Question

'Dyarchy' under the government of India Act 1919 meant ____________.

• A. Division of powers between the central and provincial government
• B. Separation of judiciary from executive
• C. Division of executive department under elected ministers and the members of the Governors Executive Council
• D. Separation between legislature and executive

Answer 1

The correct option is A Division of powers between the central and provincial government

Dyarchy is a system of double government introduced by the Government of India Act (1919) for the provinces of British India. It was introduced as a constitutional reform by Edwin Samuel Montague (Secretary of State for India) and Lord Chelmsford (Viceroy of India) and 1919 act is hence known as Montague-Chelmsford Reforms. Under this reform, the spheres of the central and provincial governments were demarcated by a division of subjects into “central” and “provincial”.

The central subjects included all subjects directly administered by the Government of India or in which extra-provincial interests were dominant. The provincial subjects were divided into two categories viz. reserved and transferred. The reserved subjects were kept with the Governor and transferred subjects were kept with Governor acting with the Indian Ministers.

A is the correct option.