Question

The Pitt’s India Act empowered the Governor-General with _____________.
A) Power of vote
B) A casting vote
C) The power to dismiss the council
D) The power to add more members to the council

Answer 1

Hint: To rectify the defects of the Regulating Act of 1773, the British Parliament passed the Amending Act of 1781, also known as the Act of Settlement. The next important act was the Pitt’s India Act of 1784, which was named after the then British Prime Minister William Pitt.

Complete Answer:
The Act differentiated between the Political and Commercial functions of the Company. A new body of the Board of Control was created to manage the political affairs of the company, while to manage the commercial affairs of the company the Court of Directors was appointed. The Board of Control was given the power to supervise and direct all operations of the civil and military government or revenues of the British possessions in India. This board comprised six people which included the Secretary of State, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the four Privy councillors.

The Court of Directors in this dual system of control represented the company and the British Government represented the Board of Control. The Governor-General Council’s strength was reduced to three members, out of these three, one would be the Commander-in-chief of the British Crown’s army in India. The Governor-General was also given the right of veto.

Calcutta had become the capital of British possessions in India, and the presidencies of Madras and Bombay were subordinated to the Bengal presidency. For the very first time the term “British possessions in India” was used in this Act. This Act gave the British Government direct control over the Indian administration and thus the Company became subordinated to the British Government, although there the company’s monopoly was still present in the commercial activities.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: The act considered a failure because there were no clear boundaries between the company’s powers and the government’s authority, i.e., the Court of Directors and the Board of Control.