Question

With reference to the Government of India Act, 1919, answer the following questions:
(a) Mention two important features of the Act, concerned with the Central Legislature.
(b) How did the dual government or dyarchy operate in the provinces? Mention two drawbacks of dyarchy.

Answer 1

a) Features of the India Act, 1919:

i) It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects. The central and provincial legislatures were authorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects.

ii) It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts—transferred and reserved. The transferred subjects were to be administered by the governor with the aid of ministers responsible to the legislative Council.

b) Dyarchy was the system of double government introduced by the Government of India Act 1919 for the provinces of British India.

Some drawbacks of the dyarchy were :

i) This act extended consolidated and communal representation.

ii) The franchise was very limited. It did not extend to the common man.

iii) The governor-general and the governors had a lot of power to undermine the legislatures at the centre and the provinces respectively.