Provincial autonomy
Topic: Framing the Indian Constitution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Provincial autonomy means that the provinces govern themselves in their own matters. The Government of India Act of 1935 ended dyarchy in the provinces. Dyarchy was a split system in which some subjects stayed with British officials. Under the 1935 Act, Indian ministers answerable to elected legislatures handled almost all provincial subjects. Governors, appointed by the British, still kept special powers. Before Partition, Congress also promised wide autonomy to the provinces to reassure the Muslim League. After Partition removed that pressure, the framers chose a strong Centre.
Example
After the 1937 elections held under the 1935 Act, Congress formed ministries in 8 of the 11 provinces. Even then, only about 10-15 per cent of adults could vote.
Don't confuse with
- Federalism in the 1950 Constitution: the 1950 Constitution divided powers between the Centre and the states, but it had a clear tilt towards the Union. It was not the wide provincial autonomy Congress had once promised.
Related concepts
- Strong Centre debate
- N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
- Balakrishna Sharma
- Union Powers Committee
- Union, State and Concurrent Lists
- Article 356
- Fiscal federalism
- K. Santhanam
- A. Ramaswamy Mudaliar