It’s no surprise if the name sounds familiar. Edwin Montagu was the Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922 and Lond Chelmsford, the Viceroy between 1916 and 1921. It was this duo who was responsible for the Montagu-Chelmsford (or Mont-Ford) reforms which formed the basis for the Government of India Act of 1919 passed by British Parliament. This Act marked a decisive stage, in India’s constitutional development.
As regards Montagu, he was a British Liberal politician who initially served as t secretary to Britain’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party H. H. Asquith. As parliamentary undersecretary to the India Office from 1910 to 1914, it was his duty to explain India-related matters to the House of Commons. After holding several posts, he led a delegation to the Indian provinces in 1917 when he collaborated with the Indian viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, in preparing the Mont-Ford report. He held talks with Gandhiji and Jinnah.
The year 1919 marked the end of the First World War. Being a British colony, India fought for the Britishers in the war, in the hope of gaining self-rule at the end of it. But the British had other plans. The passage of the Government of India Act of 1919 was the well-known post-war reform in colonial India. The main purpose of the Act was to introduce responsible government in India, expand participation of Indians in it and gradual development of self-governing institutions, but with British supervision. The Act introduced reforms at the Central as well Provincial s of Government. The sweeping reforms levels which came into effect in 1921, gave Indians more representation in the Government and introduced dyarchy (a dual government intro system in which the central and provincial governments were given selected powers). It recommended gradual decentralization of authority by relaxing the hold of the central government over provincial governments, with India continuing o remain an integral part of the British Empire. It clearly demarcated the spheres of the central and provincial governments. The Act provided for a bicameral legislature at the centre with two houses, namely Legislative Assembly and Council of State, similar to the present Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
However, the Indian nationalist leaders felt no responsible government at the all-India level was envisaged in the Act and that it promoted a sense of communalism by advocating separate electorates for different communities.
Did you know?
Under the Government of India Act 1919, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.
Picture Credit : Google
