Government of India Act 1919

Essential characteristics

1. This act had a separate preamble which declared that the objective of the British Government was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India.
2. Diarchy was introduced at the provincial level. Diarchy means a dual set of governments; one is accountable, the other is not accountable. Subjects of the provincial government were divided into two groups. One group was reserved, and the other group was transferred. The reserved subjects were controlled by the British Governor of the province; the transferred subjects were given to the Indian ministers of the province.
3. The Government of India Act 1919 made a provision for classification of the central and provincial subjects. The act kept the income tax as a source of revenue to the central government. However, for Bengal and Bombay, to meet their objections, a provision to assign them 25% of the income tax was made.
4. No bill of the legislature could be deemed to have been passed unless assented to by the viceroy. The latter could, however, enact a bill without the assent of the legislature.
5. This act made the central legislature bicameral. The lower house was the Legislative Assembly, with 145 members serving three-year terms ; the upper house was the Council of State with 60 members serving five-year terms
6. The act provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission in India for the first time.
7. This act also made a provision that a statutory commission would be set up at the end of 10 years after the act was passed which shall inquire into the working system of the government. The Simon commission of 1927 was an outcome of this provision.
8. The communal representation was extended and Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo-Indians were included. The franchise was granted to the limited number of only those who paid minimum of Rs. 3000 "tax" to the government.
9. The seats were distributed among the provinces not upon the basis of the population but upon the basis of their importance in the eyes of the government, on the basis of communities, and the property was one of the main basis to determine a franchisee. Those people who had property, taxable income and paid land revenue of Rs. 3,000 were entitled to vote.
10. The financial powers of the central legislature were also very much limited. The budget was to be divided into two categories, votable and non-votable. The votable items covered only one-third of the total expenditure. Even in this sphere, the Governor-General was empowered to restore any grant refused or reduced by the legislature if in his opinion the demand was essential for the discharge of his responsibilities. Thus the Government of India Act 1919 provided for partial transfer of power to the electorate through the system of diarchy. It also prepared the ground for Indian federalism, as it identified the provinces as units of fiscal and general administration.

Subsequent developments