write about two main reforms of Lord Canning
Answers
Under the Government of India Act, 1858, Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India. He was the last Governor-General of the East India Company.
He implemented many reforms in India, and as a Viceroy, he abolished the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’, and read the Queens Proclamation Act, on 1st Nov 1858 from Allahabad, in which it was said that the Queen of England is the Queen of India and many declarations of the Queen were thus formulated in India.
Also, the council of the Viceroy was extended, and now onwards, this council was known as the ‘Imperial Legislative Council’. The members of the Legislative council were allocated portfolios, i.e. different departments to handle. This was known as the ‘Canning model of Business’.
To this extent, Canning was an innovator and a consolidator of British rule over India. The Secretary of State became the highest governing body of India in London.
The last President of the Board of Control, ‘Sir Charles Wood’, became the first Secretary of State for India. Thus the structure of the Government had changed, but the function of the Government had remained almost the same.