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NCERT Notes on
Government of India
Act 1919 - For UPSC

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The NCERT Notes on Government of India Act 1919 UPSC is an important topic for pre-
lims.
• The Government of India Act 1919 was passed by the parliament of the United King-
dom.
• The main purpose of the Act was to ensure Indians of their increased representation
in the Government.
• In 1917, for the first time the British government declared that the objective of this
Act was to gradually establish a responsible government in India.
• The provisions of the Government of India Act 1919 were framed mainly based on
the recommendations of the report submitted by Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State
for India and Lord Chlemsford (Lord Frederic Thesiger), the Viceroy of India.
• Though the Act was introduced in the year 1919, it came into force only in 1921.

NCERT Notes on Governments of India Act 1919 - Provisions

Central Government
• Secretary of the State
o The Secretary of the State could not intervene in the financial and transferred
subjects of the provinces.
o The Secretary of the State was to be paid out of the British treasury and not
from the Indian Revenue.
• The office of High Commissioner:
o The office of High Commissioner for India in London was created under the
Government of India Act 1919 and his tenure was six years.
o The main duty of the High Commissioner for India was to look after the Indian
trade in Europe. Some of the functions performed by the Secretary of the
State were transferred to him.
• Council of Secretary of the State:
o Its members were to be maintained between 8 to 12 with half of them having
served ten years.
o Under the Government of India Act 1919, their tenure was reduced from
seven years to five years.
• Viceroy’s Executive Council:
o Here three out of six members should be Indians and their tenure was five
years.
o They were allocated to the departments such as Health, Education, Law, La-
bour and Industry.
• Relaxation of the central control:
o The central and the provincial government were demarcated and separated
for administrative purposes.
o Laws were made by Central and Provincial governments on their respective
lists
o The central list consisted of the matters of national importance and that in-
volved two or more provinces.
o Defence, foreign affairs, communication, public debts, civil and criminal laws
and so on were placed under the Central list.
o The State list consisted of the matters related to particular provinces.
o Education, public health, water supply, electricity, agriculture, local self gov-
ernment etc., were placed under the provincial list.

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• Legislature :
Under the Government of India Act of 1919, Bicameralism was introduced for the first time
in the Indian Legislative Council at the Center.
o The Bicameral Legislature consisted of the upper house which is called the
Council of State and the lower house which is known as the Legislative as-
sembly.
o Direct elections were conducted for both the houses and each house had the
majority of elected members.
o However the franchise for direct election was restricted and was based on
the property, tax or educational qualifications.
o In the Lower House, to avail the right to vote, the members should be profes-
sional or earn Rs.180 out of house rent per annum or should be paying Rs.15
to the municipality annually.
o In the Upper House, the right to vote is reserved only for the members who
earn Rs.10000 per annum or should pay Rs.750 as tax.

Provincial Government
• The Government of India Act 1919 introduced Dyarchy System in the Provincial
Subjects
o The provincial subjects were divided into two - transferred subjects and re-
served subjects.
o The reserved subjects were administered by the Governor with the aid of his
executive council. They were not held responsible to the legislative council.
o The reserved subjects were administered by the governor with the aid of his
ministers. They were held responsible to the legislative council.
o The dyarchy system was unsuccessful.
• Legislature :
o The Provincial Legislature consisted of only one house called Legislative
Council.
o In provinces the members number varied and the distribution of seats was
based on the importance and was not based upon the population.
o The tenure of Legislative Council members was three years.
o The Government of India Act 1919 mentions that out of the members of legis-
lative council 40% should be elected, 30% should be nominated, 30% should
be government or non government employees.
• Separate electorates were provided for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians and
the Europeans. Thus extended the communal representation.
• The budget was separated for the first time into the Central budget and the Provin-
cial budget. The Provincial budget was made on own by the provincial legislature.
• Central Public Service commission was created based on the provision mentioned in
the Government of India Act for the purpose of recruiting the civil servants.

NCERT Notes on Government of India Act 1919 - Advantages

• Indians were held responsible for discharging their duties in the provincial govern-
ment.
• Indians began to receive information ahead about the steps planned by the British
government and this instilled a sense of nationalism among the Indians.
• The provincial self government came into existence.

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• The people were introduced to direct election and they also became aware of the im-
portance of voting
• Administrative pressure from the British government was reduced to some extent un-
der the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919.

NCERT Notes on Government of India Act 1919 - Limitations

• The dyarchy system in the provincial subjects was completely unsuccessful.
• The franchise for the direct election was highly restricted and thus the legislature did
not represent all classes of people.
• The governors’ power was expanded and thus he could even Act against the deci-
sion of the council of ministers.
• Due to the differences between the ministers and the Governor, the position of minis-
ters diminished
• Separate electorates were allotted for the Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians and
the Europeans.

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FAQs - NCERT Notes Government of India Act 1919

Q1. Who introduced the Government of India Act 1919?
A1. The Government of India Act 1919 was introduced by the Parliament of the United
Kingdom. Its provisions were mostly based on the Montagu - Chelmsford report.

Q2. What are the main features of the Government of India Act 1919?
A2. The salient features of the Government of India Act 1919 are the demarcation of admin-
istration of center from the provinces, allocation of center list and Provincial list, introduction
of Dyarchy system in the provincial subjects, establishment of office of High commissioner
for India in England, Introduction of Bicameralism in the legislative council of the center and
so on.

Q3. What is the difference between Bicameralism and Dyarchy in Government of India Act
of 1919?
A3. Bicameralism is the division of the legislative council at the center into the upper house
(Council of state) and lower house(Legislative assembly) whereas in the Dyarchy system
the provincial subjects are divided into transferred subjects and reserved subjects.

Q4. Who abolished the dyarchy system in India?

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A4. The dyarchy system introduced under the Government of India Act 1919 was a com-
plete failure. Lord Warren Hastings abolished the dyarchy system in India.