Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Presented by:
Nikhil Mahant
Darshan Garjur
Overview
thegrantofalargemeasureofautonomytotheprovincesofBritishIndia(ending
thesystemofdyarchyintroducedbytheGovernmentofIndiaAct1919)
provisionfortheestablishmentofa"FederationofIndia",tobemadeupofboth
BritishIndiaandsomeorallofthe"princelystates"
theintroductionofdirectelections,thusincreasingthefranchisefromseven
milliontothirty-fivemillionpeople
apartialreorganizationoftheprovinces:
SindhwasseparatedfromBombay
BiharandOrissawassplitintoseparateprovincesofBiharandOrissa
BurmawascompletelyseparatedfromIndia
AdenwasalsodetachedfromIndia,andestablishedasaseparateCrowncolony
membershipoftheprovincialassemblieswasalteredsoastoincludemoreelected
Indianrepresentatives,whowerenowabletoformmajoritiesandbeappointedto
formgovernments
theestablishmentofaFederalCourt.
ThepartsoftheActintendedtoestablishtheFederationofIndianevercameinto
operation,duetooppositionfromrulersoftheprincelystates.Theremainingparts
oftheActcameintoforcein1937,whenthefirstelectionsundertheactwerealso
held.
InthisactThefederaltypeofGovernmentwasselectedbutwhentheActwas
giventhentheIndianNationalCongressopposeditbecausetheywantedthe
unitaryGovernment.
Indianshadincreasinglybeendemandingagreaterroleinthegovernmentoftheir
countrysincethelate19thcentury.TheIndiancontributiontotheBritishwareffort
duringtheFirstWorldWarmeantthateventhemoreconservativeelementsinthe
Britishpoliticalestablishmentfeltthenecessityofconstitutionalchange,resulting
intheGovernmentofIndiaAct1919.
ThatActintroducedanovelsystemofgovernmentknownasprovincial"diarchy",
i.e.,certainareasofgovernment(suchaseducation)wereplacedinthehandsof
ministersresponsibletotheprovincialevenforthoseareasoverwhichtheyhad
gainednominalcontrol,the"pursestrings"werestillinthehandsofBritish
officialdom.
Diarchy
ThediarchysystemincludedalistofsubjectsreservedbytheBritishGovernment
andalistofsubjectstransferredtotheIndians.
TheBritishhadcompletecontroloverthereservedsubjectsandcouldexert
"specialpowers"(theycouldchangeanyactorprojectproposedbytheIndians)
intothetransferredsubjects.
TheReservedsubjectswere:Taxation,Revenue,ForeignRelations/Policies,Justice
department,Police,PowerResourcesandPublications/Press.
TheTransferredSubjectsincluded:ForestDepartment,LocalGovernment,
Education,PublicHealthandSocialWelfare.
TheActprovidedforDyarchyattheCentre.TheBritishGovernment,intheperson
oftheSecretaryofStateforIndia,throughtheGovernor-GeneralofIndia
ViceroyofIndia,wouldcontinuetocontrolIndiasfinancialobligations,defence,
foreignaffairsandtheBritishIndianArmyandwouldmakethekeyappointments
totheReserveBankofIndia(exchangerates)andRailwayBoardandtheAct
stipulatedthatnofinancebillcouldbeplacedintheCentralLegislaturewithoutthe
consentoftheGovernorGeneral.
atleast80percentofthefederalexpenditures,wouldbenon-votableandbetaken
offthetopbeforeanyclaimscouldbeconsideredfor(forexample)socialor
economicdevelopmentprograms.
ensuring that the Congress could never rule alone or gain enough seats to
bring down the government
In1937,aftertheholdingofprovincialelections,ProvincialAutonomy
commenced.Fromthatpointuntilthedeclarationofwarin1939,Linlithgow
tirelesslytriedtogetenoughofthePrincestoaccedetolaunchtheFederation.
Cont
InthishereceivedonlytheweakestbackingfromtheHomeGovernmentandin
theendthePrincesrejectedtheFederationen masse.InSeptember1939,
LinlithgowsimplydeclaredthatIndiawasatwarwithGermany.
ThoughLinlithgow'sbehaviourwasconstitutionallycorrectitwasalsooffensiveto
muchofIndianopinionthattheViceroyhadnotconsultedtheelected
representativesoftheIndianpeoplebeforetakingsuchamomentousdecision.This
leddirectlytotheresignationoftheCongressprovincialministries.
From1939,Linlithgowconcentratedonsupportingthewareffort.
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