Government of India Act

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

In 1915 the British parliament passed yet another act called the Government of India Act. The purpose of the 1915 act was to consolidate into one set of laws all earlier legislation concerning the government of India. That set of laws was amended by the Government of India Act of 1916. The 1919 legislation, in turn, was in large part a further amendment to the 1915 act. Throughout the 1919 act, the 1915 act, as amended by the 1916 act, is referred to as the “principal Act.”

Preamble

The act's preamble seems almost grudgingly to acknowledge the need “for the increasing association of Indians in every branch of Indian administration, and for the gradual development of self-governing institutions.” Despite this acknowledgment, the act states that Indian self-government can be achieved only in “successive stages” and asserts that “the welfare and advancement of the Indian peoples” lies with Parliament.

Part I

Part I of the act amounts to the definition of terms. The chief point made in section 1 is the division between two types of concerns, central and provincial. “Central subjects” refers to those matters directly administered by the government of India whereby interests across the borders of provinces are predominant. “Provincial subjects” refers to matters in which individual provincial interests are predominant. Reference is also made to the governor-general, a title used in combination with viceroy to designate the Crown-appointed governor of India, and to the Council, meaning the governor-general's advisory Council of India. “Transferred subjects” are those matters being turned over to the provincial governments, while “reserved subjects” are those that would remain under the control of the governor-general. This division of provincial and central functions constituted the essence of the dyarchy formed by the act.

Section 1 goes on to specify legalities associated with the “devolution of authority” down to the provinces. In particular, it outlines how matters of taxation, funding, salaries, and the like are to be handled. But section 1 also makes clear that the act is in no wise turning India over to the Indians. It states that “the rules shall not authorise the revocation or suspension of the transfer of any subject except with the sanction of the Secretary of State in Council.” It further states that “the Governor-General in Council shall be the sole judge as to whether the purpose of the exercise of such powers in any particular case comes within the purposes so specified.” Section 3 specifies which provinces in India will remain under the control of British-appointed governors, called “governor's provinces.” “United Provinces” refers to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, in northern India. Section 4 goes on to state that “in relation to transferred subjects, the governor shall be guided by the advice of his ministers, unless he sees sufficient cause to dissent from their opinion, in which case he may require action to be taken otherwise than in accordance with that advice.” Put simply, the power to devolve authority down to the provinces remained in the hands of British authorities.

Transfer of some authority is accomplished in section 10: “The local legislature of any province has power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to make laws for the peace and good government of the territories for the time being constituting that province.” Later, in a table appended to the act, the memberships of the local legislative councils are established. The largest was the province of Bengal, with 125 members, followed by Madras and the United Provinces, each with 118, and Bombay, with 111. Additionally, Bihar and Orissa would have 98, Punjab 83, the Central Provinces 70, and Assam 53.

Section 10 continues by specifying those areas in which local legislators cannot make laws. Among such restricted areas are the bodies of law related to taxation, customs duties, the public debt, the military, and foreign affairs. Additionally, emergency powers are reserved to the governor-general. Provisions are then made for the procedures to be followed for the enactment of laws by Indian legislatures. Interestingly, section 15 notes that the act does not apply to any portion of India that the governor-general deems a “backward tract.” This provision gave the governor-general broad powers to retain control over areas regarded as recalcitrant.

Part II

Part II turns to the nuts and bolts of the national Indian government. It creates a bicameral legislature consisting of a Council of State and a Legislative Assembly. The Council of State is to consist of no more than sixty members, some of whom would be elected and some appointed. The Legislative Assembly is to consist of one hundred elected members and forty appointed members; the act outlines the duties of the assembly's president and deputy president and includes provisions relating to membership in the assembly. The governor-general would retain a hand in the deliberations and actions of the assembly, for, as noted in section 22, “every member of the Governor-General's Executive Council shall be nominated as a member of one chamber of the Indian legislature.” Section 26 goes on to say that if either chamber of the Indian legislature refuses to introduce or pass bills in a form the governor-general recommends, “the Governor-General may certify that the passage of the Bill is essential for the safety, tranquillity or interests of British India.” Finally, section 26 specifies that any bill passed by the Indian legislature must be submitted to the British parliament.

Part III

Sections 31–35 of the act consist primarily of legalities as they pertain to the Council of India. Again, the 1919 act consists largely of amendments to the earlier “principal Act” of 1915 as amended in 1916. The 1919 act, then, specifies such matters as the terms of office of the Council of India, the members' salaries, eligibility for membership on the council, the powers of the council and of the secretary of state for India, and procedures to be followed by the council and Parliament for the enactment of the council's orders.

Part IV

Part IV turns to the civil services. The civil service was already an important part of the Raj and would continue to be so after 1919. Attention had been paid to the civil service as early as 1886, when the Aitchison Commission was set up to address Indian demands for more extensive participation in the civil service at higher levels. Then, in 1912, the Royal Commission on the Public Services of India—often called the Islington Commission after the name of its chair, John Dickson-Poynder, Lord Islington—was formed to make further recommendations. In its report, issued in 1915, the commission called for appointments to high-level posts to be made in both England and India and recommended that a quarter of the highest posts should be filled by Indians. Because of World War I, however, no action was taken on the Islington Commission's report.

Section 36 begins by noting that any Indian who serves in the civil service does so “during His Majesty's pleasure” (the king of England at the time was George V—until that time the only British monarch who had ever visited India, in 1911). Again, this part of the act deals with legalities. It specifies conditions under which people could be dismissed from the civil service, but it also specifies how they could be reinstated. It vests in the secretary of state for India and the Council of India the power to determine the “rules for regulating the classification of the civil services in India, the methods of their recruitment, their conditions of service, pay and allowances, and discipline and conduct.” Part IV goes on to address such issues as compensation and pensions.