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The country was going through the most difficult period of its history. The British government now feels it necessary to respond to the aspirations of the Indian people. On August 20, 1917, Edwin Montague, Secretary of State for India, made an announcement of British policy in the House of Commons. The announcement declared: "The policy of His Majesty’s government with the government of India is in complement of Indians in every branch of administration and the steady development of self-governing institutions with a view to the incremental realization of accountable government in India as an integral part of the British Empire."
In mid-1919, Edwin
Montague and the viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, published a report on Indian
constitutional reforms that formed the basis of the Government of India Act of
1919. The report was sent and enforced in 1919, which is known as the
"Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919’.
The Act of 1919
established legislative councils in the provinces with a system of dyrchy;
under this system, anything relating to "law and order" was to be
administered by Executive Councilors responsible to the Governors. The main
recommendations of the Act of 1919 were as follows:
- The Centre established a bicameral legislature. The
upper house consisted of 60 members and the lower house of 145 members.
The tenure of the Upper House was five years, and that of the Lower House
was three years.
- Separate electorates were kept for Muslims, and the
Sikhs were also given the right to a separate electorate.
- A system of democracy was introduced in the provinces
by which the law enforcement and certain other departments were put under
the direct control of the Governor and the remaining departments were
assigned to the Executive Council. The new system of democracy gave
authority to the central government to interfere in provincial matters.
- Out of 103 seats in the Imperial Legislative Council,
30 were reserved for Muslims.
- More constitutional reforms shall be introduced after
ten years.
Political circles in
the country were not happy with the reforms of 1919 and declared them
inadequate and unsatisfactory. Congress split into two factions over the
question of accepting the reforms. The Muslim League too was not very
optimistic about the proposals as they did not contain any concrete suggestions
about the introduction of self-rule. Congress, however, accepted the proposals
after passing a resolution to condemn them. The Muslim League also extended its
approval to the proposals and decided to intensify its political struggle for
the constitutional reforms.
