Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and Government of India Act, 1919
• The British government, not prepared to part with or even share its power with the Indians, once again resorted to the policy of ‘carrot and stick’. The carrot was represented by the insubstantial Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms, while measures such as the Rowlatt Act represented the stick.
Main Features
• Provincial Government
• Introduction of Dyarchy.
• Provincial legislative councils were further expanded and 70 percent of the members were to be elected.
• The system of communal and class electorates was further consolidated.
• Central Government
• No responsible government was envisaged in the Act for the government at the all-India level.
• A bicameral arrangement was introduced.
• The governor-general was to be the chief executive authority.
• The Act clarified that there would be a gradual development of self-governing institution in India and not self-determination of the people of India.
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