Question

Mention the main features of the act of 1919.

Answer 1

Answer:

Main provisions of the Government of India Act 1919

Provincial government

Executive:

Dyarchy was introduced, i.e., there were two classes of administrators – Executive councillors and ministers.

The Governor was the executive head of the province.

The subjects were divided into two lists – reserved and transferred.

The governor was in charge of the reserved list along with his executive councillors. The subjects under this list were law and order, irrigation, finance, land revenue, etc.

The ministers were in charge of subjects under the transferred list. The subjects included were education, local government, health, excise, industry, public works, religious endowments, etc.

The ministers were responsible to the people who elected them through the legislature.

These ministers were nominated from among the elected members of the legislative council.

The executive councillors were not responsible to the legislature unlike the ministers.

The Secretary of State and the Governor-General could interfere in matters under the reserved list but this interference was restricted for the transferred list.

Legislature:

The size of the provincial legislative assemblies was increased. Now about 70% of the members were elected.

There were communal and class electorates.

Some women could also vote.

The governor’s assent was required to pass any bill. He also had veto power and could issue ordinances also.

Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

Salient features of the Act were as follows:

•    This Act had a separate Preamble which declared that the objective of the British Government was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India.
•    Diarchy was introduced at the Provincial Level.
• The Government of India Act of 1919, made a provision for classification of the central and provincial subjects. The Act kept the Income Tax as 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.
• 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.
• This Act made the central legislature bicameral. The lower house was the Legislative Assembly, with 145 members serving three year terms (the model for today's Lok Sabha); the upper house was the Council of States with 60 members serving five year terms (the model for today's Rajya Sabha)
• The Act provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission in India for the first time.
• 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.
• The communal representation was extended and Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo-Indians were included. The Franchise (Right of voting) was granted to the limited number of only those who paid certain minimum "Tax" to the government.