Government of India Act 1919

[UPSC Notes]
What is the Government of India Act, 1919?
The Government of India Act 1919 was enacted by the Secretary of State for India,
Edwin Samuel Montagu, and the Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford. The British
government, for the first time, declared that they wanted to introduce a responsible
government in India. It was a provision that classified the powers of central and
provincial governments.

• India was supposed to remain an integral part of the British Empire. There was
no room for independence until now.
• A Gradual Decentralization of Authority was proposed. The powers of the Viceroy
in Delhi were to be distributed among the provinces.
• The unitary form of government continued despite the decentralization.
• The British Parliament was responsible for making a responsible government in
India.
• However, provinces were provided with partial responsibilities; therefore, there
was no change in the working style of the central government. There was no
diarchy in the Central Government.
• The bicameral system was introduced in the political system of India. The Indian
Legislative Council was replaced by a bicameral system which was a
combination of the Council of States and the Legislative Assembly (which are the
present-day Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha).
• Under the Government of India Act 1919, it was the first time the budget for the
center and provinces were separated. This means provinces are now allowed to
make their budgets according to the requirements.
• Separate communal electorates were extended to the Christians. Muslims
already had a separate communal electorate. After that, Sikhs, Christians, and
Anglo-Indians were also included.

History of the Government of India Act 1919

• The Government of India Act, 1919, is also called the Montagu Chelmsford
Reforms because, in 1917, Edwin Montagu was made the Secretary of State for
India.
• Edwin Montagu aimed at the gradual development of Indians to form a self-
governing country. He proposed this idea to the British Parliament.
 • Lord Curzon agreed to the proposal. He advised Edwin Montagu to increase the
number of Indians in government practices.
• The collective proposal of Lord Curzon and Edwin Montague was approved and
accepted by the cabinet, and hence implemented.

Features of the Government of India Act 1919

• In the Government of India Act, 1919, the powers of the center and the states
were divided and limited the central government's control over the provisions.
• With this, the central government and the provincial government were allowed to
make the rules and regulations according to their respective lists of subjects.
However, the unitary form of government was still to be continued.
• In the Government of India Act of 1919, the provinces were further classified into
Transferred Subjects and Reserved Subjects, based on administration.
• The transferred subjects were administered under the Governor with the help of
ministers who were responsible to the Legislative Council. The resultant subjects
were administered by the Governor and Executive Council.
• This dual style of governance was known as the dyarchy. Dyarchy is a word that
has been derived from the Greek word di-arche, meaning double rule.
• The Government of India introduced the bicameral and direct election systems in
India. The bicameral legislature consisted of an upper house and a lower house,
whose members were chosen by the process of by-elections.
• Three out of the six members of the Viceroy's Executive Council were supposed
to be Indian, other than the Commander and Chief, who was British.
• Along with all these things, the Government of India Act 1990 also established a
new office for the High Commissioner of India in London, and some of the
powers as yet held by the Secretary of State for India were transferred to him.
• The very interesting part about this act was that it established the concept of a
public service commission and health. A Central Public Service Commission was
set up in 1926, which was opened to recruit civil servants.
• This act separated the provincial budgets from central budgets, where provinces
were to manage their budgets according to requirements.
• And lastly, it appointed a legal commission to report on the work every 10 years.

Provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919

The major provisions of the Government of India Act 1919 are as follows:

• It enacted the establishment of the PSC, i.e., the Public Service Commission.
• There were three Indians out of eight in the Executive Council.
• The office of the High Commissioner of India was established in London, UK.

Defects in the Government of India Act, 1919

• The state governments were given the authority to manage the budgets for
themselves, but they couldn't participate in any of the direct financial matters of
the central government.
• The ministers were not involved in the crucial decision-making for the country,
and rather they were countermanded by the governors if they tried to give any
suggestions.

• The governor could easily overrule any of the decisions made by the provincial
ministers if they didn't like them. Therefore, it can be easily concluded that
Indians, however, were made ministers but were still deprived of the original
powers of administration.