The Government of India Act 1919 and its consequences

The Montagu-Chelmsford Report promised responsible government. The Government of India Act, 1919, is what that promise actually looked like on paper — and it looked like something invented specifically for this moment: a provincial government with two heads, one Indian and answerable to a legislature, one British and answerable to nobody in India at all.

In two minutes

The Government of India Act, 1919, introduced dyarchy in the provinces — splitting subjects into Indian-run “transferred” and British-run “reserved” categories — enlarged legislatures at both centre and provinces, and extended the franchise, while keeping ultimate control firmly with the British government.

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