, 103 were to be elected out of 144 and the remaining 41 were to be nominated. Although the power to nominate members was retained, the majority of the elected members in each house was ensured. The Central Legislature could make laws for the whole of India. The Governor General could issue an ordinance whose effect lasted for six months. The tenure of the Central Legislative Assembly was three years, which could be extended by the Governor General.
Expansion of legislature assembly and increase in authority: To make the Legislative Assembly effective, its powers were increased by expanding it, but some such privileges were given to the Governor General, which he could exercise without the consent of the legislature. Thus unresponsive governance was maintained at the centre. It was hoped that there would be no interference by the Home Government in the transferred area of the Provincial Government. Thus the control of the Secretary of India over the transferred subjects of the provinces was reduced, while the central control remained.
Increase in number of Indians in executive council: According to the new rules, out of the eight members in the executive committee of the Governor General, three Indians were appointed and they were entrusted with the departments of Law, Labour, Education, Health and Industry. Thus the number of Indians in the Executive Council was increased from one to three. Lawyers of the High Court of India who have worked therein for ten years were declared eligible to be law members of the Council. Shri Tej Bahadur Sapru first Indian Law Member Happened.
Establishment of diarchy in the provinces: The most prominent feature of the Act of 1919 was the establishment of diarchy in the provinces. Among the eight major provinces, known as 'Governor's Province' A new system of diarchy was said to have been introduced. Under the dual government system, more powers were given to the provincial governments. The subjects of the provincial list were divided into two parts - reserved subjects and transferred subjects. The subjects of the reserve list were under the jurisdiction of the governor and he looked after these departments with the help of his executive. Certain subjects like finance, law and order were declared as 'reserved' and placed under the direct control of the governor. Some subjects like education, public health and local self-government were declared transferred and given under the authority of Indian ministers, who were appointed from among Indian members. This also meant that the departments in which a lot of money would have been spent, would be transferred, but the governor would have full control over the finances in them too. This diarchy system was implemented on April 1, 1921, which was April 1, 1937 It went on till But it could not work in Bengal from 1924 to 1927 and in Central Province from 1924 to 1926.
In the governments of Madras, Bombay and Bengal, two of the four members of the Protectorate, and in the remaining provinces where there were only two members of the Protectorate, one member was retained as an Indian. They were appointed by the British Emperor on the recommendation of the Minister of India.
This law increased the size of provincial legislative councils and ensured that the majority of their members would win elections. Provision was made to have a maximum of 140 members in the councils of the larger provinces and not less than 60 in the smaller provinces. Of these, at least 70 percent of the members were required to be elected.
Suffrage and Communal-Election Expansion: According to this Act, the members were to be directly elected by the delimited constituencies. By expanding the franchise, about 10 percent of the people of India were given the right to vote. Qualifications for the electoral college were based on communal group, residence and property. In this act, apart from Muslims, separate electorate system was introduced for Sikhs, Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Christians, expanding the communal-election.
Naresh Mandal: Naresh Mandal was established in Delhi on February 8, 1921, with a total membership of 121. Its head was the Viceroy and this circle was virtually like a consultative assembly.
Statute for the appointment of the Royal Commission: Ten years later by this act, 'Royal Commission by the British Parliament to examine the practical form of the bicameral government and constitutional reforms and to make recommendations on matters related to the progress of the responsible government. ' Provision was made for the appointment of According to this provision in 1927 Simon Commission was formed. Public Service Commission was established in India for the recruitment of Central Public Services.
Indian High Commissioner Appointments: By this act a new officer 'Indian High Commissioner separated the political and business functions of the Secretary of India. ’ was appointed, who was entrusted with the business functions of the Secretary of India. Arrangements were made to pay salaries to the Indian High Commissioner from the Indian treasury. Independent Auditor General to examine the accounts of Central and Provincial Governments was also arranged.
evaluate the act (Evaluation of Act)
The Act of 1919 contained many errors. This did not satisfy the demand for a responsible government. The central government continued to have uninterrupted control over the provincial governments. Provincial legislatures could not debate bills on many subjects without the approval of the Governor-General. In principle, the Central Legislature remained supreme and competent to make laws in the entire region. Despite the division of powers between the center and the provinces, the constitution of British India remained a unitary state constitution. The diarchy in the provinces was a complete failure. The absolute supremacy of the governor prevailed. In the absence of financial power, the ministers could not implement their policies effectively. Furthermore, the ministers were not collectively responsible to the legislature. In fact, the ministers had to keep two bosses happy - one for the Legislative Council and the other for the Governor-General. Apart from this the right to vote was very limited. In 1920, there were a total of 9,09,874 voters for the lower house and 17,364 for the upper house.
The division of transferred and reserved subjects was also flawed, e.g., irrigation was a reserved subject and agriculture transferred, while the two are indistinguishable from each other. Similarly, industry was transferred, while water power, factories, etc. were reserved subjects, which were impractical to separate from each other. Seeds of communalism were sown by expanding separate electorates Which led to the partition of India.
Indeed the Indians did not get any special benefit from this act. Now Indian nationalists had moved beyond the exemptions of the Act. He was not going to be satisfied with the mere shadow of political power. Congress called these suggestions 'disappointing and unsatisfactory ' They demanded effective self-government, although some veterans were in favor of accepting the proposal of the Congress government under the leadership of Surendranath Banerjee, who left the Congress 'Indian Liberal Association ' established.
Development of Communalism in India