Previous Year Question
Which of the following is/are the principal feature(s) of the Government of India Act, 1919?
Introduction of dyarchy in the Executive Government of the Provinces
Introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims
Devolution of legislative authority by the Centre to the Provinces
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is correct. The Government of India Act, 1919 introduced Dyarchy in the Provinces. Provincial Subjects were divided into Reserved and Transferred categories. Reserved Subjects were administered by the Governor in Council, while Transferred Subjects were administered by the Governor acting with Ministers.
This was not merely a division of subjects; it also created an unequal division of responsibility. Ministers on the Transferred side were connected with and responsible to the Provincial Legislature, while the Reserved side did not carry the same democratic responsibility. This structural contradiction later created serious difficulties in the working of Dyarchy.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The expression must be read as the introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims as a new principal feature of the 1919 Act. Separate electorates for Muslims had already been introduced by the Indian Councils Act, 1909 or Morley-Minto Reforms. The Government of India's own constitutional history identifies the 1909 Act as the measure that first introduced communal representation and separate electorates in India.
This does not mean that communal electorates disappeared in 1919. The system continued and was extended to other communities such as Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans. The distinction is therefore:
Introduction for Muslims → 1909
Further extension of communal representation → 1919
That is why Statement 2 is incorrect in this question.
Statement 3 is correct. The 1919 Act distinguished Central from Provincial Subjects and provided for the devolution of authority over Provincial Subjects to Provincial Governments. Provincial Legislatures consequently obtained legislative authority in their assigned sphere. Section 1 of the Act expressly provided for the “devolution of authority in respect of provincial subjects”.