INDIAN POLITY 1)HISTORICAL BACKGROUND PART-2

 

THE CROWN RULE (1858–1947)

Government of India Act of 1858

This significant Act was enacted in the wake of the Revolt of 1857 abolished the East India Company, and transferred the powers to the British Crown.

1.  It provided that India henceforth was to be governed by, and in the name of, Her Majesty. It changed the designation of the Governor-General of India to that of Viceroy of India. He (viceroy) was the direct representative of the British Crown in India. Lord Canning thus became the first Viceroy of India.

2.  It ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Control and Court of Directors.

3.  It created a new office, Secretary of State for India, vested with complete authority and control over Indian administration. The secretary of state was a member of the British cabinet and was responsible ultimately to the British Parliament.

 

Indian Councils Act of 1861

1.     Lord Canning, the then viceroy, nominated three Indians to his legislative council—the Raja of Benaras, the Maharaja of Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao.

2.     It initiated the process of decentralisation by restoring the legislative powers to the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. It thus reversed the centralising tendency that Started from the Regulating Act of 1773 and reached its climax under the Charter Act of 1833.

3.     It empowered the Viceroy to issue ordinances, without the concurrence of the legislative council, during an emergency. The life of such an ordinance was six months.

Act of 1892

1.     The act made a limited and indirect provision for the use of election in filling up some of the nonofficial seats both in the Central and provincial legislative councils.

The Act of 1909 Morley-Minto Reforms

1.       It provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians with the executive Councils of the Viceroy and Governors. Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian to join the Viceroy’s Executive       Council. He was appointed as the law member.

2.       It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of ‘separate electorate’. Under this, the Muslim members were to be elected only by Muslim voters. Thus, the Act ‘legalised communalism’ and Lord Minto came to be known as the Father of Communal Electorate.

 

 

 

 

Government of India Act of 1919

(Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms)

1.       It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects.

2.       It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts—transferred and reserved. The Transferred subjects were to be administered by the governor with the aid of ministers Responsible to the legislative Council. The reserved subjects, on the other hand, were to be administered by the governor and his executive council without being responsible to the legislative Council. This dual scheme of governance was known as ‘dyarchy’—

3.       It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct elections in the country. Thus, the Indian Legislative Council was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly). The majority of Members of both the Houses were chosen by direct election.

4.       It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London.

5.       It provided for the establishment of a public service commission.

6.       It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget

 

Simon Commission :

1.       To report on the condition of India under its new Constitution. All the members of the commission were British and hence, all the parties boycotted the commission. The commission submitted its report in 1930 and recommended the abolition of dyarchy, extension of responsible government in the provinces, establishment of a federation of British India and princely states, continuation of communal electorate and so on.

2.       Convened three round table conferences of the representatives of the British Government, British India and Indian princely states. On the basis of these discussions, a ‘White Paper on Constitutional Reforms’ was prepared and submitted.

Communal Award

In August 1932, Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, announced a scheme of representation of the minorities, which came to be known as the Communal Award. The award not only continued separate electorates for the Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo- Indians and Europeans but also extended it to the depressed classes (scheduled castes). Gandhiji was distressed over this extension of the principle of communal representation to the depressed classes and undertook fast unto death in Yeravada Jail (Poona) to get the award modified. At last, there was an agreement between the leaders of the Congress and the depressed classes. The agreement, known as Poona Pact, retained the Hindu joint electorate and gave reserved seats to the depressed classes

Government of India Act of 1935

1.     It provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation consisting of provinces and princely states as units. The Act divided the powers between the Centre and units in terms of three lists—Federal List (for Centre, with 59 items), Provincial List (for provinces, with 54 items) and the Concurrent List (for both, with 36 items).

2.     Act introduced responsible governments in provinces,

3.     It further extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for depressed classes (scheduled castes), women and labour (workers).

4.     It abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act of 1858.

5.     It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country.

6.     It provided for the establishment of a Federal Court, which was set up in 1937

 

 

 

 

Indian Independence Act of 1947

1.       It ended the British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign state from August 15,1947.

2.       It provided for the partition of India and creation of two independent dominions of India and Pakistan with the right to secede from the British Commonwealth.