Question

What were the provisions under the Government of India Act 1919?

Answer 1

Hint The Government of India Act of 1919 is also known as Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms. The Act has its own set of objectives under a separate Preamble. To be precise, the British Parliament that sought to increase the participation of Indians in the administration of their country.

Complete Step by Step Answer
The Government of India Act 1919 was passed to increase the participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act incorporated the reforms recommended by Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State and the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford. It made provisions like who is eligible to vote, divided the government into upper house and lower house, made provisions on taxes. The Act was passed on 23 December 1919 and covered ten years, from 1919 to 1929. The act had certain salient features which are as follows -
1. This Act had a separate Preamble which declared the objectives of the British Government for introduction of a better government in India.
2. Diarchy was introduced at the Provincial Level. It means a dual set of governments, one is accountable, the other is not accountable.
3. The Act kept the Income Tax as a source of revenue to the Central Government.
4. No legislature bill will be passed unless approved by the Viceroy.
5. This Act divided the central legislature into two chambers. The lower house was the Legislative Assembly with 145 members serving three-year terms and the upper house was the Council of States with 60 members serving five-year terms. It's the modern system which we currently follow, the Lok Sabha, lower house and the Rajya Sabha, upper house.
6. A statutory commission provision was made to keep on the working system of government and had the authority to inquire it. The Simon commission of 1927 was an outcome of this provision.
7. The communal representation was extended which then included Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo Indians.
8. The seats were distributed according to its importance under the eye of the government instead of the population. Those people who had property, taxable income & paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 were entitled to vote.
9. The financial powers of the central legislature were also very much limited.

Note The act failed. It failed because it didn't meet the expectations of Indans and its rules and regulations more likely were meant for Britishers and so it was considered that this could not help Indians in any way.