NAME:

ANCHI
TSHI
VAM SHARMA
CLASS&SEMESTER:M.
A.FOURTH
SEMESTER,
2020-
21
SUBJECT:
HISTORY
PAPER:ADMINI
STRATIVE&
CONSTITUTI
ONALHISTORYOFMODERN
I
NDIA,PARTII

TOPI
COFTHEASSI
GNMENT:
TheDyarchicalform ofgov
ernment
i
mplementedundert heGov er
nment
ofIndi
aAct, 1919fail
edtoful
filt
he
aspi
rat
ionsofI ndi
ans.Expl
ain.
DATE:
08.
08.
2021
I
ntr
oduct
ion

In1917,theAugustDeclarati
onpromised"t
hegr adualdevel
opmentofsel
f
governi
nginsti
tut
ionswit
hav i
ewtotheprogressi
vereali
sati
onof
responsi
blegovernmenti
nI ndi
a."

Howev er
,inhiswork'Or
igi
nofPr
ov i
nci
alAutonomy'
,BisheshwarPr
asad
hasarguedt hatt
hesyst
em ofdy
archywhichwasdev i
sedt osol
emnize
theseguaranteesdi
dnotmeetwithgener
alapprov
al.

Nosooneraf tert
heMont agu- ChelmsfordRepor twaspubl i
shedinJul y
1918, st
ernreact
ionsemer gedf r
om theI ndianleadershi
p.AttheDel hi
SessionoftheCongr essinDecemberoft hesamey ear,
theextr
emi st
opi
niondemanded" agrantoff ul
lresponsi bl
egov ernmentintheprov i
nces
atonce." Thought hemoder ateleadershipaccept ed"t
heprinci
pleof
dual
ism"butsuggest edmanychangesi ndet ai
l
s.

Backgr
ound

Pri
ort o1919, theprov incial
gov ernment sinIndiawer emer esubor dinat
e
authorit
iesrunningt headmi ni
strationonbehal fofthecentral gov ernment.
Hence, theneednev erar osetost atutor
il
ydemar catet hei
rjurisdi ctionto
giv
et hem al egalidentity.But,
undert heschemeofr eforms, aut onomyhad
tobegr antedt othepr ov i
nces.Ther eforetheGov er
nmentofI ndiaAct ,
1919enl ist
edt hesubj ectstobet reat
edascent r
alandpr ovinci al.

Cent
ral
List Pr
ovi
nci
alLi
st

Mili
tar
y,ForeignAf f
air
s,Tari
ffsand LocalSel fGov ernment ,Medi cal
Customs, Rail
way ,Postand Admi nistrationandPubl icHeal th,
Tel
egraph,IncomeTax, Cur
rency, Educat i
on, Publ icWor ks/Roads,
CoinageandPubl i
cDebt ,Commer ce I
rr
igat i
on, LandRev enue
andShi ppi
ng, Ci
vilandCr i
minalLaw, Admi nistration,Fami neRel i
ef,
Nat i
veSt at
es Agriculture, Forest
s, Excise,
Admi nistrat i
onofJust ice,
I
ndustri
al Mat t
er s,Pol
iceandJai ls,
Mi norPor t
s
Dy
archyi
nthePr
ovi
nces

TheDy archi
calform ofgov
er nmentwasthebrai
nchil
dofLi onel
Curt
is,
a
Bri
ti
shof fi
cial
.Thewor ddyarchyi
mpliesadualr
ule,wherepowerisshared
bet
weent wounitsofgovernment.Thus,t
heprovi
ncialgovernment
swere
bi
furcatedintotwosegment s,bot
hundertheGovernor,whowasappointed
bytheCr own.

1.Execut
iveCounci
l

It
smember swer
eappointedbyt heCrown,ei
therfrom amongt heCivi
l
Servi
cesorpr
ominentI
ndianciti
zens.InMadras,BombayandBengal i
t
consi
stedof4members,2Ci v
ilServant
sand2I ndians.I
notherprovi
nces,
i
tconsist
edof2member s,onefrom theCi
vil
Ser vi
ceandoneI ndian.

2.I
ndi
anMi
nist
ers

Thesewer
etobeappointedbythegover
norf
rom amongstt
heelected
membersoft
helegi
slat
ivecounci
l,
ideal
l
yhavi
ngthemajori
tysupport
.

Tr
ansf
erofSubj
ect
s

Theactdi v
idedthesubjectsofgov ernancebetweent heaforement i
oned
unit
soft hegovernment.Itwasbasedont hehorizontalmethodofpower
sharingasdev i
sedbyLionel Cur
tis.Thesubject
shandedov ertotheI ndian
Minister
swer ecall
edthe'transf
erred'subj
ectswhereast heonesr etained
bytheGov ernorincounci
l werenamedast he'r
eserved'subject
s.

RESERVED TRANSFERRED

Wat ersuppli
es,landr evenue LocalSel fGov ernment ,medical
administrati
on,f
ami ner el
ief,land administrati
on, publicheal t
h,
acquisit
ion,j
usti
ce, l
awr epor ts, sanitat
ion, pil
gri
mages, education,
stamps, mineralr
esour ces, ports, publ icwor ks,agriculture,fi
sheries,
waterways,poli
ce,newspaper cooperat i
vesoci eti
es, f
orests,
contr
ol,Europeanv agrancy, pri
sons, excise,registrati
on, industry,st
or es,
audit,moneybor rowing elections
FAI
LUREOFTHEWORKI
NGOFDYARCHY

Themai
naspect
sfort
hef
ail
ureofdy
archycanbeanal
ysedasunder
:

1.AbsenceofPar
tyPol
i
tics

Itwasexpectedthatpartypol
it
icsli
ketheWestminstermodelofEngl
and
wouldevol
v eunderdyarchyinIndi
a.Butthepol
it
ical
scenari
oof
contemporaryI
ndiahinderedsuchaprogress.

 Bytheti
met heActwasi mpl emented,theCongresshadl aunchedthe
Non-Cooper
ationMov ementanddeci dedt oboycottel
ectionstothe
l
egisl
ati
vecouncils.Theabsenceoft hebiggestpoli
ti
calpartymade
thewholeenterpr
isemeaningless.Votershadnor ealchoiceandno
poli
ti
calt
rai
ningwasi mparted.

 OnlyinMadras,
theJusti
cePar
tyfoughttheel
ecti
onsandf
ormedt
he
governmenti
n1920wi t
hA.Subbarayal
uReddiarast
heChi
ef
Minist
er.

2.Obst
ruct
ioni
stRol
eofSwar
ajPar
ty

TheSwar ajPartyhaddeci dedt ofightel ectionsbutatt hesamet ime

adopt edapol i
cytowr eckt hecounci lsf rom wi t
hin.In1920, nopar tyhad
securedmaj orityi
nt heBengal Legislati
v eCounci l.Hencet hree
i
ndependentmember swer eswor ni nast hemi nisters.In1923, theSwar aj
Partywonmaj orit
ybutr efusedt oconst i
tuteagov ernment .Sot het hree
ministerscontinuedi nof fi
ce.Howev ert heSwar aj Partybroughtt he
l
egislativ
ebusi nesst oast andstil
lbyr ejectingimpor t
antpr oposalsl i
kethe
salari
esofmi nistersandgr antstother eser veddepar tments.These
obstructioni
sttacticsf orcedt hemi nisterst oresignandconsequent l
y
dyarchywassuspendedi nBengal .Al lsubj ectsrev er
tedbackt othe
Gov ernorinCounci l.Similarwast hecasewi t
hBombayandCent ral
provinces.Hereal so, t
heSwar ajPar tyhadgai nedamaj or
itybuti t
spol i
cy
ofwr eakingthecounci l
sf rom withinul ti
mat elyledt othesuspensi onoft he
dyarchyexper i
ment .
3.Mi
nist
eri
alResponsi
bil
i
ty

Minist
ersinapar l
i
ament arysetupar eresponsibletotheelectedmember s
ofacouncil.Butasdy archyunfol dedinthepr ovinces,t
hisprincipl
ewas
bl
atantl
yignor ed.Themostgl aringexampl eisoft heMadr asLegi sl
ati
ve
Councilaft
ertheel ect
ionsof1926.TheJust i
cePar tyl
ostandt heSwaraj
Part
ywhi chhadt hehighestnumberofseat srefusedtof ormt he
governmentasperi t
spol i
cy.Hence, theGov ernorinvi
tedindependent
member stof ormt hegov er
nmentwhocont i
nuedi nofficedespi t
ethe
opposit
ionofamaj ori
tyoft heelectedmember s.

K. M.Pani kkarhas
anal ysedt he
reasonsf ort his
irony .Outoft he
127member sin
thecounci l,29
wer einsomeway
ort heot her
nomi natedbyt he
gov ernment .Ev en
inel ected
member s,the
plant ers,
l
andholders,Angl
o-Indi
ans, Europeansandt hecommer cial groupswer e
obli
gedtosuppor ttheBriti
shers.At ot
alof41v ot
eswer et husatt he
unquesti
oneddisposal ofthegov ernment .Thegeneralseat scomposedof
theHindus,MohammedansandChr i
sti
answer e86,butifonl y23outof
them votedfort
hemi nisters,t
heycoul dsav ethei
roffi
cebyv i
rtueoft he
pro-governmentblock.Thisgr eat
lyreducedt hereputat
ionoft hemi ni ster
s
andtheywer eseenasmer epuppet soft hegov er
nment.

 Thesystem coul
dhavebeenref
ormedbyadopt
ingar ul
ethat
mi
nist
erswillst
ayinpoweronl
ybythevot
esofelect
edmember s,
but
 t
hiswasnotdonesi
mpl
ybecausei
tser
vedt
hei
nter
est
soft
he
i
mperi
almaster
s.

 TheauthorsoftheMontagu-Chelmsfor
dreporthadhopedf orthe
establ
i
shmentofaconv enti
onwher eopposi
ti
onmember swoul d
abstai
nfrom v
otingwhent r
ansfer
redsubj
ectswer eunderdiscussi
on.
Butwhent her
uleswereframedbyt hesel
ectcommi tt
ee,theoffici
al
member sweregivent
her i
ghttovoteinal
lmat t
ers.

 Themi nist
ersbecamesomuchdependentupont heoffici
al bl
ock
t
hatitbecamer aretoseet
heelectedmaj
ori
tysupport
ingt hese
mini
sters.Suchinst
ancehappenedonl
yonceortwice,thattooonly
i
nMadr as.

4.Dev
olut
ionRul
es

Anothermajorimpedimenti ntheproperf uncti

oni
ngofdy archywer et he
devolut
ionrul
esformul at
edf orthesupposedpr operfuncti
oningoft heact.
Theserulesweredraftedbyt hestatus-quoorient
edIndianCivilServi
ce
off
ici
alswhower estr
ongl yopposedt oanygr antofpowert otheI ndians.I
t
shouldnotbesurpri
singt hattheserulesdiff
eredfrom t
heor i
ginal
senti
mentoftheact.

Undertheact ,t
heGov er
norcouldconsultwi t
hthemi nistersasacol l
ect
ive
bodybutt heruleswer emadesucht hatal l
owedt heGov ernortoconsult
them i
ndividual
ly.Thishinder
edthedev elopmentofmi ni
stersasa
compositeuni t
.TheGov er
norsi
nf actmadei tapr i
ncipaltoconsultthe
minist
ersindivi
dually
.Soont heelectedrepresentat
iveswer eseenas
'
glor
ifi
edgov ernorssecretari
es'
ratherthanasel ect
edr epresentat
ivesof
thepeople.

5.TheMi
rageofTr
ansf
err
edSubj
ect
s

Thedi
visionofsubj
ect
sbetweent
hecat
egor
iesofr
eser
vedand
tr
ansf
erredwassimplyasham.

a.Thedepar
tment
swhi
chwi
eldedr
eal
powerandcl
outst
il
lremai
nedi
n
 t
hehandsofthecol
oni
alrul
ers.Ev
ent
heonest
hatwer
etr
ansf
err
ed
wer
egiveni
nahaphazardmanner.

b.K.V.Reddi ,aministerintheMadr asGov ernment ,spokeofhi sut t

er
helplessposi t
ionbef oretheMuddi manCommi tt
eei n1924: "Iwasa
Ministerf ordevelopmentwi t
houtt heforests.IwasaMi nisterof
agricultureminusi rri
gati
on.AsMi nist
erofAgr iculture,Ihadnot hing
todowi ththeadmi ni
str
ationoft heMadr asAgr i
culturist
sLoans
Actort heMadr asLandI mpr ovementLoansAct.Theef f
icacyand
effi
ciencyofaMi nisterofAgr i
culturewithouthav ingany thingt odo
withirrigati
on,agricult
uralloans,landimpr ovementl oansandf amine
rel
ief,maybet t
erlieimaginedt handescr ibed."

c.Whi l
eIndustr
ieswer egi
ventotheI
ndi
anMini
sters,
areasl
ike
elect
rici
ty,
wat ersuppl
y,boi
l
ersandev
enfact
oriesremai
nedunder
thecontroloftheexecuti
vecounci
l
s.

Basi
cal
lyev
eryt
ransf
err
eddepar
tmentwasdependentonar
eser
ved
subj
ect
.

6.Fi
nanci
alI
nfi
rmi
ty

Themi nister
swer egivenar easl
ikewelfareandlocalsel
fgover nment
whichhadal otofscopef ordevelopment.Buttheyhadtodependont he
Governor'sCouncilforevenmeagr ef
inancial
expendit
ure.Forinstance,
whenact swer epassedf orlandrefor
msi nMadr as,t
hemi ni
sterscould
procurenof undstoimplementt hem.Ther ewasnopr ovisi
onf orseparat
e
anddef i
nitefi
scalall
ocation.

7.Cent
ral
Int
erf
erence

Ashasbeenment i
onedearli
eraseparatel
istforCent r
alandpr ovincial
subjectshadbeenenl i
stedbytheact.Butthecentralgov er
nmentf ound
i
ngeni ousway stobypassthi
sdemar cat
ion.Accordingt oBisheshwar
Prasad, thecent
ralcont
rolwasnotonlyli
mi t
edtointer-provi
ncialmat ters
butext endedoverquesti
onsli
kelandrevenue,uni
ver si
tyeducat i
on, poli
ce
administ
rati
on,j
ail
disci
pli
neandt hemaintenanceofl
awandorder.
Besi
des,t hepr
etextofthesafet
yandst abi
li
tyoftheBr
it
ishEmpi
rewas
al
way stheretoint
erveneinthepr ov
inci
almatter
s.

8.Gov
ernor
:theext
ra-
const
it
uti
onal
aut
hor
it
y

Perhapsthemostdebil
it
ati
ngfact
orintheoper
ati
onoft
her
efor
mswas
theoverar
chi
nginf
luenceoftheGovernor
.

 Alr
eady
, nosingledepar
tmentwasundert
hecompletecontr
ol ofan
I
ndianmi ni
ster
.Addingtot
hemiserywastheconst
antint
erventi
onof
theGovernor.

 Anumberoft i
mesthedeci
sionsoftheminist
erswer
eoverrul
edby
thegover
nor.Ont
heotherhandt heGover
norwasneverf
orcedtobe
obli
gedbytheadv
iceoftheminister
s.

Inmat t
er softher eservedsubject
st heGovernorwasresponsibl
eto
theGov ernmentofI ndi
aaswel lastheBr i
ti
shgovernment.Butwhen
i
tcamet othet ransferredsubj
ectsthesehadbeenv estedinthe
IndianMi ni
stersresponsi bl
etothelegisl
ati
vecouncil
s.The
i
nt erferenceoft heGov ernorswast husanextra-
consti
tut
ional
i
nitiativ
ewhi chr emai nedoutsi
det hepurvi
ewofanyext ernal
aut hori
ty.

Infactbeforetheimplementat
ionoftheactt
heGov ernorwasonl
y
theprimusinterpares,t
hefi
rstamongequalsbutthelacunaei
nthe
actelevat
edhi sposit
iontot
hatofaf i
nalaut
hori
tyincaseofany
disputebetweenthet wohousesofthegovernment.

 Thestatement sofMini
stersl
ikeC.Y.Chi
ntamaniandLalaHari
KishenLal bef
oretheMuddimanCommi tt
eehighl
ightt
he
unrest
rainedcheckontheiracti
onsbytheGovernor.Mr.Chi
ntamani
wasev enrefusednominati
ont oali
brar
ycommi tt
ee.

I
nit
iat
ivef
rom t
heI
ndi
answast
hussubv
ert
edi
nar
atherconspi
cuous
f
ashi
on.

9.Est
rangedRel
ati
onswi
thBur
eaucr
acy

Theci vi
lservantswor kingundert hemi nist
erswer enotundert heir
eff
ect i
vecont r
ol.Theycoul dstraightawayr epor
ttot heGov er
norwho
wouldof tenbesensi t
ivet otheiri
nterestsduet oracialhomogenei t
y.This
destroyedthecor di
alityoftherelationshipbetweent hemi ni
stersandcivi
l
servants.Asaconsequence, t
hemi ni
sterswhower eamat eur
st othereal
m
ofadmi nist
rati
onst oppedpay ingheedt otheadv i
ceoft heCivilser
vants,
whichcauseddeadl ockandi nef f
ici
encyi ngovernance.

10.Rol
eofExecut
iveCounci
l
lor
s

K.M.Pani
kkarhasel
aboratedanof
tennegl
ect
edaspectr
elat
edt
other
ole
oft
heExecuti
veCounci
ll
ors.

 Thefactthattheleadershipofthehousewasbest owedupont he
mostseniormemberoft henon-par
li
amentaryexecut
ivebythe
Governorandnott heMi nist
ercommandingmaj ori
tyofthehouse
wasasuf fi
cientpropositi
onforthethedi
spleasureoftheel
ected
I
ndianmember s.

 Secondly,t
heIndianmember soft heexecut ivecouncilswere
themselvesopposedt ototheincreaseint heaut hori
tyofthe
minister
s.Fori
nst ance,C.P.RamaswamyI yer,t
hel awmemberoft he
Madr asCouncil
dev isedashr ewdt heor
yt hatbyv i
rt
ueofadi spatch
ofthecourtofdirectors,al
lappointments, eventot hetransf
erred
departmentsweret obemadebyt heGov er nor.

 Themember si
nthecouncilwer
enotpr
eparedtotakethemini
ster
s
i
ntoconf
idenceorconsul
tthem i
nmatt
ersofimportance.
Concl
usi
on

Thus, theDy ar chicalform ofGov ernmenti ntr oducedbyt heGov ernmentof

IndiaAct ,1919f ail
edt ofulf
ilt
heaspi rati
onsofI ndians.Notonl ywer et he
political circumst ancesofcont empor ar
yIndi ar esponsi blebehi ndt hi s
i
nef ficiency ,butt heloopholesoft heactal soal l
owedf ori tsdegener ation
i
nt oaf ar ceexper iment .However, wemustnotf orgett hatt her eal reason
behi ndt hef ail
ur eoft heactwast heunwi l
lingnessoft heBr itish
gov er nmentt ogr antanysubst antialorreal author it
yt ot heI ndians.
Nev er thel ess,theact iviti
esoftheI ndianMi nister swer epr aisedbyt he
SimonCommi ssi onRepor tinspiteofal lt
hesechal lengesandhi ndrances.
Thisi senought opr ov etheeffi
ciencyofI ndi ansi nthef ieldofgov er nance
andadmi nistrationasopposedt ot heBr i
tishsuspi cion.Att hesamet i
me
wemustnotgener ali
zet oneglectt hepositivei niti
ativest akenbyt he
gov er nor sandt heCi vilserv
antsint heprov incest of acili
tatet hewor ki
ngof
theI ndi anmi nisters.

But,
lar
gelyspeaki
ng,t
hisactl
aggedfarbehi
ndwhenitcametosat
isf
ying
theI
ndianaspir
ati
onsforsel
f-
rul
eandresponsi
blegov
ernment
.

BOOKS/
WEBSI
TESCONSULTED:

1."
Ker
alaPut
ra"
;1928,
'TheWor
kingofDy
archyi
nIndi
a1919-
1928'
,
Bombay

2.Pr
asad,
Bisheshwar
;1936,
'Or
igi
nofPr
ovi
nci
alAut
onomy
',
All
ahabad